http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346049,00.html
Fossil Feces Push Back Earliest Date of Humans in Americas
Thursday, April 03, 2008
WASHINGTON - New evidence shows humans lived in North America more than
14,000 years ago, 1,000 years earlier than had previously been known.
Discovered in a cave in Oregon, fossil feces yielded DNA indicating these
early residents were related to people living in Siberia and East Asia,
according to a report in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science.
"This is the first time we have been able to get dates that are undeniably
human, and they are 1,000 years before Clovis," said Dennis L. Jenkins, a
University of Oregon archaeologist, referring to the Clovis culture, well
known for its unique spear-points that have been studied previously.
Humans are widely believed to have arrived in North America from Asia over a
land-bridge between Alaska and Siberia during a warmer period. A variety of
dates has been proposed and some are in dispute.
Few artifacts were found in the cave, leading Jenkins to speculate that
these people stayed there only a few days at a time before moving on,
perhaps following game animals or looking for other food.
