New Fossil Finds Suggest Early Humans in South America Over 20,000 Years Ago

Tool marks might represent some of the earliest known signs of human presence in southern South America.
Recent findings from Argentina indicate human presence and exploitation of large mammals over 20,000 years ago, challenging previous beliefs about when humans first settled in the Americas.

According to a study recently published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, incisions found on fossils suggest that humans may have utilized large mammals in Argentina over 20,000 years ago. The research, conducted by Mariano Del Papa and colleagues from the National University of La Plata, Argentina, explores this possibility.

The timing of early human occupation of South America is a topic of intense debate, highly relevant to a study of early human dispersal across the Americas and of humans’ potential role in the extinction of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch. This discussion is hampered by a general scarcity of direct archaeological evidence of early human presence and human-animal interactions.