> CNN is reporting an archaeological dig in South Carolina that hasdiscovered flint stone tools in conjunction with burned plant materialradio carbon dated at 50,000 years ago. This would put the date at which the Americas were populated back another 30,000 years, which would be before the last ice age where a land bridge across the Bering Strait was available.
Actually, the ice age got going about 2.5 million years ago. About 100,000 years ago was the peak of the last warm interval prior to the present one. 60,000 to 50,000 years would have been into the latest colder interval, with lower sea level than present, though I'd have to look up details to know how low it was when and how deep the Bering Straits are.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
Received on Fri Nov 26 14:58:18 2004
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