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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | ||
| Footsteps in time that add 30,000 years to history of America | ||
| 2005-07-05 | ||
| The discovery of human footprints, preserved by volcanic ash, have put back the likely date that the American continent was colonised by Man by almost 30,000 years, British scientists say. The prints, found by the scientists at the edge of a lake in Mexico, are thought to be about 40,000 years old. Their discovery upsets the widely accepted theory that Man first reached America across a land bridge, now covered by the Bering Sea, 11,500 years ago. Casts of the footprints reveal that a community of Homo sapiens lived in the Valsequillo Basin, near Puebla in central Mexico. Their feet ranged in size from those of small children, aged about 5 or 6, to adults who would have fitted size eight shoes. The prints were found at the bottom of an abandoned quarry and were preserved in volcanic rock. From the size of the prints, researchers from Liverpool John Moores University and Bournemouth University estimated that the adults ranged in height from 3ft 9ins to 6ft. Almost 270 prints were found at the site, two thirds of them human and the rest from animals including mammoths, an extinct species of camel, prehistoric cow and deer. The Liverpool and Bournemouth team discovered the footprints in September 2003 but have only recently had confirmation of their age from scientists at Oxford University. Dating techniques included radiocarbon dating and optical stimulated luminescence. Until now it was widely believed that Clovis Man was the first human to set foot on the continent at the end of the last Ice Age. Previous academic research has suggested, however, that human occupation of the American continents may have begun several thousand years earlier. The footprints are the first evidence of earlier colonisations and would suggest that the first settlers reached the West Coast from Japan or other Pacific Ocean communities.
Professor Matthew Bennett, of Bournemouth University, said yesterday: âOur evidence of humans in America 40,000 years ago is irrefutable.â He accepted that there would be resistance to the theory that the original migration was not over the Bering Sea: âIt is quite controversial. They are not very happy in North America. They are very wedded to the idea of colonisation 11,500 years ago.â
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #15 See I tolda ja! |
| Posted by: Ward Churchill Injun Man 2005-07-05 19:14 |
| #14 Hell hath no fury like an archeological theory spurned. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2005-07-05 18:01 |
| #13 Don't forget that 9,000 y.o. Kennewick Man showed no substantial genetic relations to any of the four tribes that claimed him as an ancestor, especially ironic given his caucasoid features, hmm? |
| Posted by: Armchair in Sin 2005-07-05 17:46 |
| #12 Godammer Ima tell you never, never, never look under the Clovis layer. There is nothing thereto interest you. /white folks in kyaks |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-07-05 16:28 |
| #11 wuz their evere em lan bridje to hawiai? thatn a long bote trip. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2005-07-05 16:04 |
| #10 There has been proof for years that the Clovis people were not first, and there is even proof that the Clovis people exterminated the people that were here before them. Of course, all of this has been surpressed by Indian activists and their lawyers, claiming that the white man stole their land and now is trying to steal their history. Never mind the facts and the science, move along, nothing to see here. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-05 15:34 |
| #9 Probably just some nitwit kid walking in the wet concrete. Or maybe an early version of the walk of the holywood stars where they put their handprints in wet concrete. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-07-05 15:25 |
| #8 BTW,there have been several occasions when the Siberia-Alaska corridor was passable,including @ 50,000,30,000 and 20,000 yrs ago. Actually, it's not all that clear there ever WAS an ice-free land corridor. Coastal routes are infinitely more likely. Of course, even the most up-to-date museums still peddle the Clovis-first carp. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-05 15:25 |
| #7 Ho. Lee. Sh. It. Gonna be lots of Native American activists popping Tums tonight. This needs to be forwarded to McCain's office; maybe he'll back away from his "bury the bones" bill to change NAGPRA so the tribes can destroy all evidence of the people they replaced. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-05 15:14 |
| #6 Let's see the damn injuns claim a 50,000 year old skeleton of a Homo Robustus as their ancestor... |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-07-05 15:10 |
| #5 CAIR claims them as early American muslims in 5...4...3...2... |
| Posted by: BH 2005-07-05 15:00 |
| #4 I'd say these footprints were made by a BigFoot at the time trying to prove the existence of mythical nearly-hairless biped creatures with little feet..... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-07-05 14:26 |
| #3 Now that we've got it sorted, who gets the real estate for the casino and "cultural" museum? |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-07-05 14:21 |
| #2 There has actually been quite a few sites that suggest a human presence in the America's from 50,000BC on. They all get dismissed as "we're not sure,the data looks right,but we'll have to wait and see." Very tough to get orthodox thought changed in the Universities.(One reason why they are still full of Marxists,etc.) BTW,there have been several occasions when the Siberia-Alaska corridor was passable,including @ 50,000,30,000 and 20,000 yrs ago. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2005-07-05 14:14 |
| #1 Are we sure it wasn't just mammoths with fake human feet like in the Wile E. Coyote cartoons? |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2005-07-05 14:06 |