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Humans

Butchered bones hint humans were in South America 21,000 years ago

Prehistoric mammal bones found at a construction site in Argentina appear to have been cut with stone tools, suggesting that humans lived in the region much earlier than previously thought

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre

17 July 2024

Depiction of ancient humans butchering a glyptodont in South America 21,000 years ago

Damián Voglino, Museo de Ciencias Naturales A. Scasso (Colegio Don Bosco), San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Provincia de Buenos Aires (CC-BY 4.0)

Marks found on the 21,000-year-old bones of a giant, armadillo-like animal in Argentina may be the oldest evidence of humans in southern South America.

If confirmed through additional excavation and research, the findings could push back the date humans were known to be living in the area by about five millennia, to the end of the last glacial period. That would…

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