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It's oneof the greatest mysteries
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of the human journey.
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When did our ancientancestors first arrive
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in the Americas?
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There should not be people
on the continent
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before 15,000 years ago.
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But what ifthe history books are wrong
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by thousands of years
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and early humans crosseda forbidding ice sheet
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to get here?
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Renegade archeologistsacross the Americas
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are making shockingdiscoveries.
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In a cave in Mexico,
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evidence of humans livinghere deep in the Ice Age.
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Bone, that changes history.
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In the Canadian Yukon,
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evidence suggests thathumans survived the Ice Age
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alongside now extinct beasts.
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That's something. Everybody.
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And in the desertsof New Mexico,
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ancient footprintsbaffle experts.
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Look at what
Bonnie found.
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Speechless.
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History will haveto be rewritten.
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It's just gonna change
everything we think
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about the people
in the Americas.
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It's mind blowing.
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I am walking
where they were walking.
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On the plainsof Central Mexico,
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in mid-February,
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the dust-filled airis scorching.
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On the parched Earth
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beneaththe Zuloaga Mountains,
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there's nothing but cactusas far as the eye can see.
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Ciprian Ardelean,
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a Romanian-Mexicanarcheologist
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has been scouringthis harsh landscape
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for over a decade.
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He's on a controversial quest
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that could change history.
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I'm in searchfor the earliest humans
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on the American continent.
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When I say early,
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I am talking
about the Ice Age.
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That's what I'm searching for.
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The mysteryof when ancient humans
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first reached the Americas
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has gripped archeologistsfor centuries.
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When did they get here?
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That's the biggest question
you can have on a continent.
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This is the last holy grail
of prehistoric archeology.
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People in the Americastruly matters
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if we want
to understand human origins,
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how we emerged,
how we evolved,
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and how we got everywhere.
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From the Arcticto the tropics to Antarctica.
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The peopling of the worldduring the Ice Age,
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that was the beginningof this trajectory
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that so much defines
who we are as a species today.
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The Ice Age began2.6 million years ago
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and lasteduntil 12,000 years ago.
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But the temperaturewasn't constant.
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Ice levels rose and fell
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across Earth's landscapenumerous times.
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We are searching
for the humans of the LGM,
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of the Last Glacial Maximum.
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That's when the Ice Age
was at its highest.
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The Last Glacial Maximum
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was 20,000 years ago,
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an age so inhospitable
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that it stoppedboth humans and beasts
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in their tracks.
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It's a mysterious erathat takes us deep
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into pre-history,
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tens of thousands of years
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before the fall of Rome,
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the first Chinese dynasty
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and before the pyramidsof Egypt.
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It is a timeof relentless ice and snow
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ruled by monstrous beasts.
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Ardelean's questto find people
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who survivedthis frozen world
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goes against everythingwe've been taught.
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Most textbookssay humans left Africa
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at least 60,000 years ago,
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some traveling northeast,
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eventually reachingthe Bering Land Bridge
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that connectedwhat is now Asia
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with the Americas.
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Here, they hit a roadblock,
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an impenetrable wall of ice.
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Any ability for animals,even humans,
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to migrate through Canada
would've slammed shut.
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Humans would not
have been able
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to, um, make that journey.
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The ice sheetwas massive,
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stretchingfrom what is now the Yukon
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all the way to New York.
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It was nearly10,000 feet high
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and would've toweredmany times
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over our tallest skyscrapers,
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a six million square miledesert of ice.
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No plants, no animals.
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Attempting to cross it, thethinking goes,
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meant certain death.
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But there were corridors
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that were potentiallybecoming ice free
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as early as 15,000 years ago
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after the LastGlacial Maximum
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that humans couldhave migrated through.
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Ardelean doesn't buy it.
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He says early humans crossed
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over many thousandsof years earlier
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and traveled all the wayto Mexico,
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putting themin North America
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long beforethe end of the Ice Age.
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How is it possible
for them to be here?
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Ardelean's theorywas developed by accident.
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He didn't come here lookingfor traces of early people.
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He started out searchingfor something
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far less controversial,
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Ice Age plants and animals.
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I thought thiswould be a good site
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to obtain paleo-environmental
information,
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like, how the climate was,
to extract pollen
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and other sort of evidence,
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try to reconstruct
the Ice Age environment.
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Ardelean asks villagers
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if there are any cavesin the area.
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They point himin the direction
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of one of the highestmountains
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in Central Mexico.
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Locals called it
Chiquihuite Cave.
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It was at almost 3,000 metersof altitude.
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One has to walk,like, nine hours up the hill.
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Oh!
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Oh, my God.
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Very difficult logistics.
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I started excavations.
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He takes samplesof the sediments in the cave
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and sends them awayfor radiocarbon dating.
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The mostrecent layers at the top,
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basically under your feetas you walk
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were 12,000 years old.
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Everything we excavatedwas Ice Age.
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A rare sight,ideal for learning
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about the Ice Ageenvironment.
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As he digs, he makesa surprising discovery.
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Suddenly, startedto note small pieces of stone
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with modified edges.
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So when ancient peoplemake tools out of stone,
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they hit the stone
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and they obtain these pieces
of stone that they can use
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as cutting toolsor scraping tools.
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But how is that possible?
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No humans are supposedto have arrived
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in the Americas yet,
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let alone so far south.
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I really didn't
expect humans there.
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You realizethat indeed the cave
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is actually full of tools.
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But you can't have tools
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without humans to make them.
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I still had no idea how old.
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Stone can't be dated.
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So he collects sedimentaround the tools
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and sends itfor radiocarbon testing.
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He dates each layerfrom the surface of the cave
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to the very bottomof his excavation.
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The results are startling.
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When I started to receive
the first, uh, results,
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and it was...
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The dates suggest 27,000
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plus minus 2,500 years.
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So that layer
could be as old
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as 30,000 years old.
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That goes pretty much
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against everything
that's accepted.
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We are in Central Mexico,
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not on the coast,
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not right nextto the Bering Strait.
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We are many thousandsof kilometers
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from any possible entry pointto the continent,
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whether by land or sea.
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And yet for thousands
and thousands of years,
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you have humans living there.
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In 2020,he publishes his findings,
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making headlinesaround the world.
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Ciprian Ardelean
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is here on the show with us.
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Good morning, everybody.
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This isa, uh, a major find
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of human prehistory.
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What blew everybody's mind,
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if the evidence is,uh, accurate,
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it's gonna change everything
we think
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about the people
in the Americas.
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The discoveryis published
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in the journal Nature.
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Chiquihuite did make
a big impact
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when it was published
in Nature in 2020.
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It was huge.
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Ciprian Ardeleanhas been working there
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with a multidisciplinary team
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using all of the barrage
of techniques
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that archaeologists have
at their disposal these days,
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which is really exciting.
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But the excitementis tinged with skepticism.
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The evidence fromChiquihuite gets scrutinized
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by the best in the field
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and questions are raised.
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They called this discovery
a misjudgment of data.
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The problem iswhether or not
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the artifacts
are truly artifacts,
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whether or not thoseare naturally produced
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from rocks falling
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and crashinginto one another,
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or could these
truly be things
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that were the products
of humans.
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For somebody looking
at all this evidence
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from far away
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and not necessarilybeing on the site
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and working directly
with the artifacts,
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it's understandable.
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But the tools,
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they were not accidents.
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Ardelean's discovery failsto shift the official date
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of human arrivalto the Americas.
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It remainsat 15,000 years ago.
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But convinced he's onto something
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that could rewrite history,
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Ardelean doubleshis efforts.
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I said, there must besome other cave,
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so let's expand the search.
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To convince the skeptics,
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Ardelean needs more proof
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like a fire pit or bones.
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As soon asI stood on the edge
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of the entrance here,
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I said, "This is it."
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Sixty milesfrom Chiquihuite Cave
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is what locals callSima de las Golondrinas,
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the Chasm of Swallows.
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It's a huge holewith a 40-foot vertical drop
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into a large cavern.
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For Ardelean,it's the perfect way
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to travel back in time.
