Back to Search Start Over

Clovis age Western Stemmed projectile points and human coprolites at the Paisley Caves.

Authors :
Jenkins DL
Davis LG
Stafford TW Jr
Campos PF
Hockett B
Jones GT
Cummings LS
Yost C
Connolly TJ
Yohe RM 2nd
Gibbons SC
Raghavan M
Rasmussen M
Paijmans JL
Hofreiter M
Kemp BM
Barta JL
Monroe C
Gilbert MT
Willerslev E
Source :
Science (New York, N.Y.) [Science] 2012 Jul 13; Vol. 337 (6091), pp. 223-8.
Publication Year :
2012

Abstract

The Paisley Caves in Oregon record the oldest directly dated human remains (DNA) in the Western Hemisphere. More than 100 high-precision radiocarbon dates show that deposits containing artifacts and coprolites ranging in age from 12,450 to 2295 (14)C years ago are well stratified. Western Stemmed projectile points were recovered in deposits dated to 11,070 to 11,340 (14)C years ago, a time contemporaneous with or preceding the Clovis technology. There is no evidence of diagnostic Clovis technology at the site. These two distinct technologies were parallel developments, not the product of a unilinear technological evolution. "Blind testing" analysis of coprolites by an independent laboratory confirms the presence of human DNA in specimens of pre-Clovis age. The colonization of the Americas involved multiple technologically divergent, and possibly genetically divergent, founding groups.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1095-9203
Volume :
337
Issue :
6091
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
22798611
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1218443