Recently archaeologists unearthed the remains of an ancient armadillo, but that’s not the big archeological discovery. Instead the marks made in the bones are of scientific significance as they are likely the first signs of the human species’ presence in South America.
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00:00These are the remains of an ancient armadillo, but that's not the big archaeological discovery
00:08here.
00:09Instead, the marks made in the bones are of scientific significance, as they are likely
00:12the first signs of the human species' presence in South America.
00:17The researchers say these butchered remains are some 21,000 years old, from the end of
00:21the Pleistocene era.
00:22They were found in what is now Argentina at the southern tip of the continent.
00:26Experts say a thorough analysis of the bones revealed extremely linear cuts through them,
00:31meaning they were not made by the teeth of another animal or by accident.
00:34In fact, the bones were also not disjointed, something which often occurs when being eaten
00:38by an animal, with the researchers adding that the incisions were made with stone tools.
00:43The period when these creatures lived and died by human hands would have been during
00:46the Ice Age, with the species going extinct around 11,000 years ago.
00:50This new revelation challenges the previous dating of Homo sapiens' arrival in South
00:54America.
00:55Still, the archaeologists say no human remains were found at the site, meaning they are still
00:59looking for definitive proof.