Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada
The timing of the first entry of humans into North America is still hotly debated within the scientific community. Excavations conducted at Bluefish Caves (Yukon Territory) from 1977 to 1987 yielded a series of radiocarbon dates that led archaeologists to propose that the initial dispersal of human...
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ftunisfloridatam:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:kip_articles-2594 2023-05-15T18:48:59+02:00 Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada Bourgeon, Lauriane Burke, Ariane Higham, Thomas 2017-01-06T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/1595 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2594&context=kip_articles unknown Digital Commons @ University of South Florida https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/1595 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2594&context=kip_articles KIP Articles Radioactive Carbon Dating Archaeology Archaeological Dating Paleoanthropology Taphonomy Horses Reindeer Loess text 2017 ftunisfloridatam 2022-10-27T17:53:30Z The timing of the first entry of humans into North America is still hotly debated within the scientific community. Excavations conducted at Bluefish Caves (Yukon Territory) from 1977 to 1987 yielded a series of radiocarbon dates that led archaeologists to propose that the initial dispersal of human groups into Eastern Beringia (Alaska and the Yukon Territory) occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This hypothesis proved highly controversial in the absence of other sites of similar age and concerns about the stratigraphy and anthropogenic signature of the bone assemblages that yielded the dates. The weight of the available archaeological evidence suggests that the first peopling of North America occurred ca. 14,000 cal BP (calibrated years Before Present), i.e., well after the LGM. Here, we report new AMS radiocarbon dates obtained on cut-marked bone samples identified during a comprehensive taphonomic analysis of the Bluefish Caves fauna. Our results demonstrate that humans occupied the site as early as 24,000 cal BP (19,650 ± 130 14C BP). In addition to proving that Bluefish Caves is the oldest known archaeological site in North America, the results offer archaeological support for the “Beringian standstill hypothesis”, which proposes that a genetically isolated human population persisted in Beringia during the LGM and dispersed from there to North and South America during the post-LGM period. Text Alaska Beringia Yukon Digital Commons University of South Florida (USF) Yukon Canada |
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Radioactive Carbon Dating Archaeology Archaeological Dating Paleoanthropology Taphonomy Horses Reindeer Loess |
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Radioactive Carbon Dating Archaeology Archaeological Dating Paleoanthropology Taphonomy Horses Reindeer Loess Bourgeon, Lauriane Burke, Ariane Higham, Thomas Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada |
topic_facet |
Radioactive Carbon Dating Archaeology Archaeological Dating Paleoanthropology Taphonomy Horses Reindeer Loess |
description |
The timing of the first entry of humans into North America is still hotly debated within the scientific community. Excavations conducted at Bluefish Caves (Yukon Territory) from 1977 to 1987 yielded a series of radiocarbon dates that led archaeologists to propose that the initial dispersal of human groups into Eastern Beringia (Alaska and the Yukon Territory) occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This hypothesis proved highly controversial in the absence of other sites of similar age and concerns about the stratigraphy and anthropogenic signature of the bone assemblages that yielded the dates. The weight of the available archaeological evidence suggests that the first peopling of North America occurred ca. 14,000 cal BP (calibrated years Before Present), i.e., well after the LGM. Here, we report new AMS radiocarbon dates obtained on cut-marked bone samples identified during a comprehensive taphonomic analysis of the Bluefish Caves fauna. Our results demonstrate that humans occupied the site as early as 24,000 cal BP (19,650 ± 130 14C BP). In addition to proving that Bluefish Caves is the oldest known archaeological site in North America, the results offer archaeological support for the “Beringian standstill hypothesis”, which proposes that a genetically isolated human population persisted in Beringia during the LGM and dispersed from there to North and South America during the post-LGM period. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bourgeon, Lauriane Burke, Ariane Higham, Thomas |
author_facet |
Bourgeon, Lauriane Burke, Ariane Higham, Thomas |
author_sort |
Bourgeon, Lauriane |
title |
Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada |
title_short |
Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada |
title_full |
Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada |
title_sort |
earliest human presence in north america dated to the last glacial maximum: new radiocarbon dates from bluefish caves, canada |
publisher |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/1595 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2594&context=kip_articles |
geographic |
Yukon Canada |
geographic_facet |
Yukon Canada |
genre |
Alaska Beringia Yukon |
genre_facet |
Alaska Beringia Yukon |
op_source |
KIP Articles |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/1595 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2594&context=kip_articles |
_version_ |
1766242404219748352 |