Excavations at the site in the coastal city of São Luís,
Excavations at the site in the coastal city of São Luís, Brazil uncovered thousands of artifacts left by ancient peoples up to 9,000 years ago. Archaeologists unearthed 43 human skeletons and more than 100,000 artifacts at an excavation site in the coastal city of São Luís in northeastern Brazil. Scientists have long debated precisely when and how humans arrived in and populated the Americas from Asia. The archaeological site is much older than the oldest documented “pre-sambaqui” settlement found so far in the region, dating back 6,600 years. The findings suggest that people settled in this part of modern-day Brazil at least 1,400 years earlier than previously thought. However, the artifacts have only been dated based on their depth, and confirmatory isotopic analysis has yet to be performed. The lead archaeologist on the dig, Wellington Lage said the find might “rewrite the history of human settlement in Brazil”. The archaeological site was found when a team ...