Composite image of earliest humans and wooly mammoths
New Evidence Complicates the Story of the Peopling of the Americas
New techniques have shown that people reached the New World far earlier than the long-standing estimate of 13,000 years ago, but scientists still debate exactly when humans arrived on the continent—and how.
ABOVE: composite from: © istock.com, Homunkulus28 ; © alamy.com, MARK GARLICK, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
New Evidence Complicates the Story of the Peopling of the Americas
New Evidence Complicates the Story of the Peopling of the Americas

New techniques have shown that people reached the New World far earlier than the long-standing estimate of 13,000 years ago, but scientists still debate exactly when humans arrived on the continent—and how.

New techniques have shown that people reached the New World far earlier than the long-standing estimate of 13,000 years ago, but scientists still debate exactly when humans arrived on the continent—and how.

ABOVE: composite from: © istock.com, Homunkulus28 ; © alamy.com, MARK GARLICK, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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American history

Illustrated map showing where evidence was found of the earliest humans
Infographic: Mixed Evidence on Human Occupation of the Americas
Emma Yasinski | May 2, 2022
Diverse lines of evidence point to humans’ presence in the New World long before the dawn of Clovis culture. But rewriting this chapter of human history raises many questions about how these early people came to inhabit these continents.
Study Tracks Geographical Gene Flow and Ancestry in the US
Shawna Williams | Sep 1, 2020
The analysis adds new details to the picture of migration and mixing in a diverse country.
slavery, human population genetics, 23andMe, genomics, African American, Black history, history
African American Genomes Yield Insight into Slavery Practices
Amanda Heidt | Jul 23, 2020
A massive study finds that regional differences in how slaves were treated throughout the Americas are reflected in the DNA of present-day Americans of African descent.
Ancient DNA Maps Early American Migrations in New Detail
Ashley Yeager | Nov 8, 2018
Genetic information from dozens of individuals living 700 to 10,000 years ago reveals connections between Clovis and Native Americans and South Americans.
Image of the Day: Henrietta Lacks
The Scientist Staff | May 12, 2018
A painting of the woman who was the source of HeLa cells will be on view at the National Portrait Gallery beginning May 15.
The Child Hatchery, 1896
Catherine Offord | Mar 1, 2018
The incubator exhibitions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries publicized the care of premature babies.
Jamestown Settlers Practiced Cannibalism
Bob Grant | May 2, 2013
Newly discovered remains provide the first hard evidence that the ill-fated colonists of the 17th century resorted to eating human flesh when their food supply ran out.