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Ardelean CF, Becerra-Valdivia L, Pedersen MW, Schwenninger JL, Oviatt CG, Macías-Quintero JI, Arroyo-Cabrales J, Sikora M, Ocampo-Díaz YZE, Rubio-Cisneros II, Watling JG, de Medeiros VB, De Oliveira PE, Barba-Pingarón L, Ortiz-Butrón A, Blancas-Vázquez J, Rivera-González I, Solís-Rosales C, Rodríguez-Ceja M, Gandy DA, Navarro-Gutierrez Z, De La Rosa-Díaz JJ, Huerta-Arellano V, Marroquín-Fernández MB, Martínez-Riojas LM, López-Jiménez A, Higham T, Willerslev E. Evidence of human occupation in Mexico around the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature 2020; 584:87-92. [PMID: 32699412 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2509-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The initial colonization of the Americas remains a highly debated topic1, and the exact timing of the first arrivals is unknown. The earliest archaeological record of Mexico-which holds a key geographical position in the Americas-is poorly known and understudied. Historically, the region has remained on the periphery of research focused on the first American populations2. However, recent investigations provide reliable evidence of a human presence in the northwest region of Mexico3,4, the Chiapas Highlands5, Central Mexico6 and the Caribbean coast7-9 during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs. Here we present results of recent excavations at Chiquihuite Cave-a high-altitude site in central-northern Mexico-that corroborate previous findings in the Americas10-17of cultural evidence that dates to the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500-19,000 years ago)18, and which push back dates for human dispersal to the region possibly as early as 33,000-31,000 years ago. The site yielded about 1,900 stone artefacts within a 3-m-deep stratified sequence, revealing a previously unknown lithic industry that underwent only minor changes over millennia. More than 50 radiocarbon and luminescence dates provide chronological control, and genetic, palaeoenvironmental and chemical data document the changing environments in which the occupants lived. Our results provide new evidence for the antiquity of humans in the Americas, illustrate the cultural diversity of the earliest dispersal groups (which predate those of the Clovis culture) and open new directions of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ciprian F Ardelean
- Unidad Académica de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico. .,Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
| | - Lorena Becerra-Valdivia
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Chronos 14C-Cycle Facility, SSEAU, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Jean-Luc Schwenninger
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Charles G Oviatt
- Department of Geology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
| | - Juan I Macías-Quintero
- Escuela de Arqueología, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico
| | - Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales
- Laboratorio de Arqueozoología, Subdirección de Laboratorios y Apoyo Académico, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Martin Sikora
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Yam Zul E Ocampo-Díaz
- Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de San Luís Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.,Grupo de Geología Exógena y del Sedimentario, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
| | | | - Jennifer G Watling
- Laboratório de Arqueologia dos Trópicos, Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vanda B de Medeiros
- Laboratório de Micropaleontologia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo E De Oliveira
- Laboratório de Micropaleontologia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Botany Department, The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Luis Barba-Pingarón
- Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas (IIA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Agustín Ortiz-Butrón
- Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas (IIA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Jorge Blancas-Vázquez
- Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas (IIA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Irán Rivera-González
- Laboratorio de Palinología, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Corina Solís-Rosales
- Laboratorio de Espectrometría de Masas con Aceleradores, Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - María Rodríguez-Ceja
- Laboratorio de Espectrometría de Masas con Aceleradores, Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Devlin A Gandy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Alejandro López-Jiménez
- Laboratorio de Arqueozoología, Subdirección de Laboratorios y Apoyo Académico, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Thomas Higham
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Eske Willerslev
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. .,Welcome Trust, Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK. .,The Danish Institute for Advanced Study, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. .,Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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