Wednesday

Radiocarbon tests of carbonized plant remains where artifacts were unearthed last May along the Savannah River in Allendale County by University of South Carolina archaeologist Dr. Albert Goodyear indicate that the sediments containing these artifacts are at least 50,000 years old, meaning that humans inhabited North American long before the last ice age.

"The dates could actually be older," Goodyear says. "Fifty-thousand should be a minimum age since there may be little detectable activity left."

The dawn of modern homo sapiens occurred in Africa between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago. Evidence of modern man's migration out of the African continent has been documented in Australia and Central Asia at 50,000 years and in Europe at 40,000 years. The fact that humans could have been in North America at or near the same time is expected to spark debate among archaeologists worldwide, raising new questions on the origin and migration of the human species.

Last May, Goodyear dug even deeper to see whether man's existence extended further back in time. Using a backhoe and hand excavations, Goodyear's team dug through the Pleistocene terrace soil, some 4 meters below the ground surface. Goodyear found a number of artifacts similar to the pre-Clovis forms he has excavated in recent years.


"Three radiocarbon dates were obtained from deep in the terrace at Topper with two dates of 50,300 and 51,700 on burnt plant remains. One modern date related to an intrusion," Stafford says. "The two 50,000 dates indicate that they are at least 50,300 years. The absolute age is not known."


The revelation of an even older date for Topper is expected to heighten speculation about when man got to the Western Hemisphere and add to the debate over other pre-Clovis sites in the Eastern United States such as Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Pa., and Cactus Hill, Va.


Radiocarbon dating report indicates that artifacts excavated from Pleistocene terrace in May were recovered from soil that dates some 50,000 years. The dates imply an even earlier human presence in this hemisphere than previously believed, well before the last ice age.
Source


Story Source: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University Of South Carolina. 

Dr. Al Goodyear examining artifacts in the terrace. Credit: Photo courtesy of University of South Carolina

Responses to "New Evidence Puts Man In North America 50,000 Years Ago"

  1. Sara says:

    And the dates will continue to get earlier and earlier...

  2. http://www.dailymedia.info/40000-year-old-bracelet-made-by-extinct-human-species-found/

  3. Unknown says:

    Humans as a species like to wander around. Just because there isn't any "written" evidence so someone passing through a valley doesn't mean they didn't. I am sure the ancestors traveled all around the globe in the ancient past. The archaeologists will keep finding more surprises as time goes on.

  4. Dreamokwa says:

    Le temps fait son oeuvre et des révélations qui vont vivement chambouler les origines des peuples d'Amérique.

  5. Unknown says:

    Our native side of the story will one day realized by all sciences. It's their ignorance and superiority that gets in the way. . . Just think of all the great that could have come from the truth. - Joseph Horse (Oglala Lakota)

  6. Unknown says:

    Our native side of the story will one day realized by all sciences. It's their ignorance and superiority that gets in the way. . . Just think of all the great that could have come from the truth. - Joseph Horse (Oglala Lakota)

  7. Anonymous says:

    We've been here just as europeans been over there..

  8. Anonymous says:

    Lenape stories go back at least 40,000 years, to the time of the giants.

  9. Anonymous says:

    To find artefacts of humans in the sediments which are dated 50000 years BC is not a proove for human presence at this time. The question is how the artefacts came to this level of ground. Maybe the artefacts have been dug 3 or 6 feet deep into the earth by humans 30000 years later during a funeral or offering.

  10. Unknown says:

    Wish to thank Al for his great work over the years at Topper. We are always on a quest. Adjacent to the Topper area and in the middle of the state in southern Lexington County there is a cluster of sites, Peachtree Rock, the Village at Black Creeks, the Narrows and the ancient meeting place of The Indian Head at Big Pond Branch. Archaeologists associated with USC and other universities have dated these places conservatively at 10,000 BP but interesting things are being found now at about 9' below.... What is interesting is that in the 1700s Native Americans and George Washington and other politicos like William Bull of South Carolina worked together to preserve this place that was an ancestral place to the Creeks... Mvto MJ

  11. Anonymous says:

    That peoples were in South America 30000-50000 yrs ago has been presented time and time again by a small groups of researchers but the main camp would not budge off of the Bering Strait hypothesis

  12. Anonymous says:

    And how will the ancient astronaut theorists explain this now?

  13. Monteen says:

    In other words, we are but mere piss ants on the cosmic radar screen...

  14. Andy says:

    They need to link "burnt plant remains" to humans. Forest fires happened all the time.

  15. Such negativity in spite of evidence. Get over yourselves. Homosapiens have existed barely in the last 60-80,000 years. Out of africa. Why arent these racist disputing that theory? Why can't they believe the Americas were civilized before columbus? If anything we are the new kids on the block. Millions of years of evolution and humans are the final product that took less than 100,000 to destroy this planet. Get real. Obvious alien influence otherwise how could dinosaurs not evolve after being here for millions of years?

  16. history is absolutely fascinating

  17. 1sbwa says:

    So years ago South America reported that their digs in 3 places showed people here over 50,000 years ago and were dark skinned. And their blood line still was there complete with stories.
    I hat they lived it seems in peace for thousands of years till new people came and attacked them and killed and ran them off their land and into hiding.
    Now they know when this was and who because of bones of another race show up later.
    But of course that also goes for the paintings of bison in Spain in caves. You know those animals no place but North America. Only why would a people painting bison?
    Why in Australia are there rock paintings in a desert older than 50,000 years of boats?

  18. If People were here so long ago, why didn't they fully occupy the continent? All the post-Clovis folks fully occupied the continent (and I don't think there's ever been any lack of shortly-post-Clovis sites), so if there are these few pre-Clovis sites, why didn't they engage in the human passion for population growth and populate more sites? And if the old sites are 50,000 years old, the pre-Clovis had 37,000 years to litter the place with kill- and camp-sites, compared with only 13,000 years for all the paleo- and neo-indians, and there's plenty of nonhuman paleontology from those 37,000 years.

  19. Unknown says:

    We where put where the Creator wanted us...after he made us clothes of skins..

  20. Unknown says:

    1sbwa, there were are are bison in Europe.

  21. Wejitu says:

    The Algonguian language group stretches from Atlantic coast west to Manitoba not from west coast to the east. This means we came to Turtle Island via a northern route on the north side of the Great Ice Shert.

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