News Archaeology

New clues suggest people reached the Americas around 30,000 years ago

Ancient bones from a Mexican rock-shelter point to humans arriving earlier than often assumed

Coxcatlan Cave entrance

New radiocarbon dates for rabbit bones excavated in the 1960s at Mexico’s Coxcatlan Cave (shown here) raise the possibility that humans lived there roughly 30,000 years ago.

Andrew D. Somerville

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Humans may have inhabited what’s now southern Mexico surprisingly early, between 33,448 and 28,279 years ago, researchers say.