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Every grain of dirtthat goes in,
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as well as animals,
humans, whatever,
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never comes out, right?
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So it's like a time capsule.
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The team buildsa scaffold into the dark hole
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that will be their dig sitefor the next three months.
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And they set up campon the slopes
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of a cactus-lined valley.
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We are far awayfrom civilization here.
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There is no phone signal,
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strong winds, heavy rains.
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It's very difficultto build a camp here.
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But the terrainisn't their only challenge.
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Sitting at the intersection
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of major drug traffickingroutes,
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this region has becomea violent battleground
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between Mexico'smost dangerous cartels.
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It has one of the highestmurder rates in the world.
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So every time Ardelean goeson a supply run,
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he's risking his life.
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Don't film
on the street.
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- No?
- -No, on the street, no.
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From inside
the truck we can do?
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No, no. I mean, don't film
the street.
272
00:13:21,266 --> 00:13:22,467
Because there are people there
273
00:13:22,533 --> 00:13:25,533
and who knows
what they're doing right now.
274
00:13:28,667 --> 00:13:30,467
ArcheologistCiprian Ardelean
275
00:13:30,467 --> 00:13:32,567
is risking everythingto find evidence
276
00:13:32,567 --> 00:13:35,567
of the earliest peopleon the American continent.
277
00:13:35,567 --> 00:13:37,266
Don't film the street.
278
00:13:37,333 --> 00:13:38,300
There are people there
279
00:13:38,367 --> 00:13:41,967
and, uh, who knows
what they are doing right now.
280
00:13:42,033 --> 00:13:44,367
He's even riskinghis life.
281
00:13:44,433 --> 00:13:46,367
You will see a lot
of destruction here,
282
00:13:46,433 --> 00:13:48,166
the houses there
283
00:13:48,166 --> 00:13:51,367
and, uh, that's where
we stop talking English
284
00:13:51,367 --> 00:13:53,133
in loud voice.
285
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,166
The drug cartels,
they are all around us,
286
00:13:59,567 --> 00:14:02,967
and that's why you needa hardcore crew.
287
00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,367
So it's better to be hiddenin the mountains
288
00:14:08,367 --> 00:14:10,567
than visible
near the villages.
289
00:14:10,567 --> 00:14:14,333
It's betterto have an isolated camp.
290
00:14:20,266 --> 00:14:25,667
We are about 60 kilometers
away from the town.
291
00:14:25,667 --> 00:14:28,100
And, uh, there is no road
to get here.
292
00:14:28,100 --> 00:14:30,333
It's just like a path.
293
00:14:31,266 --> 00:14:33,266
Once safely out of town,
294
00:14:33,333 --> 00:14:36,533
he returns his focusto the ancient past.
295
00:14:37,967 --> 00:14:40,166
We are driving
right around the edges
296
00:14:40,166 --> 00:14:41,967
of an ancient lake
that was active
297
00:14:42,033 --> 00:14:43,567
during the Ice Age.
298
00:14:43,567 --> 00:14:44,767
This region
was very different
299
00:14:44,767 --> 00:14:46,834
from what you
see behind me.
300
00:14:48,467 --> 00:14:50,767
Duringthe Last Glacial Maximum
301
00:14:50,767 --> 00:14:52,667
20,000 years ago,
302
00:14:52,734 --> 00:14:55,867
Central Mexico was lushand green.
303
00:14:55,867 --> 00:14:57,867
Where there is now cactus,
304
00:14:57,867 --> 00:15:00,367
towered majestic pine trees,
305
00:15:00,367 --> 00:15:03,000
the cracked earthwas once soaked with water,
306
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,767
forming lakes and marshes
307
00:15:04,767 --> 00:15:07,166
that fed Ice Age plantsand animals.
308
00:15:07,767 --> 00:15:10,367
But did humanslive among them?
309
00:15:13,367 --> 00:15:14,967
Only one person
at the same time
310
00:15:14,967 --> 00:15:16,767
on the flight of stairs.
311
00:15:16,767 --> 00:15:18,867
Twelve meters of free fall.
312
00:15:18,867 --> 00:15:21,000
To changethe history books,
313
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,367
Ardelean needs morethan bits of stone.
314
00:15:24,367 --> 00:15:27,667
He's lookingfor butchered animal bones.
315
00:15:27,734 --> 00:15:30,867
Cut bonebeats stone tools
316
00:15:30,934 --> 00:15:36,567
because there
is, uh, a stronger argument
317
00:15:36,634 --> 00:15:37,967
towards human presence
318
00:15:37,967 --> 00:15:40,166
when you have
a human intervention
319
00:15:40,166 --> 00:15:41,667
on an animal part.
320
00:15:41,667 --> 00:15:42,967
When hunters de-flesh
321
00:15:43,033 --> 00:15:44,367
and butcher an animal,
322
00:15:44,367 --> 00:15:46,867
they leave telltalecut marks on bones.
323
00:15:46,867 --> 00:15:49,266
A bone dates itself
324
00:15:49,266 --> 00:15:51,667
because you can take
tiny samples of it
325
00:15:51,667 --> 00:15:53,567
and do radiocarbon.
326
00:15:53,634 --> 00:15:56,100
Ardelean's teammeticulously excavates
327
00:15:56,100 --> 00:15:58,567
each layer of sedimentin the cave
328
00:15:58,567 --> 00:16:02,266
and records every boneand stone they find.
329
00:16:13,166 --> 00:16:14,967
This is a quiet place.
330
00:16:14,967 --> 00:16:18,467
This is a place
where you have time
331
00:16:18,467 --> 00:16:20,667
to dream with the world
332
00:16:20,667 --> 00:16:23,634
that you are uncovering.
333
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,967
When you exposea buried walking surface
334
00:16:32,033 --> 00:16:33,266
in a cave,
335
00:16:33,266 --> 00:16:35,567
a surface
that you can actually see
336
00:16:35,567 --> 00:16:37,533
the ancient topography
337
00:16:38,467 --> 00:16:41,533
and you can imaginehuman feet on it,
338
00:16:43,066 --> 00:16:45,100
that's time travel.
339
00:16:45,100 --> 00:16:47,166
You are sitting
on the same surface
340
00:16:47,166 --> 00:16:49,333
as the ancient ones.
341
00:16:50,867 --> 00:16:52,767
After five weeksof digging,
342
00:16:52,767 --> 00:16:54,767
he hits Ice Age sediment
343
00:16:54,767 --> 00:16:57,166
in a lower cavernof the cave.
344
00:16:57,233 --> 00:16:58,867
A thin layer of charcoal
345
00:16:58,934 --> 00:17:02,567
that he's datedto 16,000 years ago.
346
00:17:02,567 --> 00:17:05,066
It's here, at least three
347
00:17:05,133 --> 00:17:10,066
major extremely thin lenses
of charcoal.
348
00:17:10,700 --> 00:17:13,567
It is the very end
349
00:17:13,634 --> 00:17:17,166
of the Last Glacial Maximum.
350
00:17:17,233 --> 00:17:21,767
So the whole story,
we are... We are telling here
351
00:17:21,767 --> 00:17:24,266
has to do with this layer.
352
00:17:24,266 --> 00:17:26,367
If the historybooks are right,
353
00:17:26,367 --> 00:17:29,567
there should be no evidenceof humans below the charcoal.
354
00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,066
But if Ardelean is right,
355
00:17:39,133 --> 00:17:41,000
the cave would've beenan ideal place
356
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,667
for people to find shelterfrom the elements
357
00:17:43,667 --> 00:17:45,934
and clean water to drink,
358
00:17:47,166 --> 00:17:49,734
if they were really here.
359
00:17:52,266 --> 00:17:55,433
Oh, damn. Holy.
360
00:17:56,567 --> 00:17:58,767
A bone sitting
on the next layer.
361
00:17:58,767 --> 00:18:01,367
A big rib.
362
00:18:04,467 --> 00:18:07,667
It's maybe the rib
363
00:18:07,734 --> 00:18:10,734
of a small herbivore.
