Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → Anthropology

Archaeological evidence attests second founding group in North America, besides Clovis culture

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
July 13, 2012
in Anthropology, Archaeology, Research

Scientists from U.S., Britain and Denmark have recently reported in a new study that conclusive evidence, in the form of stone tools and human DNA, attests the presence of a second stone age culture in North America, separate from the Clovis culture, the earliest human society discovered and confirmed thus far.

Three bases for Western Stemmed projectiles from the Paisley Caves in Oregon. The bases date to some 13,000 years ago. (c) Jim Barlow
Three bases for Western Stemmed projectiles from the Paisley Caves in Oregon. The bases date to some 13,000 years ago. (c) Jim Barlow

The findings were made in Paisley Caves, on the east side of the Cascade Range, near the town of Paisley a few years ago, but only after extensive analysis and scrutiny could the researchers make this pertinent conclusion. One that significantly changes anthropologists’ view of North American stone age civilization dispersion and human migration patterns in the continent. According to the scientists, the two cultures, Paisley and Clovis, the latter of which is named after the town of Clovis, Mexico where the first findings were made at the time, shared the continent more than 13,000 years ago.

The Clovis culture found in the southeast and interior U.S employed elegantly chipped stone points, whose bases are distinctly concave where they were tied to the wooden shafts of spears or throwing darts for hunting. At Paisley, archaeologists found narrow-stemmed spear points shaped by different flaking techniques – very much dissimilar to those found in Clovis, from roughly the same period. The researchers suggest that two groups coexisted independently on the continent.

“These two distinct technologies were parallel developments, not the product of a unilinear technological evolution,” the research team, led by Dennis L. Jenkins of the University of Oregon, concluded in the report. “The colonization of the Americas involved multiple technologically divergent, and possibly genetically divergent, founding groups.”

Until now, most western stemmed projectiles with accurate dating have been younger than Clovis artifacts, leading to theories the two technologies evolved from a single source. These latest findings seem to point towards an opposite direction.

Besides the stone points, the scientists involved in the study also studied the DNA found in coprolites, or dried feces, found in the cave, which pointed to Siberian-East Asian origins of the people.

“We seem to have two different traditions coexisting in the United States that did not blend for a period of hundreds of years,” Dr. Jenkins said.

DNA cannot be directly dated with radiocarbon technology, however the researchers instead used the fibers from the coprolites, residue of the food the cave dwellers had eaten, to date them. Any contaminating carbon was washed out of the coprolites with distilled water. In the end, the scientists found that some coprolite samples, along with one of the Western Stemmed points, was dated to 13,000 to 13,200 years ago. So far, the researchers have extracted only mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from the mother, but this “definitely suggests,” he said, that these people were from Asia and could be related to today’s Native Americans.

“We are trying to retrieve nuclear DNA from the site,” he added, which should provide more precise information about who are the “closest contemporary people” associated with the cave dwellers.

The findings were reported in the journal Science.

source: NY TIMES

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Spectacular Archaeological Discovery: Lost City Belonging to Mysterious Culture Discovered in the Honduran Rain Forest
  2. There’s a fourth tribe of founding European forefathers
  3. Sea levels rise at fastest rate since the founding of Roman empire
  4. Anglo-Saxons were largely a group of immigrants unified by language and culture — not genetics
  5. The dead center of North America is serendipitously located in a small town called Center, North Dakota
Tags: Clovis culture

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW