Humans in the Americas 130,000 years ago?

[IsaacNewton]

Humans Lived in North America 130,000 Years Ago, Study Claims
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Prehistoric humans — perhaps Neanderthals or another lost species — occupied what is now California some 130,000 years ago, a team of scientists reported on Wednesday.

The bold and fiercely disputed claim, published in the journal Nature, is based on a study of mastodon bones discovered near San Diego. If the scientists are right, they would significantly alter our understanding of how humans spread around the planet.
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The common view is that humans settled the Americas around 12,000 years ago, so this is quite a bit further back.

Basically, they found mastodon bones that had been smashed open, near rocks that could have done the smashing, on a site dated to 130,000 years ago. The theory is that no animal except humans could have done the smashing

However, I don't buy it.

First, the site is notable for what it lacks, which is chipped stone tools. Early humans _always_ had chipped stone tools around. They weren't as advanced as the later flint tools, but they were still quite serviceable. Use of such tools dates back to before Homo Sapiens evolved, and they are always found at human-occupied sites. They're not found at this site.

Second, there is something other than humans that could smash up mastodon bones and rocks quite nicely. Other mastodons. Step, crunch. It happens now with elephants when they tread on elephant bones.

I saw this and was immediately skeptical as well. If it were say 30,000 years ago you'd go 'meh, possible', but 130,000 years ago is crossing into territory no one's been. Homo sapiens are thought to have evolved bewteen 100,000 and 200,000 years ago but DNA shows it happened in Africa and then spread worldwide with humans crossing the Bering Straight land bridge to the Americas 10,000 + years ago. So we'll see, science isn't afraid to uncover every stone and go where the story leads.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Humans either evolved in Africa totally black like modern gorillas and moved north becoming totally white, or vice versa.

Could have happened either way.

Eventually the Asiatic's walked across a land bridge somewhere into the Western Hemisphere.

The land bridge could have been anywhere -- Alaska, Canada, Brazil, or even Antarctica.

But since the native North and South Americans look Asiatic it was probably Alaska.

Just a question what color is a gorilla if you shave it black or pink?




.

 

[I amso IR]

"Oh Solon, Solon... you Greeks are like children; you don't even know you're own history!"

I love it, good lick! The Greeks aren't and were not the only dumb asses on the face of this earth. We have our share today. Cannot measure it or see it, it simply isn't so. Hosspuckey!!!

 

[Old Rocks]

Humans Lived in North America 130,000 Years Ago, Study Claims
---
Prehistoric humans — perhaps Neanderthals or another lost species — occupied what is now California some 130,000 years ago, a team of scientists reported on Wednesday.

The bold and fiercely disputed claim, published in the journal Nature, is based on a study of mastodon bones discovered near San Diego. If the scientists are right, they would significantly alter our understanding of how humans spread around the planet.
---

The common view is that humans settled the Americas around 12,000 years ago, so this is quite a bit further back.

Basically, they found mastodon bones that had been smashed open, near rocks that could have done the smashing, on a site dated to 130,000 years ago. The theory is that no animal except humans could have done the smashing

However, I don't buy it.

First, the site is notable for what it lacks, which is chipped stone tools. Early humans _always_ had chipped stone tools around. They weren't as advanced as the later flint tools, but they were still quite serviceable. Use of such tools dates back to before Homo Sapiens evolved, and they are always found at human-occupied sites. They're not found at this site.

Second, there is something other than humans that could smash up mastodon bones and rocks quite nicely. Other mastodons. Step, crunch. It happens now with elephants when they tread on elephant bones.

I saw this and was immediately skeptical as well. If it were say 30,000 years ago you'd go 'meh, possible', but 130,000 years ago is crossing into territory no one's been. Homo sapiens are thought to have evolved bewteen 100,000 and 200,000 years ago but DNA shows it happened in Africa and then spread worldwide with humans crossing the Bering Straight land bridge to the Americas 10,000 + years ago. So we'll see, science isn't afraid to uncover every stone and go where the story leads.

The hypothesis is that it was Neanderthals or Denisovians. The hypothesis needs far more support in evidence than it has so far. Interesting, but not earth shaking.