364
00:18:16,667 --> 00:18:18,567
There's new bone coming out.
365
00:18:20,567 --> 00:18:22,967
Didn't expect this
to show up here.
366
00:18:25,767 --> 00:18:29,333
It looks like a leg...
A leg bone.
367
00:18:32,667 --> 00:18:33,934
There it goes.
368
00:18:53,667 --> 00:18:56,133
It's cut.
369
00:18:57,700 --> 00:18:59,033
Cut.
370
00:19:00,066 --> 00:19:02,066
And is V-shaped.
371
00:19:02,133 --> 00:19:04,367
There was a cutting edge
that went through.
372
00:19:05,166 --> 00:19:08,166
Man, it's cut.
373
00:19:08,166 --> 00:19:10,100
This is an old cut.
374
00:19:10,100 --> 00:19:12,100
Ardelean thinksit's the ankle bone
375
00:19:12,100 --> 00:19:13,967
of a big horn sheep.
376
00:19:14,033 --> 00:19:16,767
The faint etchings appearto have been made
377
00:19:16,767 --> 00:19:19,000
by a stone blade.
378
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,266
Maybe of two blows,
379
00:19:21,266 --> 00:19:24,166
could be a first clue,
380
00:19:24,166 --> 00:19:25,767
the presence of humans
381
00:19:25,834 --> 00:19:28,667
at the very end
of the Glacial Maximum
382
00:19:28,667 --> 00:19:30,467
in this cave.
383
00:19:30,467 --> 00:19:35,066
And if they were herein the middle of Mexico,
384
00:19:35,066 --> 00:19:37,667
they were probably roaming
around the continent
385
00:19:37,667 --> 00:19:40,667
throughout the entire
Glacial Maximum.
386
00:19:40,734 --> 00:19:46,133
That one millimeter cut
changes history.
387
00:19:48,367 --> 00:19:50,767
If the cutwas made by a human,
388
00:19:50,834 --> 00:19:52,767
it means peoplewere here in Mexico
389
00:19:52,767 --> 00:19:56,166
at least 16,000 years ago.
390
00:19:56,233 --> 00:19:58,367
If so, how did they make it
391
00:19:58,433 --> 00:20:01,634
across the vast ice sheetsin the north?
392
00:20:02,900 --> 00:20:06,266
We can't know the how
until we know the when.
393
00:20:06,266 --> 00:20:08,367
So the when's gotta be
known first.
394
00:20:08,433 --> 00:20:10,166
Figuring out exactly
395
00:20:10,233 --> 00:20:12,000
when people arrivedin the north
396
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,967
across the Bering Land Bridge
397
00:20:13,967 --> 00:20:16,266
might explainhow they could have made it
398
00:20:16,266 --> 00:20:18,433
all the way to Mexico.
399
00:20:20,767 --> 00:20:23,367
French archaeologistLauriane Bourgeon
400
00:20:23,433 --> 00:20:25,767
is also searchingfor the answer.
401
00:20:25,767 --> 00:20:28,166
She's siftingthrough tantalizing clues
402
00:20:28,233 --> 00:20:30,467
from the Yukon Territoryin Canada
403
00:20:30,467 --> 00:20:32,867
from a decades oldexcavation site
404
00:20:32,934 --> 00:20:35,166
called Bluefish Caves.
405
00:20:35,166 --> 00:20:37,166
When I started learning
406
00:20:37,166 --> 00:20:40,767
about, uh, the prehistory
of the Americas,
407
00:20:40,834 --> 00:20:42,667
I was toldthat people arrived
408
00:20:42,667 --> 00:20:44,767
to the Yukon15,000 years ago.
409
00:20:44,767 --> 00:20:46,266
I heard about Bluefish Caves
410
00:20:46,333 --> 00:20:48,867
when I was doing my master
in France,
411
00:20:48,867 --> 00:20:51,867
and I was told thatthere were some stone tools
412
00:20:51,867 --> 00:20:55,467
and some possiblymodified bones,
413
00:20:55,467 --> 00:20:58,467
possibly 25,000 years old.
414
00:20:58,467 --> 00:21:00,266
But it was contested.
415
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,367
The evidence satin boxes, ignored,
416
00:21:06,367 --> 00:21:09,634
until Bourgeon decidedto take a fresh look.
417
00:21:11,300 --> 00:21:13,066
The archaeologistwho unearthed it
418
00:21:13,066 --> 00:21:14,667
in the 1970s
419
00:21:14,734 --> 00:21:18,066
was, like Ardelean,a renegade.
420
00:21:19,567 --> 00:21:22,967
Jacques Cinq-Marsdisputed common wisdom,
421
00:21:22,967 --> 00:21:25,266
arguing the stone and boneshe found
422
00:21:25,333 --> 00:21:27,000
at Bluefish Caves
423
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,767
had been used by humansdeep into the Ice Age.
424
00:21:35,867 --> 00:21:38,967
This is a mammoth, uh,
leg bone, a long bone,
425
00:21:39,033 --> 00:21:41,467
which shows as elements
426
00:21:41,467 --> 00:21:44,567
of, uh, reduction
by human beings.
427
00:21:44,634 --> 00:21:48,834
And the age
is about 23,500 years ago.
428
00:21:50,667 --> 00:21:52,467
His 30 yearsof research
429
00:21:52,533 --> 00:21:54,266
were mired in controversy.
430
00:21:54,266 --> 00:21:57,667
Critics questionedhis dating techniques.
431
00:21:57,734 --> 00:22:01,667
Funding eventually dried upand he died in 2021
432
00:22:01,734 --> 00:22:03,967
before completing his work.
433
00:22:04,033 --> 00:22:06,533
But his storyintrigued Bourgeon.
434
00:22:09,166 --> 00:22:12,266
I decided to test
his entire bone collection.
435
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,000
I thought thatJacques Cinq-Mars
436
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,767
might have been wrong.
437
00:22:18,767 --> 00:22:22,166
Were people thereat Bluefish Caves
438
00:22:22,233 --> 00:22:23,967
20,000 or 30,000 years ago,
439
00:22:24,033 --> 00:22:27,166
or is it all incorrect?
440
00:22:27,166 --> 00:22:28,266
Bourgeon searches
441
00:22:28,333 --> 00:22:31,266
through 40,000 ancientanimal bones,
442
00:22:31,266 --> 00:22:33,667
caribou, woolly mammoths,
443
00:22:33,734 --> 00:22:36,533
and extinct speciesof bison and horse.
444
00:22:40,266 --> 00:22:43,967
And then,
I found cut marks on bones.
445
00:22:46,266 --> 00:22:48,166
One bone in particular,
446
00:22:48,233 --> 00:22:49,567
a horse mandible
with cut marks.
447
00:22:49,567 --> 00:22:52,967
There's a series of cuts,
448
00:22:52,967 --> 00:22:54,667
very thin, very deep.
449
00:22:54,734 --> 00:22:58,066
A carnivore wouldn't leavesuch marks.
450
00:23:08,900 --> 00:23:09,967
ArcheologistLauriane Bourgeon
451
00:23:09,967 --> 00:23:11,867
discovers a horse jawin the archives
452
00:23:11,867 --> 00:23:14,166
with mysterious cuts on it.
453
00:23:16,266 --> 00:23:19,467
There's a series of cuts,
454
00:23:19,533 --> 00:23:21,266
very thin, very deep.
455
00:23:21,266 --> 00:23:23,467
Could they havebeen made by humans?
456
00:23:23,533 --> 00:23:26,667
A carnivorewouldn't leave such marks.
457
00:23:26,667 --> 00:23:30,634
Very clear human interventionon this horse mandible.
458
00:23:35,467 --> 00:23:37,266
To determine its age,
459
00:23:37,266 --> 00:23:38,667
Bourgeon sends the bone
460
00:23:38,667 --> 00:23:41,567
to one of the world'sbest radiocarbon labs
461
00:23:41,634 --> 00:23:44,066
at Oxford Universityin England.
462
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,567
And that's when Igot the date of 24,000 years.
