A network of caves in rural Oregon, known as the Paisley caves, may contain archaeological evidence of the oldest definitively-dated human presence in North America, according to a Reuters news release. The site was first studied in the 1930s, but new scientific excavations and analyses have uncovered significant discoveries that suggest an ancient human population reached what is now the United States at the end of the last Ice Age.
Evidence comes from radiocarbon dating of more than 200 samples of coprolites (fossilized human feces), which were found in a stratigraphic layer in one of the Paisley caves that was at the same level as a small rock-lined hearth some 7 feet (2 m) below the modern surface. At that level was also discovered a large number of bones from waterfowl, fish, and large mammals including extinct camel and horse.
- See more at: Ancient Oregon caves may change understanding of human habitation in Americas | Ancient Origins
Evidence comes from radiocarbon dating of more than 200 samples of coprolites (fossilized human feces), which were found in a stratigraphic layer in one of the Paisley caves that was at the same level as a small rock-lined hearth some 7 feet (2 m) below the modern surface. At that level was also discovered a large number of bones from waterfowl, fish, and large mammals including extinct camel and horse.
- See more at: Ancient Oregon caves may change understanding of human habitation in Americas | Ancient Origins
