Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Butchering Site Under Florida River, New Discovery Pushes Back Human Timeline In America

A collection of artifacts have reportedly been unearthed from an ancient butchering site in Florida by scuba diving archaeologists. The discovery seemingly puts to rest a debate concerning the spread of humans across the Americas.   

The findings are an addition to the ever increasing proof  that humans inhabited the continent much before the Clovis lived here around 13,000 years ago, according to a report. Incidentally, the Clovis culture is a prehistoric Native American culture that flourished in North America during the end of the last Ice Age. The culture gets its name from Clovis, an area near New Mexico, where the first tools excavated in 1932 gave evidence of such a culture having existed.  Until now, it was widely believed that the Clovis were the first Americans.

The new discovery made in the dark depths of a Florida river brought to light a collection of 14,550 years old stone tools. In an excavation carried out at the same site a few years ago, the remains of mastodons, prehistoric elephant like beasts, were also discovered. An unearthed mastodon trunk had marks which were interpreted to be caused by butchering, though it is not clear if the animal was hunted or already dead and its carcass was carved. According to the researchers, the newly found stone tools could have been used to carve up the mastodons.  

Originally, a sinkhole with a pond in the middle, the site was obscured by the Aucilla River. The scuba diving team of archaeologists used suction tube, laser levels and hand trowels to bring up disturbed sediment to the surface for monitoring purposes. Subsequently, six man-made stone artifacts were found, including a knife covered sparsely with organic materials bits that were revealed to be 14,550 years old after radiocarbon dating.

According to researchers, mastodons became extinct due to human hunting. However, the animals did not disappear from the face of the Earth until around 12,600 years ago. The theory suggests that these gigantic beasts lived alongside humans for a few thousand years, which has led to the speculation that humans inhabited the area long before it is believed at the moment.

Currently, there is an ongoing debate about the timeline of humans in America, based on the new discovery as well as the earlier findings from the site. The theory has not been well received by skeptics and has been criticized, however some seem to agree with it and feel that many of the sites dating before 13,500 should be reexamined. "Now that the Clovis-first paradigm has been largely refuted it may be possible to re-validate the original evidence from those sites with careful work, using more modern techniques," said David Madsen, an archaeologist from the University of Texas in Austin.