Rediscovering America
The New World may be 20,000 years older than experts thought
Sources: Dennis Stanford, Smithsonian Institution; W. Richard Peltier, University of Toronto; Mountain High Maps
[Photo captions]: Avella, Pa. Peeling back the past. James Adovasio records neatly labeled strata at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, a place where over the past 25 years he has excavated tens of thousands of artifacts such as these. Some of his finds may be approaching 17,000 years old.
Monte Verde, Chile. Authenticating a find. A team of prominent archaeologist who last year gathered at this long-contested site say that objects found there, including this throwing stone nestled in twine, prove that people had migrated to the tip of South America at least 12,500 years ago.
Kenosha County, Wis. Bone tales. A stone tool found with this woolly mammoth leg bone matches marks on the bone, suggesting that people were killing animals along the southern edge of the ice sheet 13,000 years ago.
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