Sunday, April 6, 2008

Fossil faeces pinpoint earliest North Americans : Nature News

This news item on 14,000 year old feces is being reported widely and is quite cool. While pre-Clovis artifacts are often contentious due to the lack of clear stylistic patterns (except, perhaps, for the Mungai Knife and Lively Complex stuff), the presence of human DNA in 14,000 year old poop is fairly conclusive evidence for a pre-Clovis north American human occupation. Of course, archaeologists (starting with Krieger) have been arguing this for a long time but the Clovis-first, elephant-munching model has held tremendous public intrigue and longevity. This new information should soundly vindicate Jim Adavasio who has suffered for a long time with his pre-Clovis evidence at Meadowcroft, PA. Fossil faeces pinpoint earliest North Americans : Nature News]

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