Paisley Caves Added to National Register Of Historic Places
One of the earliest sites of evidence for human occupation of North America
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Paisley Caves, one of the earliest sites of human occupation in the Americas was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Human coprolites (pieces of fossilized feces) found at the site have been radiocarbon dated to 14,300 years ago, and small stone artifacts also found in the caves were dated to over 12,800 years ago. According to the AP, the DNA results from the coprolites are the “earliest DNA evidence of human habitation in North America.”
Before the finds at Paisley Caves, the Clovis culture who left behind stone projectile points were still considered to be the first people to populate North America, but the Paisley Caves finds predate the Clovis culture by about 1,000 years.
The finds at Paisley Cave remain controversial, though, with a study earlier this year asserting that the coprolites aren’t from humans but are instead from some kind of herbivore.