463
00:23:50,634 --> 00:23:52,567
So that's when I completely
changed my mind.
464
00:23:52,634 --> 00:23:54,367
I was like, "Okay.
465
00:23:54,367 --> 00:23:56,467
I have cut marks on this bone
466
00:23:56,533 --> 00:24:00,767
and I have clear datefor that bone."
467
00:24:00,767 --> 00:24:03,667
So it means that peoplewere there 24,000 years ago
468
00:24:03,667 --> 00:24:06,967
and it meansthat Jacques was right.
469
00:24:13,166 --> 00:24:14,867
Now she is following
470
00:24:14,867 --> 00:24:16,367
in Cinq-Mars' footsteps,
471
00:24:16,433 --> 00:24:19,166
launching a new excavationat Bluefish Caves
472
00:24:19,233 --> 00:24:22,667
to find out when early peoplewere really here.
473
00:24:26,567 --> 00:24:27,867
This is Lauriane
at Bluefish Camp.
474
00:24:27,867 --> 00:24:29,166
We copy.
475
00:24:29,166 --> 00:24:30,567
Uh, one minute out.
476
00:24:31,300 --> 00:24:32,667
Bourgeon comes armed
477
00:24:32,667 --> 00:24:34,066
with cutting edge technology
478
00:24:34,133 --> 00:24:36,834
that her predecessordidn't have in the 1970s.
479
00:24:37,567 --> 00:24:39,166
She's also brought an elder,
480
00:24:39,166 --> 00:24:42,767
a former chief of the localVuntut Gwitchin community.
481
00:24:42,767 --> 00:24:45,567
Bruce Charlie workedwith Cinq-Mars as a teenager
482
00:24:45,634 --> 00:24:48,967
during the originalexcavation 40 years ago.
483
00:24:48,967 --> 00:24:50,967
So we came here,
484
00:24:51,033 --> 00:24:55,066
uh, in the hope to vindicate
Jacques Cinq-Mars
485
00:24:55,066 --> 00:24:56,834
and find more evidence.
486
00:24:57,467 --> 00:24:59,767
We are hoping to find bones,
487
00:24:59,834 --> 00:25:02,567
uh, artifact, stone tools,
488
00:25:02,567 --> 00:25:05,567
uh, evidence
of a human presence.
489
00:25:08,767 --> 00:25:09,967
-Hello.
-Oh, we made it.
490
00:25:09,967 --> 00:25:11,000
You made it today.
491
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:12,467
Rolfe Mandel is director
492
00:25:12,467 --> 00:25:15,934
of the Odyssey ResearchProgram that funded the dig.
493
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,266
This site
494
00:25:19,333 --> 00:25:22,367
represents a potential
paradigm buster
495
00:25:22,367 --> 00:25:24,867
and could change,
uh, our thinking
496
00:25:24,867 --> 00:25:27,333
about when people
were in the Americas.
497
00:25:30,567 --> 00:25:32,934
So, Bruce, this is K4
498
00:25:33,700 --> 00:25:34,767
and, uh...
499
00:25:34,834 --> 00:25:36,467
I'm very happyto be here today.
500
00:25:36,533 --> 00:25:38,166
And, uh, I want to godo some digging
501
00:25:38,166 --> 00:25:42,867
and, uh, and, uh, try to, uh,
502
00:25:42,867 --> 00:25:46,066
think about the past
when it began.
503
00:25:46,133 --> 00:25:48,567
The areaaround Bluefish Caves
504
00:25:48,567 --> 00:25:50,433
was an Ice Age anomaly.
505
00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:54,967
Most of what is nowCanada was under ice,
506
00:25:54,967 --> 00:25:57,867
but the Northern Yukonwas an ice-free plane,
507
00:25:57,934 --> 00:25:59,867
thick with shrubsand grasses.
508
00:26:02,467 --> 00:26:04,867
A huge lakefilled the valley.
509
00:26:04,867 --> 00:26:07,533
And large mammalscame here to drink and feed.
510
00:26:09,266 --> 00:26:12,467
The caves above itwould've been an ideal perch
511
00:26:12,533 --> 00:26:14,834
for huntersto spot the game below.
512
00:26:17,767 --> 00:26:19,533
- Number?
- Elevation
513
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,667
- Okay, and that was east?
- Yup.
514
00:26:22,667 --> 00:26:23,567
Perfect.
515
00:26:23,567 --> 00:26:24,967
Despite the mosquitoes
516
00:26:25,033 --> 00:26:27,166
and the constant threatof bears,
517
00:26:27,233 --> 00:26:31,100
the team excavatesa rock shelter known as K4.
518
00:26:31,100 --> 00:26:34,166
Cinq-Mars described itin his field notebook,
519
00:26:34,233 --> 00:26:36,667
but never had the chanceto excavate.
520
00:26:36,667 --> 00:26:38,367
Oh, hopefully
from all of... You know,
521
00:26:38,367 --> 00:26:41,066
from all the deposits here,
we find something.
522
00:26:41,133 --> 00:26:42,233
Mmm-hmm.
523
00:26:42,233 --> 00:26:44,066
Yup. So, did it look sort
of like this when you were...
524
00:26:44,133 --> 00:26:45,166
- Yes.
- ...here?
525
00:26:45,166 --> 00:26:46,467
Exactly the same.
526
00:26:46,467 --> 00:26:47,767
- Mmm-hmm.
- Yeah.
527
00:26:47,767 --> 00:26:52,066
The, uh, Vuntut Gwitchin word
for Bluefish Caves
528
00:26:52,133 --> 00:26:55,567
is...
529
00:26:55,634 --> 00:26:58,367
Um, our people
called it in that sense,
530
00:26:58,433 --> 00:27:00,767
they called it
as to what they saw.
531
00:27:00,767 --> 00:27:03,567
The rock, the water coming in
532
00:27:03,567 --> 00:27:06,567
and swirling around
and creating that...
533
00:27:06,567 --> 00:27:08,533
The caves or the dens.
534
00:27:10,567 --> 00:27:15,166
The argument of how longwe were here. It's...
535
00:27:15,166 --> 00:27:17,667
Is we never had that argument
536
00:27:17,667 --> 00:27:20,166
because we just felt
and know that we've been here
537
00:27:20,166 --> 00:27:22,367
for, again, forever.
538
00:27:22,433 --> 00:27:25,467
Our people saywe have been here forever.
539
00:27:25,533 --> 00:27:27,266
They have every right
540
00:27:27,266 --> 00:27:30,066
to tell their story
in their way,
541
00:27:30,066 --> 00:27:34,066
whether it's literal
or whether it's metaphorical.
542
00:27:36,667 --> 00:27:39,266
I weave together
archeological knowledge,
543
00:27:39,266 --> 00:27:40,867
indigenous knowledge,
544
00:27:40,934 --> 00:27:43,367
environmental knowledge
to create...
545
00:27:43,367 --> 00:27:45,266
And indigenousarcheologist and professor,
546
00:27:45,333 --> 00:27:47,567
Paulette Steeves,believes the story
547
00:27:47,634 --> 00:27:50,467
of when and how humansarrived in the Americas
548
00:27:50,533 --> 00:27:53,467
is taintedby a colonial worldview.
549
00:27:53,467 --> 00:27:55,867
What youlearn in this class,
550
00:27:55,934 --> 00:27:58,467
um, that people have been
in the Western Hemisphere
551
00:27:58,533 --> 00:28:00,967
for much longer
than Western archeologists
552
00:28:00,967 --> 00:28:04,667
say, um, you're not going
to hear that in many classes.
553
00:28:04,734 --> 00:28:06,166
I'm Cree Metis,
554
00:28:06,166 --> 00:28:08,266
I was born
in Whitehorse Yukon.
555
00:28:09,867 --> 00:28:11,567
When I wasin elementary school,
556
00:28:11,567 --> 00:28:12,867
I wasn't taught anything.
557
00:28:12,867 --> 00:28:15,867
It was if, you know,indigenous peopledidn't exist.
