Archaeologists in Brazil say they have unearthed 25,000- to 27,000-year-old pendants made of bony material from the extinct giant ground sloth Glossotherium phoenesis.
“Most Pleistocene megafauna — mammals with body mass greater than 44 kg — became extinct worldwide by the Pleistocene-Holocene transition,” said senior author Dr. Mírian Pacheco of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos and colleagues.
“The decline and eventual extinction of these megamammals are generally linked to human impact and climate change, but this is a still hotly debated topic for South America.”
“Recent studies have raised new perspectives about human arrival in South America around the Last Glacial Maximum (19,000-26,000 years ago), as well as on its impact on the megafauna there.”
“However, whereas it is currently well accepted that peopling of the Americas happened earlier than the Clovis culture (13,500 years ago), skepticism about human occupation of the Americas earlier than 16,000 years ago still persists.”
“Questions regarding the timing and routes for human dispersal into the Americas remain open to debate, but human dispersal probably followed multiple routes and time frames, including Pacific coastal and inland (ice-free corridor) routes.”
“In this scenario, Late Pleistocene sites containing evidence of early human occupation in South America should be closely scrutinized with interest.”
In their research, the archaeologists examined three modified osteoderms — bony plates embedded in the animal’s skin — of the giant ground sloth Glossotherium phoenesis.
The specimens, which are between 25,100-27,400 years old, were found in the Santa Elina rock shelter in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
The site also yielded a rich and diverse assemblage of human-made limestone and calcite flakes, quartz and silex items, some of which could have been used by humans to perform bone surface alterations.
“The Santa Elina rock shelter in Central…
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