Evidence of human occupation in Mexico around the Last Glacial Maximum

Ciprian F. Ardelean (), Lorena Becerra-Valdivia, Mikkel Winther Pedersen, Jean-Luc Schwenninger, Charles G. Oviatt, Juan I. Macías-Quintero, Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales, Martin Sikora, Yam Zul E. Ocampo-Díaz, Igor I. Rubio-Cisneros, Jennifer G. Watling, Vanda B. Medeiros, Paulo E. Oliveira, Luis Barba-Pingarón, Agustín Ortiz-Butrón, Jorge Blancas-Vázquez, Irán Rivera-González, Corina Solís-Rosales, María Rodríguez-Ceja, Devlin A. Gandy, Zamara Navarro-Gutierrez, Jesús J. Rosa-Díaz, Vladimir Huerta-Arellano, Marco B. Marroquín-Fernández, L. Martin Martínez-Riojas, Alejandro López-Jiménez, Thomas Higham and Eske Willerslev ()
Additional contact information
Ciprian F. Ardelean: Unidad Académica de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Lorena Becerra-Valdivia: University of Oxford
Mikkel Winther Pedersen: University of Copenhagen
Jean-Luc Schwenninger: University of Oxford
Charles G. Oviatt: Kansas State University
Juan I. Macías-Quintero: Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas
Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Martin Sikora: University of Copenhagen
Yam Zul E. Ocampo-Díaz: Universidad Autónoma de San Luís Potosí
Igor I. Rubio-Cisneros: Grupo de Geología Exógena y del Sedimentario
Jennifer G. Watling: Universidade de São Paulo
Vanda B. Medeiros: Universidade de São Paulo
Paulo E. Oliveira: Universidade de São Paulo
Luis Barba-Pingarón: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Agustín Ortiz-Butrón: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Jorge Blancas-Vázquez: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Irán Rivera-González: Laboratorio de Palinología, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH)
Corina Solís-Rosales: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
María Rodríguez-Ceja: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Devlin A. Gandy: University of Cambridge
Zamara Navarro-Gutierrez: Unidad Académica de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Jesús J. Rosa-Díaz: Unidad Académica de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Vladimir Huerta-Arellano: Unidad Académica de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Marco B. Marroquín-Fernández: Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas
L. Martin Martínez-Riojas: Unidad Académica de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Alejandro López-Jiménez: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Thomas Higham: University of Oxford
Eske Willerslev: University of Copenhagen

Nature, 2020, vol. 584, issue 7819, 87-92

Abstract: Abstract The initial colonization of the Americas remains a highly debated topic1, and the exact timing of the first arrivals is unknown. The earliest archaeological record of Mexico—which holds a key geographical position in the Americas—is poorly known and understudied. Historically, the region has remained on the periphery of research focused on the first American populations2. However, recent investigations provide reliable evidence of a human presence in the northwest region of Mexico3,4, the Chiapas Highlands5, Central Mexico6 and the Caribbean coast7–9 during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs. Here we present results of recent excavations at Chiquihuite Cave—a high-altitude site in central-northern Mexico—that corroborate previous findings in the Americas10–17of cultural evidence that dates to the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500–19,000 years ago)18, and which push back dates for human dispersal to the region possibly as early as 33,000–31,000 years ago. The site yielded about 1,900 stone artefacts within a 3-m-deep stratified sequence, revealing a previously unknown lithic industry that underwent only minor changes over millennia. More than 50 radiocarbon and luminescence dates provide chronological control, and genetic, palaeoenvironmental and chemical data document the changing environments in which the occupants lived. Our results provide new evidence for the antiquity of humans in the Americas, illustrate the cultural diversity of the earliest dispersal groups (which predate those of the Clovis culture) and open new directions of research.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2509-0

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