Ice Age hunter-gatherers lived at extreme altitudes

Sites in the Peruvian Andes indicate early Americans adapted quickly to high life

volcano Nevado Coropuna in Peruvian Andes

INTO THIN AIR  After finding two Ice Age archaeological sites in the Peruvian Andes, near the volcano Nevado Coropuna (shown), researchers have determined hunter-gatherers inhabited extreme high altitudes earlier than thought.

Kurt Rademaker

Hunter-gatherers inhabited high-altitude settings nearly a millennium earlier than archaeologists thought, researchers discovered.