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People Were in America 14,000 Years Ago

By MAGGIE FOX,
Reuters
Posted: 2008-04-03 16:08:11
Filed Under: Science News
WASHINGTON (April 3) - DNA from ancient human feces found in a cave in Oregon provides biological verification that people were in North America 14,000 years ago, researchers said on Thursday.

The findings, published in the journal Science, add to growing evidence that people were living in the Americas earlier than the once widely accepted date of 13,000 years ago, based on bones from the so-called Clovis culture in the southwestern United States.

"The dates of the coprolites are more than 1,000 years earlier than currently accepted dates for the Clovis-complex," the researchers wrote.

Dennis Jenkins, a senior archaeologist at the University of Oregon, found the dried-out samples in caves known as the Paisley Caves, about 220 miles southeast of Eugene, Ore., on the eastern side of the Cascade mountain range.

In with the dried-out samples of excrement, known as coprolites, are sinew and plant fiber threads, hide, basketry, cords, rope, wooden pegs and animal bones.

Jenkins got an international team of experts to sample and date the excrement. Two different teams carbon-dated the feces, and others examined the DNA in them.

"The Paisley Cave material represents, to the best of my knowledge, the oldest human DNA obtained from the Americas," said Eske Willerslev, director of the Center for Ancient Genetics at Denmark's University of Copenhagen, who helped analyze the DNA.

"This is actually, in our view, the first well-supported evidence humans were there," her colleague Thomas Gilbert agreed in a telephone interview. "We have got enough information to say they are from Native Americans."

The issue of when humans first arrived in the Americas is contentious. Most experts agree they migrated from Siberia over a land bridge that once existed in what is now the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia.

The best evidence is from the Clovis culture.

"At Clovis there are human remains everywhere. There are either human remains or there are stone tools," said Gilbert.

"Before Clovis, there's almost nothing. There are things like a bone that has got cut marks on it and if you want to believe that humans were there you say a knife made it and if you want to believe humans weren't there you say it came from the bite from a lion."

One archeological site in Monte Verde, Chile, may date as far back as 33,000 years ago, and in 2004, Albert Goodyear of the University of South Carolina said carbon dating of apparently burnt plant remains found in his state showed they may be as old as 50,000 years -- a very controversial finding.

Genetic and linguistic studies tend to put the date of the migration at about 15,000 years ago, which fits in with evidence of when glaciers would have receded and cleared the strait for people to pass. Other genetic studies of modern Native Americans suggests their DNA lineage dates to about 15,000 years ago.

"Not only have we got Native American DNA, we have got it right at the beginning of the groups," Gilbert said.

Gilbert said with more and better DNA samples they may be able to date the mitochondrial DNA -- inherited directly from the mother -- of whoever left them in the cave.

Some of the coprolites contain DNA from foxes, wolves or coyotes. Gilbert says it is possible the people ate such animals, or that some of the coprolites came from animals that ate human or human remains.

"Whether the human ate the dog or the dog ate the human, it doesn't matter," he said.

Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-04-03 15:15:30
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o7734 04:55:46 AM Apr 14 2008

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aint that some shit !?

machineguys81 07:01:24 AM Apr 12 2008

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Clovis points have been found in many places in Europe. Leading science to believe the technology of flint knapping was brought into the america's threw migration. The largest concentrations were found in the Maryland peninsula basin. A fabulous National Geographic presentation was called out of Africa which clearly traces human migration around the globe threw DNA mapping. Spear making enabled early humans to hunt and take game. The consumption of meat and protien gave rise to each generations increasing intellect. The smart and strong survived while the weak and slow perished.

barrentj 06:33:08 PM Apr 08 2008

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Genesis is God's way of dumbing down his creation so that Moses could get it into his head and write it down.
If you think the Bible is everything that God is, then your god is way too small.
How else could the concept of DNA (Adam's rib, er... 'RIBosome) or the concept of 'billions of years' actually be told to Moses? Seven days is just as meaningful.
God is much greater than a mere human's translation into a book, so don't get too literal with it. I believe "just grab the big picture" is what He's telling us.

mikeythemugger 01:36:56 PM Apr 08 2008

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Truth is not alway easy to take for anyone with a closed MIND. Blabbering the only blabbering done is when someone denies the truth in front of them. The BIBLE was written not given to man and a so called Pagan did it in fact edit it. So as I said LEARN. The Bible is a book, a history book edited to make a point. NOT ABSOLUTE GOSPEL it was decreed that way by force remember NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUESTION. Read Learn and try and read something other than dogma. Try a science book oh wait they lie, cheat and are not agreeing with your words. I forgot sorry.

giraudgene 12:05:14 PM Apr 08 2008

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Hey Mikey, (mikeythemugger), you might want to learn proper phonics and spelling before you go public with your babbeling.

sammy12soc 07:21:11 PM Apr 07 2008

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the bible is true people!

cummingswho 04:24:30 PM Apr 07 2008

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man was here( Americas ) long before 14000 years ago. You are just looking in the wrong places. Look to the South.

johnntravis 03:23:05 PM Apr 07 2008

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iF THERE ARE ONLY 3 VOTES HERE, HOW CAN PERCENTAGE BE 86% TO 14%?

mikeythemugger 02:01:14 PM Apr 07 2008

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As usual you do not even know the book you quote read the following and LEARN
"The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great" (p. 231). If this is true, the Bible we have ...
Do a goggle search and you will find the truth. Constantine the Great a ROMAN PAGAN emperior after his conversion commissioned the current version of the Bible everyone pounds as if they are write. So have fun Christans have a very LONG history of stealing events/dates/ideas from pagans and the book you pronnounce as truth is actually someone elses idea.

annedyth 06:58:06 PM Apr 06 2008

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Who says"s*** does not last" ...
Good for interestin g news and a laugh!
never to be forgotten.

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