558
00:28:15,867 --> 00:28:17,767
When I was in university,I was taught
559
00:28:17,767 --> 00:28:20,100
that we'd maybe been here
12,000 years
560
00:28:20,100 --> 00:28:22,166
and we were
Asians from Asia.
561
00:28:22,166 --> 00:28:25,467
Racism is embedded
in American archeology.
562
00:28:25,467 --> 00:28:28,100
It has been since day one.
563
00:28:28,100 --> 00:28:31,066
Theories about howand when indigenous peoples
564
00:28:31,066 --> 00:28:34,333
got to the Americas have gonethrough four phases.
565
00:28:35,667 --> 00:28:38,467
When European explorerslanded in the New World
566
00:28:38,467 --> 00:28:41,000
and found marvels likethe Mayan pyramids
567
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:42,967
and Incan stone walls,
568
00:28:43,033 --> 00:28:46,266
they immediately came upwith origin stories for them.
569
00:28:46,333 --> 00:28:47,867
Early European settlers
just assumed
570
00:28:47,867 --> 00:28:50,367
they couldn't have been made
by the indigenous inhabitants
571
00:28:50,367 --> 00:28:51,667
of the... of the continent.
572
00:28:51,734 --> 00:28:54,166
That it was something like
the lost tribes of Israel
573
00:28:54,233 --> 00:28:56,000
who got really lost
and found theirselves
574
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,467
in, um, the Americas
575
00:28:58,467 --> 00:29:01,767
and developed some miraculous
pyramids or it was aliens,
576
00:29:01,767 --> 00:29:06,367
but it couldn't possibly have
been indigenous inhabitants.
577
00:29:06,433 --> 00:29:08,467
Two hundredand fifty years later,
578
00:29:08,533 --> 00:29:11,166
archeologists concedethat indigenous peoples
579
00:29:11,166 --> 00:29:13,166
must have builtthese wonders.
580
00:29:13,166 --> 00:29:16,367
But the timelinewas dictated by the Bible.
581
00:29:16,433 --> 00:29:18,166
There are ideasfrom the Bible
582
00:29:18,233 --> 00:29:21,166
that the worldhas created in 4004 BC.
583
00:29:21,166 --> 00:29:23,367
This held something
of a stranglehold on the idea
584
00:29:23,433 --> 00:29:24,767
that there is deep time,
585
00:29:24,834 --> 00:29:26,066
that things
are much older than that.
586
00:29:26,133 --> 00:29:27,767
By the early 20th century,
587
00:29:27,767 --> 00:29:29,367
Darwin's theory of evolution
588
00:29:29,367 --> 00:29:32,000
popularized the ideaof prehistory
589
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,467
and enormous ice age mammalscalled megafauna.
590
00:29:35,467 --> 00:29:38,467
Then at Blackwater Draw,near Clovis, New Mexico,
591
00:29:38,467 --> 00:29:41,867
a spearpointis found embeddedin a mammoth skeleton,
592
00:29:41,934 --> 00:29:45,367
a species that died outat least 10,000 years ago.
593
00:29:45,367 --> 00:29:48,567
These ancient huntersare named the Clovis people,
594
00:29:48,634 --> 00:29:50,000
and they're thoughtto have migrated
595
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,367
from Asia intothe heart of North America
596
00:29:52,367 --> 00:29:55,467
around 13,000 years ago.
597
00:29:55,533 --> 00:29:58,767
Clovis is really nicely
packaged, I would say,
598
00:29:58,767 --> 00:30:01,567
to appeal
to your European scientists,
599
00:30:01,634 --> 00:30:03,867
because you have thislovely combination
600
00:30:03,867 --> 00:30:05,667
of beautiful stone tools.
601
00:30:05,734 --> 00:30:07,467
These fluted points
602
00:30:07,533 --> 00:30:10,767
combined with evidencefor big game hunting.
603
00:30:10,767 --> 00:30:12,667
The archeology establishment
604
00:30:12,667 --> 00:30:15,767
declares the Clovis peopleare the first and only
605
00:30:15,767 --> 00:30:18,467
ancient peoplesin the Americas.
606
00:30:18,533 --> 00:30:23,066
What archeologists did when
they created the Clovis people
607
00:30:23,066 --> 00:30:25,867
was they created a group
as big as a hemisphere.
608
00:30:25,867 --> 00:30:28,166
That doesn't exist
anywhere in the world.
609
00:30:30,166 --> 00:30:32,266
History booksrarely acknowledge
610
00:30:32,266 --> 00:30:35,767
the prehistoric diversityof indigenous peoples.
611
00:30:35,767 --> 00:30:38,667
There are now thousandsof different cultural groups
612
00:30:38,734 --> 00:30:39,867
in the Americas,
613
00:30:39,867 --> 00:30:42,867
and there were likely manymore before European contact
614
00:30:42,867 --> 00:30:45,767
decimated those populations.
615
00:30:45,767 --> 00:30:48,867
Calling it the Clovis peopleis really dehumanizing
616
00:30:48,867 --> 00:30:53,667
and it's a way of erasing
indigenous cultural diversity,
617
00:30:53,667 --> 00:30:57,166
even in prehistoric times.
618
00:30:57,166 --> 00:30:59,867
But the idea tookhold that the Clovis people
619
00:30:59,867 --> 00:31:02,367
were here 13,000 years ago
620
00:31:02,433 --> 00:31:06,266
and were the sole inhabitantsof the entire hemisphere.
621
00:31:06,333 --> 00:31:08,767
The establishmentdismissed growing evidence
622
00:31:08,834 --> 00:31:11,166
of much older sitesfrom the Yukon
623
00:31:11,166 --> 00:31:13,967
through Americaand into Brazil.
624
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,266
And then,a history-making discovery
625
00:31:18,266 --> 00:31:22,667
is made on a farmin southern Chile in 1977.
626
00:31:26,367 --> 00:31:31,066
I did not set out
to disprove or prove Clovis.
627
00:31:31,133 --> 00:31:33,967
I was working
on my dissertation work
628
00:31:33,967 --> 00:31:36,133
in the mid-'70s in Chile.
629
00:31:37,166 --> 00:31:40,667
During that time,
a student told me that a large
630
00:31:40,667 --> 00:31:45,667
cow's tooth had been found
on the property of his uncle.
631
00:31:45,667 --> 00:31:47,367
And I said,this is not a cow's tooth,
632
00:31:47,367 --> 00:31:49,467
it's a mastodon tooth.
633
00:31:49,533 --> 00:31:52,767
And I, um, said,
"Where is this place?"
634
00:31:52,834 --> 00:31:55,266
ArcheologistTom Dillehay is working
635
00:31:55,333 --> 00:31:57,667
during the same periodas Jacques Cinq-Mars,
636
00:31:57,667 --> 00:31:59,467
but unlike Bluefish Caves,
637
00:31:59,467 --> 00:32:02,667
Monte Verde is poisedto change everything.
638
00:32:02,667 --> 00:32:05,367
He finds a wooden hut,clothing and food
639
00:32:05,367 --> 00:32:07,367
perfectly preservedin a peat bog.
640
00:32:07,433 --> 00:32:10,467
He assumes they're a coupleof thousand years old.
641
00:32:10,533 --> 00:32:13,367
Geologists cameto the site and said,
642
00:32:13,367 --> 00:32:15,667
"You're gonna have a problemwith this site."
643
00:32:15,734 --> 00:32:17,266
And I said, "Why?"
644
00:32:17,266 --> 00:32:20,166
He says, "That overlyingpeat area,
645
00:32:20,233 --> 00:32:22,100
we have radiocarbon dated
646
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:24,967
in about 40 other sites
in south Chile,
647
00:32:24,967 --> 00:32:29,567
and it's dating
about 14,000 years ago,
648
00:32:29,634 --> 00:32:31,467
14,500 years ago."
649
00:32:31,533 --> 00:32:33,166
I said, "It can't be.
650
00:32:33,233 --> 00:32:35,266
You can't have human
artifacts that old."
651
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,667
Convincedgeologists are wrong,
652
00:32:38,667 --> 00:32:40,667
Dillehay sendsthe human artifacts
653
00:32:40,734 --> 00:32:42,667
for radiocarbon dating.
