For decades, archaeological evidence has suggested humans settled in the Americas much earlier than previously thought. However, until recently, scientists did not have definitive proof to confirm these claims. Now, however, research conducted by a team at McMaster University has uncovered definitive evidence that humans settled in the Americas far earlier than the standard accepted date.
The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature, suggests humans migrated through the Bering Land Bridge around 30,000 years ago. This is far earlier than the previously accepted date of 13,000 to 15,000 years ago.
The team examined hundreds of artifacts from dozens of sites across the Americas, including Alaska, Mexico, Florida, and the Great Basin. The artifacts were dated using a new method of radiocarbon dating which is more precise than previous methods.
The results of the study suggest the first wave of humans to arrive in the Americas were nomadic hunter-gatherers from Asia. This population likely spread quickly across both North and South America, with the earliest settlements in the northern parts of the continent.
The team’s findings add to the body of evidence supporting the idea that early human populations migrated through the Bering Land Bridge during an extended period of time. While the exact date of human arrival in the Americas still remains uncertain, this study offers compelling evidence that settlement may have begun much earlier than previously thought.
The discoveries made by the team offer tremendous insight into the early human history of the Americas, as well as our understanding of how human cultures have developed and spread across the continents. What’s more, they also suggest that the first settlers of the Americas may have been part of a much larger, interconnected human population that spread around the globe.