Recent archaeological discoveries prove that humans were able to adapt to high-latitude, Arctic environments by at least 45,000 cal BP. Unfortunately, archaeological support for the standstill hypothesis is scarce. 18,000–24,000 cal BP) where they were genetically isolated for up to 8,000 years before moving south of the ice-sheets into North America. They also suggest that dispersing groups reached Beringia during the LGM (dated to ca. Recent genetic and palaeogenetic analyses, as well as dental morphological evidence, confirm that human populations migrating into North America originated in Siberia. The exact timing of the initial dispersal remains uncertain, however. In addition to proving that Bluefish Caves is the oldest known archaeological site in North America, the results offer archaeological support for the “Beringian standstill hypothesis”, which proposes that a genetically isolated human population persisted in Beringia during the LGM and dispersed from there to North and South America during the post-LGM period.īeringia, a vast region stretching from the Lena River in Siberia to the Mackenzie River in the Yukon Territory, is thought to have played a pivotal role in the initial dispersal of human populations from Asia to North America. Our results demonstrate that humans occupied the site as early as 24,000 cal BP (19,650 ± 130 14C BP). Here, we report new AMS radiocarbon dates obtained on cut-marked bone samples identified during a comprehensive taphonomic analysis of the Bluefish Caves fauna. 14,000 cal BP (calibrated years Before Present), i.e., well after the LGM. The weight of the available archaeological evidence suggests that the first peopling of North America occurred ca. This hypothesis proved highly controversial in the absence of other sites of similar age and concerns about the stratigraphy and anthropogenic signature of the bone assemblages that yielded the dates.
#Bluefish caves series
Excavations conducted at Bluefish Caves (Yukon Territory) from 1977 to 1987 yielded a series of radiocarbon dates that led archaeologists to propose that the initial dispersal of human groups into Eastern Beringia (Alaska and the Yukon Territory) occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The timing of the first entry of humans into North America is still hotly debated within the scientific community. Here, we show that the relatively high breadth ratios that we obtained from Bluefish Caves are comparable to the measures obtained on cut marks produced by flint flakes and retouched tool and indicate the presence of “V-shaped” grooves. The breadth ratio (the ratio between the breadth at the top and the breadth at the bottom of the cut mark) is a better criterion for distinguishing between cut marks made with stone tools and modifications produced by other effectors. Our graphs show that the depth and opening angle we measured are in the range reported by comparative studies.
/https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/06/d5/06d586e4-7182-45c2-ac78-b0f7b740e22e/excavation-bluefish-caves.jpg "bluefish caves")
Paglicci), (7) cut marks from Bluefish Caves. Trebbio), (4) experimental flint flakes, (5) experimental retouched tool, (6) archaeological data from an Italian site dated to the Paleolithic (i.e. Measurements obtained on fourteen cut-marked bone specimens from Bluefish Caves I and II (see S2 Table) are compared to the ranges reported for experimental and archaeological data: (1) carnivore tooth marks, (2) experimental steel blade, (3) archaeological data from an Italian site dated to the Iron Age (i.e.
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