The find turned out to be one of the oldest skeletons found in America. The problem of the initial settlement of America has been the focus of attention of archaeologists and anthropologists for decades.
There are two main versions. According to the first, people came to America no earlier than 14-16 thousand years ago. According to the second version, this happened much earlier: up to 50 thousand years ago, but there were several large waves of migration. The authors of one of the recent studies completely postpone this event by 130 thousand years in the past, based on the shape of the marks on the bones of the mastodon.
A group of German and Mexican scientists have discovered another argument in favor of the first version of the settlement of the New World. The material for the study was about 150 fragments of human bones found in the underwater cave of Chan Hol, not far from the ruins of Tulum, one of the Mayan cities.
The skeleton in this cave was discovered by divers in 2012. When archaeologists arrived at the site a month later, it turned out that the remains had been stolen. Only fragments of bones and a fragment of a pelvic bone remained in the cave, which had grown into one of the cave's stalagmites. Thanks to modern dating methods, scientists were able to determine the age of even small fragments of bones: about 13 thousand years. Scientists suggest that the inhabitant of the now flooded cave was a young man. When he died, the sea level was much lower than it is now, and Chan Hol Cave was on the surface.
The seawater washed out almost all the collagen from the bones, so it was impossible to measure the level of certain carbon isotopes in it. Instead, scientists looked at the level of uranium and thorium in calcite, the mineral that makes up the cave stalagmite. Comparing this information with data on other cave rocks, scientists have obtained a date of about 13 thousand years.
If the research is correct, the Chang Hol skeleton is one of the oldest bone specimens found in America. To clarify the dating, the researchers plan to use DNA isolated from several teeth found in the cave.
