Mastodon Discovery

The discovery of stone tools and bones from a butchered mastodon at the bottom of a river in Florida suggests that humans lived there 14,550 years ago

00:21 20 May 2016

A four-year investigation at the bottom of a river in Florida has lead to the discovery of stone tools and bones from a butchered mastodon suggesting that humans lived there 14,500 years ago. This is more than a millennium earlier than what is currently written in the region’s history books.  

 

The findings, which were published in the open access journal Science Advances, reinforced the idea that human settled the Americas well before the Clovis people arrived 13,000 years ago.

 

Jessi Halligan, lead author of the new study and assistant professor of anthropology at Florida State University, said: "[It] was an impossible date for the scientific community to accept at the time, because it was well accepted that the Americas were colonised by the Clovis people, who arrived on the continent over the Bering land bridge no longer than 13,500 years ago at the oldest," 

 

He added: "The site is a slam-dunk pre-Clovis site with unequivocal artefacts, clear stratigraphy and thorough dating.”

"The stone tools and faunal remains at the site show that at 14,550 years ago, people knew how to find game, fresh water and material for making tools. These people were well-adapted to this environment."