Archaeologists in Argentina have discovered the oldest evidence of ancient humans in South America, Plos One magazine reported.
According to the magazine, a team of paleontologists discovered in Argentina the remains of a glyptodon, an extinct armored mammal. These remains showed evidence of human influence on the animal dating back about 21,000 years. This is considered the oldest evidence of the presence of humans and their interaction with large animals in South America.
The magazine noted that the animal remains found showed traces of the animal being slaughtered using tools used by humans, and were compared with archaeological remains previously found in other sites in South America, indicating the presence of human remains 8,000 to 15,000 years ago.
The text of the study, some of whose results were published by the journal, read: “Our results are consistent with recent findings showing evidence of human presence in Central America, South America, and North America between 20 and 30 thousand years ago. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of humans in South America in periods up to the Ice Age, and gives us an idea about the emergence of humans in the continents of North and South America.”
According to Plos One magazine, scientists made the discovery as part of a study they conducted on the remains of fossilized glyptodon animals found near the Reconquista River in eastern Buenos Aires in 2015. These animals lived in parts of the continents of North and South America, and became extinct about 10,000 years ago.