654
00:32:42,734 --> 00:32:46,867
And they came back
14,500 years old.
655
00:32:46,934 --> 00:32:49,166
And I thought, "Oh, no.
656
00:32:49,166 --> 00:32:51,066
Oh, hell.
657
00:32:51,133 --> 00:32:52,867
I don't wanna
deal with this."
658
00:32:52,934 --> 00:32:54,667
Because I had seen what other
people had gone through.
659
00:32:54,667 --> 00:32:57,367
But at the time,Clovis is gospel.
660
00:32:57,367 --> 00:33:00,266
No one has been able toconvince the scientific world
661
00:33:00,333 --> 00:33:04,367
that anyone arrived earlierthan 13,000 years ago.
662
00:33:04,433 --> 00:33:07,367
Knowing the scholarly worldwill try to tear him down,
663
00:33:07,367 --> 00:33:10,166
Dillehay fiercely defendshis evidence.
664
00:33:10,166 --> 00:33:13,467
We excavated it
very cautiously,
665
00:33:13,467 --> 00:33:14,967
and we're going to stick
with our data
666
00:33:15,033 --> 00:33:16,166
and stick with our word.
667
00:33:17,266 --> 00:33:19,767
But the cost is high.
668
00:33:19,834 --> 00:33:22,567
Twenty colleaguessigned a letter
669
00:33:22,567 --> 00:33:24,467
and sent it to the president
of the university
670
00:33:24,533 --> 00:33:26,667
saying I should be dismissed
671
00:33:26,734 --> 00:33:30,166
for bringing up
an archeological site
672
00:33:30,233 --> 00:33:31,767
like Monte Verde
673
00:33:31,767 --> 00:33:34,567
and stating
in that letter too,
674
00:33:34,567 --> 00:33:37,967
that I never got a PhD,
which is an outright lie.
675
00:33:37,967 --> 00:33:39,567
And I just kept thinking,
676
00:33:39,634 --> 00:33:40,867
"To the hell
with these people,
677
00:33:40,934 --> 00:33:42,467
they don't know
what they're talking about.
678
00:33:42,533 --> 00:33:45,166
They're just defending
their paradigm."
679
00:33:45,233 --> 00:33:46,867
I learned, you attack me
680
00:33:46,934 --> 00:33:48,567
and I'm going to
attack you too.
681
00:33:48,567 --> 00:33:51,967
Dillehay collects hundredsof radiocarbon dates,
682
00:33:51,967 --> 00:33:54,467
backs up everythingwith supporting evidence,
683
00:33:54,467 --> 00:33:57,767
and invites his criticsto come see for themselves.
684
00:33:57,767 --> 00:34:01,867
It takes 30 yearsto shift the tide.
685
00:34:01,867 --> 00:34:03,567
Monte Verde
broke the paradigm,
686
00:34:03,567 --> 00:34:05,567
broke the barrier,
so to speak.
687
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,767
Monte Verdeis a turning point.
688
00:34:09,834 --> 00:34:11,967
The date of human arrivalgets shifted
689
00:34:12,033 --> 00:34:14,834
from 13,000to 15,000 years ago.
690
00:34:17,100 --> 00:34:20,467
But Ardelean's discoveriesin Mexico are double that,
691
00:34:20,467 --> 00:34:23,266
30,000 years ago.
692
00:34:23,333 --> 00:34:25,567
Now, his evidenceis under threat.
693
00:34:25,567 --> 00:34:28,066
This time,it's not the cartel,
694
00:34:28,066 --> 00:34:29,433
but the weather.
695
00:34:30,100 --> 00:34:32,567
A wind storm is moving in
696
00:34:32,567 --> 00:34:35,634
and it threatensto tear the camp apart.
697
00:34:43,867 --> 00:34:47,066
A story 30,000 yearsin the making
698
00:34:47,133 --> 00:34:51,166
could be blown awayin a single day.
699
00:34:59,166 --> 00:35:01,667
Prehistoric archeologist,Ciprian Ardelean
700
00:35:01,734 --> 00:35:04,467
is on a questto rewrite history
701
00:35:04,467 --> 00:35:06,934
to prove humanswere in North America
702
00:35:06,934 --> 00:35:09,467
thousands of yearsbefore previously thought,
703
00:35:10,367 --> 00:35:13,634
but the evidence he needsis under threat.
704
00:35:20,367 --> 00:35:22,567
You need to beobsessed to do this.
705
00:35:22,567 --> 00:35:25,734
I mean, how can you do thisyear after year,
706
00:35:25,734 --> 00:35:28,100
decade after decade,
707
00:35:28,100 --> 00:35:31,834
storm after storm
without being obsessed?
708
00:35:34,233 --> 00:35:36,934
The sunset brings good news.
709
00:35:36,934 --> 00:35:38,734
The storm passes.
710
00:35:42,266 --> 00:35:45,233
I think we are safe
to go back to work.
711
00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:46,567
Let's go.
712
00:35:50,667 --> 00:35:52,467
Deep in the ice age layers,
713
00:35:52,467 --> 00:35:54,567
Ardelean finds two more bones
714
00:35:54,634 --> 00:35:57,467
with potentialhuman-made cuts.
715
00:35:57,467 --> 00:36:01,567
And the damage
on these borders
is not anatomical.
716
00:36:01,567 --> 00:36:04,367
Something damaged this bone.
717
00:36:04,367 --> 00:36:06,367
The cut marks could be 17,000
718
00:36:06,433 --> 00:36:08,367
to 20,000 years old,
719
00:36:08,367 --> 00:36:10,967
but did a human make them?
720
00:36:10,967 --> 00:36:13,100
He can't say for sure.
721
00:36:13,100 --> 00:36:15,367
Need a more
detailed microscopy
722
00:36:15,433 --> 00:36:17,967
on a cleaned specimen.
723
00:36:17,967 --> 00:36:19,233
This is not treasure hunting.
724
00:36:19,300 --> 00:36:23,667
This is rewritingthe history of human species.
725
00:36:23,734 --> 00:36:26,467
If you rush conclusions
and if you celebrate
726
00:36:26,467 --> 00:36:31,066
before all the possible
alternatives are consulted,
727
00:36:31,066 --> 00:36:34,033
uh, you are doing
a serious harm to science.
728
00:36:45,166 --> 00:36:46,734
Looking for answers,
729
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:47,834
he flies the bones
730
00:36:47,834 --> 00:36:50,934
to an electron microscopylab in Mexico City.
731
00:36:52,934 --> 00:36:55,266
This microscopecan magnify a bone
732
00:36:55,266 --> 00:36:56,934
down to the atomic level.
733
00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,667
It should tell them
734
00:36:58,667 --> 00:37:01,000
if the cut marks were madeby ancient humans
735
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,333
or the teeth and clawsof another predator.
736
00:37:05,467 --> 00:37:09,367
So if
this is really, uh,
a human-made cut,
737
00:37:09,367 --> 00:37:12,367
this is a threshold.
This is a real threshold.
738
00:37:12,433 --> 00:37:15,367
It would be a really, really
big, big thing.
739
00:37:15,433 --> 00:37:17,367
They're hopingto see this signature mark
740
00:37:17,367 --> 00:37:19,266
of a spearhead or blade cut,
741
00:37:19,266 --> 00:37:21,233
a crisp straight line
742
00:37:21,233 --> 00:37:23,433
that provesit was human made.
743
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:37,367
We're starting
to see something.
744
00:37:37,367 --> 00:37:39,734
- Yup.
- Here it comes.
745
00:37:48,834 --> 00:37:50,667
- That's where it entries.
- Yeah.
746
00:37:53,467 --> 00:37:55,100
I'm almost certain
this is the cut.
747
00:37:55,100 --> 00:37:56,266
Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
748
00:37:56,266 --> 00:37:57,467
Yeah.
749
00:38:00,367 --> 00:38:02,166
This is all we need.
750
00:38:02,166 --> 00:38:03,967
This is the evidence we need.
