Fossilized bones from a relative big armadillo found in Argentina with cut marks suggesting slaughter indicate that humans were present in South America around 21,000 years ago, according to researchers, an earlier period than previously estimated.
The bones were from a herbivorous mammal with large armor called Neosclerocalyptus, part of a group called glyptodons that inhabited the Americas for more than 30 million years before becoming extinct at the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago.
The researchers stated that the cuts in the bones appear to have been made by people using stone instruments. This indicates strong evidence of the presence of our species, Homo sapiensalthough no human fossils have been found at the site.
Glyptodonts are relatives of current armadillosalthough much larger — some species even had the size of a small car. They had large bone armor, reminiscent of a turtle shell, as well as a kind of helmet, as well as a strong tail and short limbs.
Neosclerocalyptus were one of the smallest species. The individual in this study was 180 cm long and weighed about 300 kg. Marks on the bone were found in the regions of the pelvis, tail and armor.
“The location of the cuts is consistent with the slaughter sequence which focuses on regions with a lot of meat, that is, the cuts were not distributed randomly, but focused on elements of the skeleton that contained large muscle groups such as the pelvis and tail. It is a typical pattern seen in the animal slaughter process,” said anthropologist Miguel Delgado, from the National University of La Plata, senior author of the study published this Wednesday (17) in the journal PLOS ONE.
The shapes of the cuts are also consistent with those created using cut types. chipped stone tools and stone hammers, added Delgado. Anthropologist and study leader Mariano del Papa, from the National University of La Plata, said that “the only ones capable of making (these types of marks) are humans.”
The timeline for occupation of the Americas is a topic of intense debate, with some recent discoveries indicating that humans arrived much earlier than initially estimated. The role of humans in the extinction of several large mammals in the Americas has also been the subject of controversy. Neosclerocalyptus fossils are among the oldest evidence of human interaction with these large Ice Age animals.
“Until recently, the traditional model suggested that modern humans (Homo sapiens) entered the Americas 16,000 years ago, so most archaeological evidence has been placed within that time period. In recent years, new evidence indicates earlier human presence,” said Delgado.
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