Earliest Human Evidence in Bolivian Amazon: 8000 Years Older Than Thought
Researchers have discovered the earliest evidence yet of humans living in the Bolivian Amazon, putting the first known human habitation of the region at about 8000 years earlier than was previously thought.
By Sunanda Creagh
The new finding, which centres on data gathered from middens in the often-flooded Bolivian grasslands, puts the date of the earliest known human habitation of the area at 10,400 years ago.
The study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, involved excavation of three middens in the Bolivian Amazon that revealed layers of freshwater snail shells, animal bones and charcoal topped by newer layers containing human bones, bone tools and pottery.
Katherine Szabo, Principal Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong and a co-author of the new study, said that the finding showed these early human groups were able to adapt to difficult environments.
“It was a watery habitat, which has a major effect on the distribution of animals they would be hunting. Any humans groups living there necessarily would have to be really mobile as well,” she said.
“Because it’s such a difficult location, no one thought there would be early human occupation there. Other sites where evidence of human occupation had been found were close to coasts, river banks, forests and places with plentiful resources.”
By Sunanda Creagh
The new finding, which centres on data gathered from middens in the often-flooded Bolivian grasslands, puts the date of the earliest known human habitation of the area at 10,400 years ago.
The study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, involved excavation of three middens in the Bolivian Amazon that revealed layers of freshwater snail shells, animal bones and charcoal topped by newer layers containing human bones, bone tools and pottery.
Katherine Szabo, Principal Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong and a co-author of the new study, said that the finding showed these early human groups were able to adapt to difficult environments.
“It was a watery habitat, which has a major effect on the distribution of animals they would be hunting. Any humans groups living there necessarily would have to be really mobile as well,” she said.
“Because it’s such a difficult location, no one thought there would be early human occupation there. Other sites where evidence of human occupation had been found were close to coasts, river banks, forests and places with plentiful resources.”
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