751
00:38:03,967 --> 00:38:05,800
Okay, so.
752
00:38:08,300 --> 00:38:10,567
Right.
753
00:38:10,634 --> 00:38:11,767
Congrats.
754
00:38:11,767 --> 00:38:14,467
Congrats to you.
755
00:38:14,533 --> 00:38:18,734
It's ten years since
the discovery of Chiquihuite.
756
00:38:18,734 --> 00:38:20,133
- Wow.
- Is that right?
757
00:38:20,133 --> 00:38:22,667
That opened it all.
It's a crucial moment.
758
00:38:22,667 --> 00:38:26,467
It's, um, an emotional moment
759
00:38:26,467 --> 00:38:28,467
that my voice is breaking
760
00:38:28,467 --> 00:38:31,567
because I'm gonna cry.
761
00:38:32,567 --> 00:38:34,200
No, I'm seriously
gonna cry.
762
00:38:36,467 --> 00:38:38,734
But his work is not done yet.
763
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:41,233
Now we have to date
that layer.
764
00:38:41,233 --> 00:38:43,734
So we still don't know
at this moment
765
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:45,667
how old the bones are.
766
00:38:45,734 --> 00:38:47,934
If he canradiocarbon date the bones
767
00:38:47,934 --> 00:38:49,734
to 20,000 years or more,
768
00:38:49,734 --> 00:38:51,734
he'll have sealed the deal.
769
00:38:51,734 --> 00:38:53,834
A human was huntingon the plains of Mexico
770
00:38:53,834 --> 00:38:55,734
deep into the Ice Age.
771
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,567
The implicationsare profound.
772
00:38:58,634 --> 00:39:01,367
If humans inhabitedMexico this early,
773
00:39:01,367 --> 00:39:04,934
they may well have been inthe far north even earlier.
774
00:39:15,667 --> 00:39:17,567
Got something.
775
00:39:17,634 --> 00:39:18,734
Everybody.
776
00:39:25,734 --> 00:39:26,934
What do you think?
777
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:28,467
Exciting. It's a horse tooth.
778
00:39:28,533 --> 00:39:29,767
- You got a horse?
- Yeah.
779
00:39:29,767 --> 00:39:31,066
You got a horse?
780
00:39:32,634 --> 00:39:35,166
Horse tooth is exciting
781
00:39:35,166 --> 00:39:37,467
because it tells us
that we are definitely
782
00:39:37,467 --> 00:39:40,367
in a place that's in
a deposit,
783
00:39:40,367 --> 00:39:43,734
uh, possibly older
than 14,000 years.
784
00:39:43,734 --> 00:39:45,367
The tooth could belong
785
00:39:45,433 --> 00:39:48,266
to an extinct speciesof horse from the Ice Age.
786
00:39:48,266 --> 00:39:50,667
I just want keep, uh...
787
00:39:50,667 --> 00:39:52,367
I don't even want to talk.
I want to keep digging.
788
00:39:52,367 --> 00:39:53,734
Okay.
789
00:39:53,734 --> 00:39:56,367
What about
the, um, piece of bone
790
00:39:56,367 --> 00:39:58,100
sticking out of the wall here?
791
00:39:58,767 --> 00:40:00,367
Very good. That's encouraging.
792
00:40:00,433 --> 00:40:02,166
So hopefully
the frequency of those
793
00:40:02,166 --> 00:40:05,033
will start to increase
as you go deeper.
794
00:40:05,033 --> 00:40:08,667
Soon they findother Ice Age animals.
795
00:40:08,734 --> 00:40:12,033
Finding some bone fragments
here and there.
796
00:40:12,033 --> 00:40:13,667
This complete bone here.
797
00:40:13,734 --> 00:40:16,233
Like extinctspecies of caribou.
798
00:40:16,233 --> 00:40:17,433
It's a food bone.
799
00:40:18,266 --> 00:40:20,367
That's a good thing for us,
800
00:40:20,367 --> 00:40:22,266
and we are hoping
to find more.
801
00:40:22,266 --> 00:40:23,567
Another one.
802
00:40:23,567 --> 00:40:25,767
Could this pile ofbones have been left behind
803
00:40:25,767 --> 00:40:27,934
by humans after a hunt?
804
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:29,667
Lauriane, do you wanna see it?
805
00:40:29,667 --> 00:40:33,667
We're encountering,uh, bones of animals
806
00:40:33,667 --> 00:40:35,834
that are no longer,
uh, occurring today.
807
00:40:35,900 --> 00:40:37,000
They're extinct,
808
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,667
including, um, uh, extinct
forms of caribou.
809
00:40:40,734 --> 00:40:43,734
Uh, there's extinctAmerican horse,
810
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:46,967
uh, and other animals
that would've thrived in a...
811
00:40:46,967 --> 00:40:49,667
In a Ice Age environment.
812
00:40:49,734 --> 00:40:52,266
And so, uh, I thinkwe're probably down
813
00:40:52,266 --> 00:40:54,834
to about closeto 20,000 years ago.
814
00:40:55,500 --> 00:40:56,967
So that's caribou size.
815
00:40:56,967 --> 00:40:59,367
Yeah, I could see
the, uh, the marrow.
816
00:40:59,367 --> 00:41:00,400
Mmm-hmm.
817
00:41:01,467 --> 00:41:03,467
Moving with animalsis a key part
818
00:41:03,533 --> 00:41:05,367
of Vuntut Gwitchin history.
819
00:41:05,367 --> 00:41:07,734
Every yearfor thousands of years,
820
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,567
they followed the porcupinecaribou herd,
821
00:41:10,567 --> 00:41:12,934
famous for migrating farther
822
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,066
than any other land animalon the planet,
823
00:41:15,066 --> 00:41:19,233
traveling over 1500 milesin a season.
824
00:41:19,300 --> 00:41:21,734
They use the caves here.
825
00:41:21,734 --> 00:41:25,467
They use the hillsand the mountains behind me.
826
00:41:25,467 --> 00:41:28,266
They use the river
and the creek,
827
00:41:28,266 --> 00:41:31,934
and that brought themto navigate
828
00:41:31,934 --> 00:41:36,934
all from the west,
following the animals.
829
00:41:36,934 --> 00:41:38,834
Vuntut Gwitchin oral history
830
00:41:38,900 --> 00:41:41,100
is rich with storiesof tool making,
831
00:41:41,100 --> 00:41:43,934
hunting,walking great distances,
832
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:45,467
and hunting mammoths.
833
00:41:47,567 --> 00:41:48,734
So there's a lot of reasons
834
00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:50,934
why I know that people
have been here a long time.
835
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,834
We know that, um, mammals
have been using land areas
836
00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:56,834
to crossbetween the continents
837
00:41:56,834 --> 00:41:59,567
for millions of years.
838
00:41:59,634 --> 00:42:02,567
They had to have land
that was dry, that had food,
839
00:42:02,567 --> 00:42:04,467
and they wandered across it.
840
00:42:04,467 --> 00:42:07,133
Before and evenduring the Ice Age,
841
00:42:07,133 --> 00:42:09,734
animals migratedacross continents
842
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:11,867
as the climate fluctuated.
843
00:42:11,867 --> 00:42:14,834
The ice that coveredCanada reached its peak
844
00:42:14,834 --> 00:42:17,066
about 20,000 years ago,
845
00:42:18,667 --> 00:42:20,667
but go farther back in time,
846
00:42:20,667 --> 00:42:24,767
30,000, 40,000,50,000 years ago.
847
00:42:24,767 --> 00:42:28,100
And it gets warmerand warmer.
848
00:42:29,667 --> 00:42:32,734
So we're told that
even though early humans
849
00:42:32,734 --> 00:42:34,367
were very capable
850
00:42:34,433 --> 00:42:36,367
and they walked from Africa
to northern Asia,
851
00:42:36,367 --> 00:42:38,467
they just stopped
when they got there.
852
00:42:38,533 --> 00:42:40,734
And they never crossed,
like, the mammals were coming
853
00:42:40,734 --> 00:42:42,166
and going all this time,
854
00:42:42,166 --> 00:42:43,967
and humans
never came over here?
