Fossil bones found in Argentina with cut marks, suggestive
of butchering indicate humans are present in Southern South America
some 21,000 years ago. According to researchers that's earlier
than previously thought, the bones are from a large
armadillo relative unearthed in 2015 in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan
Area. A study on the finding was published on
Wednesday. Here's anthropologist and study lead author Mariano Del
Papa. The marks we found are linear with no
more specifications. A detailed analysis let us determine these
were marks of cuts and the only ones who could
make them human beings, they are not marks of
stamping from other animals, not rodents or bites of
carnivores. Another evidence we found is that these bones
had not been disjoint as they preserved their natural joints
. The researchers said the cut marks on the bone
appeared to have been made by people using stone tools
. Though no human fossils were found at the site
. Cut marks were found on the pelvis tail and
body armor of the specimen. The timeline for the
peopling of the Americas has been a matter of debate
. The new findings represent the oldest evidence of both
the presence of Homo sapiens and human interaction with large
animals in Southern South America during the height of the
last ice age, researchers said.