|
|
|
| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
From Abroad Discovery of footprints rock migration theories Scientists from Great Britain have discovered human footprints in Central Mexico, a finding that shatters previous theories of how people came to the Americas. The 40,000-year-old imprints were found near the city of Puebla, which is 88 miles from Mexico City. They were located in an abandoned quarry close to the Cerro Toluquilla volcano. Scientists previously thought that humans came to Central America from Asia thousands of years later than this latest discovery suggests. The traditionally held view was that settlers first crossed the Bering Straits, from Russia to Alaska, at the end of the last Ice Age, which was around approximately 11,000 years ago. Evidence from that theory came from "Clovis Points" tools, which were used to hunt mammoths that were found throughout the American continent. Silvia Gonzalez of Liverpool John Moores University led the team of researchers who discovered the footprints in Mexico. She said her group believes that there were several waves of migration into the Americas by different human groups.One possible theory, she said, could be that the early Americans were curious about the erupting volcano and walked across the new shoreline, leaving behind footprints that would later be coated by ash and lake sediments. The footprints were then preserved when the water levels rose again. Ash is not as hard as concrete but it is used as a building material in Mexico. Science for Kids |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
