The settlement of North America dates back at least 30,000 years and is therefore twice as old as estimated so far, according to archaeological research whose results are published Wednesday. The specimens collected, including 1,900 cut stone tools, prove human occupation of the Chiquihuite cave (northern Mexico) dating back up to 33,000 years, and which lasted 20,000 years, reveal two studies published in the journal Nature.
"Our research brings new evidence on an ancient presence of humans in the Americas", the last continent to have been occupied by man, welcomed AFP archaeologist Ciprian Ardelean, main author of one of the two studies. The oldest specimens found in this cave, located in altitude and excavated since 2012, have been dated with radiocarbon (or carbon 14) on a range between 33,000 and 31,000 years before our era. "They are few, but they are there," commented this researcher from the Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas in Mexico. They reveal a hitherto unknown lithic industry, using stone tools cut into thin strips.
The results of this research are therefore likely to be strongly contested.
While no human bone or DNA was found at the site, "it is likely that humans have used it as a fairly fixed base, presumably during recurrent seasonal episodes as part of larger migratory movements," says study. The origins of America's first occupants are hotly debated among anthropologists and archaeologists. For decades, the most commonly accepted thesis has been that of a 13,000-year-old settlement corresponding to the so-called Clovis period, long considered the first American culture from which the ancestors of Native Americans originated. This theory of early Clovis cultivation has been called into question for 20 years, with new discoveries that have pushed back the age of the first settlements, but only up to 16,000 years.
The results of this research are therefore likely to be hotly contested. "It happens as soon as someone finds sites older than 16,000 years: the first reaction is either denial or strong approval," the researcher said.