genetic evidence

Evidence excavated from a fertile archaeological site in Brazil known as Vale da Pedra Furada may force researchers to re-evaluate existing theories about when modern humans first arrived in South America. The evidence in question is a single stone tool, with rare features that make it clear the object was man-made. This unusual tool was removed from a stratigraphic layer at Vale da Pedra Furada that has been reliably dated to at least 24,000 years in the past. It is unlike any other artifact found in this region, or anywhere else in South America for that matter. “Until now, the official North American archeology considered that the first settlers arrived in America 15,000 years ago,” said Ignacio Clemente-Conte, an archaeologist