New research suggests early humans may have been in North America 130,000 years ago, based on mastodon bones found in San Diego in 1992. The bones show signs of impact and were found near five large stones that may have been used as hammers and anvils. Attempts at radiocarbon dating were unsuccessful, so uranium-thorium dating was used instead.
Paleontologists examining mastodon bones found in the San Diego area in 1992 recently proposed that what we know about early humans in North America may be all wrong. In a study published this year in the journal Nature, the research team say they see evidence of early man in North America dating back around 130,000 years. Previous research pegged the arrival of early man on the continent at around 24,000 years ago, so the much earlier date is controversial, to say the least. The new research is based on the fact that the mastodon’s bones – including two tusks, three molars, 16 ribs and more than 300 bone fragments – show signs of impact, suggesting they were hit with hard objects. In fact, the researchers also found five “huge stones,” which they say may have been used as hammers and anvils.
The Mystery of the Mastodon Bones:
Two distinct clusters of broken mastodon bones surrounded the stones, suggesting to the researchers that the bones had been shattered at that location.
Some of the crushed bones contained spiral fractures, indicating they were broken while still “fresh,” the authors wrote.
Attempts at radiocarbon dating were unsuccessful because the bones did not have enough carbon-containing collagen. Instead, the researchers used uranium-thorium dating, a technique often used to check dates derived from radiocarbon dating.
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