855
00:42:43,967 --> 00:42:45,867
That doesn't
make any sense.
856
00:42:45,867 --> 00:42:47,734
If herdsof animals crossed
857
00:42:47,734 --> 00:42:51,233
into North Americabefore the ice wall formed,
858
00:42:51,300 --> 00:42:53,433
maybe humans did too.
859
00:42:55,567 --> 00:42:58,233
Maybe they followed the food.
860
00:43:04,500 --> 00:43:09,467
The final proof couldbe here in New Mexico...
861
00:43:09,467 --> 00:43:13,233
in a restricted areaof White Sands National Park,
862
00:43:13,300 --> 00:43:16,066
park ranger David Bustossurveys an area
863
00:43:16,066 --> 00:43:17,567
that's been freshly exposed
864
00:43:17,567 --> 00:43:20,734
by high windsand heavy rains.
865
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:23,567
He noticessomething unusual,
866
00:43:23,567 --> 00:43:26,133
huge imprints in the sand.
867
00:43:27,767 --> 00:43:30,367
First printswe seen in the park
868
00:43:30,367 --> 00:43:32,934
was after a large,
uh, flood of it.
869
00:43:34,834 --> 00:43:38,066
I was walking around and,uh, started looking
870
00:43:38,066 --> 00:43:40,567
and seeing these enormous,
uh, mammoth prints.
871
00:43:40,567 --> 00:43:42,467
I was, "Holy cow, it's huge."
872
00:43:42,467 --> 00:43:44,133
About 13 foot strides.
873
00:43:44,133 --> 00:43:46,133
Just, um, really,
really large stride.
874
00:43:46,133 --> 00:43:48,100
And there's no other animalanywhere,
875
00:43:48,100 --> 00:43:49,934
no other tracksthat are that large,
876
00:43:49,934 --> 00:43:52,767
just an enormous animal.
877
00:43:52,767 --> 00:43:55,266
The stormhad ripped off surface layers
878
00:43:55,266 --> 00:43:59,467
of sand, uncoveringancient gypsum soil,
879
00:43:59,467 --> 00:44:03,233
densely packed and coveredin fossilized footprints.
880
00:44:05,266 --> 00:44:07,567
And then,you know, started seeing,
881
00:44:07,567 --> 00:44:09,834
um, what lookedlike elongated prints.
882
00:44:21,567 --> 00:44:22,834
Am I crazy?
883
00:44:22,900 --> 00:44:24,467
Is this... Is this real?
884
00:44:24,467 --> 00:44:26,834
It would be really
amazing if it was a human,
885
00:44:26,900 --> 00:44:28,800
but, what are the odds?
886
00:44:31,634 --> 00:44:33,233
At White SandsNational Park,
887
00:44:33,300 --> 00:44:37,233
something extraordinaryis showing up in the sand.
888
00:44:37,300 --> 00:44:39,433
Really incredible footprint.
889
00:44:41,367 --> 00:44:44,133
It just doesn't seem possibleto have human prints
890
00:44:44,133 --> 00:44:45,367
alongside with the...
891
00:44:45,367 --> 00:44:47,266
with the mammoth prints.
892
00:44:47,266 --> 00:44:49,634
Mammoths were oneof many giant animals
893
00:44:49,634 --> 00:44:53,000
known as megafaunathat all went extinct here
894
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,567
10,000 years ago.
895
00:44:55,567 --> 00:44:57,734
We know humansused to hunt them,
896
00:44:57,734 --> 00:45:01,467
but how far backdoes their interaction go?
897
00:45:01,467 --> 00:45:02,567
I didn't know
anything about it.
898
00:45:02,567 --> 00:45:04,934
I wondered how common
is that to see that,
899
00:45:04,934 --> 00:45:06,000
or is that even...
900
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:07,333
Should we be
seeing that here?
901
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,100
Uncertainof what he's discovered,
902
00:45:10,100 --> 00:45:12,433
Bustos reaches outto one of the world's
903
00:45:12,500 --> 00:45:15,233
leading expertsin footprints.
904
00:45:16,233 --> 00:45:17,867
I'm ready.
905
00:45:17,867 --> 00:45:19,100
Off we go then.
906
00:45:19,100 --> 00:45:20,433
Yeah.
907
00:45:20,433 --> 00:45:22,000
Matthew Bennetthas studied
908
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:25,133
fossilized footprintsall over the world.
909
00:45:25,133 --> 00:45:27,166
The images he sent me
at that time
910
00:45:27,166 --> 00:45:28,834
were quite intriguing.
911
00:45:28,900 --> 00:45:30,467
I wasn't convinced,
912
00:45:30,467 --> 00:45:33,033
but I was certainly
very interested.
913
00:45:35,567 --> 00:45:37,567
Bustos foundthe footprints in an area
914
00:45:37,567 --> 00:45:40,467
where the general publicis not allowed.
915
00:45:40,467 --> 00:45:43,734
The only way to accessthe site is by ATV.
916
00:45:48,066 --> 00:45:50,567
White Sands was oncethe bottom
917
00:45:50,567 --> 00:45:52,533
of an ice age lake.
918
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:55,567
Thousands of yearsafter it disappeared,
919
00:45:55,567 --> 00:45:57,834
wind formed the dunes.
920
00:46:00,066 --> 00:46:02,567
The clay-like mudunderneath preserved
921
00:46:02,567 --> 00:46:04,634
the prints of animalsthat came here to drink
922
00:46:04,634 --> 00:46:06,433
and feed on the plantsthat grew
923
00:46:06,500 --> 00:46:08,166
along the shoreline.
924
00:46:08,166 --> 00:46:10,734
Maybe humanswere here too.
925
00:46:12,667 --> 00:46:13,734
I can see that one.
926
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:16,066
Now, the lake bedis exposed,
927
00:46:16,066 --> 00:46:17,533
offering its secrets.
928
00:46:17,533 --> 00:46:19,266
And it carries on there,
doesn't it?
929
00:46:19,266 --> 00:46:20,667
Yeah.
930
00:46:20,667 --> 00:46:22,266
What about...
931
00:46:22,266 --> 00:46:24,033
What about down there?
932
00:46:27,767 --> 00:46:29,333
Those are toes.
933
00:46:29,333 --> 00:46:30,734
And the heel is there.
934
00:46:30,734 --> 00:46:33,900
So amazing. Look at that.
935
00:46:35,533 --> 00:46:38,333
This beautiful sortof sole print
936
00:46:38,333 --> 00:46:40,433
of this human
was sitting there.
937
00:46:40,500 --> 00:46:41,867
And at that point
I thought,
938
00:46:41,867 --> 00:46:44,433
"Well, there were expletives,
shall we say?
939
00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:45,367
In the corner here,
940
00:46:45,367 --> 00:46:47,667
under the shadow,
you can see toes.
941
00:46:47,667 --> 00:46:49,433
There's a human print.
Holy cow.
942
00:46:49,433 --> 00:46:51,066
And you know that was it.
943
00:46:51,066 --> 00:46:54,133
That's another one, you see,
the heel's just in here.
944
00:46:54,133 --> 00:46:56,367
I don't get excitedabout a lot of things.
945
00:46:56,367 --> 00:46:57,767
It's not reallyin my nature.
946
00:46:57,767 --> 00:46:59,867
I'm sort of Britishafter all.
947
00:46:59,867 --> 00:47:01,467
But there was excitement.
948
00:47:01,467 --> 00:47:03,333
Gorgeous little track.
949
00:47:05,233 --> 00:47:07,166
The footprintsgenerate headlines
950
00:47:07,166 --> 00:47:08,266
all over the world,
951
00:47:08,266 --> 00:47:10,467
but leave the archeologicalestablishment
952
00:47:10,467 --> 00:47:12,967
scratching their heads.
953
00:47:12,967 --> 00:47:16,433
We have no experience,
no realm of experience
954
00:47:16,433 --> 00:47:19,934
whatsoever to measure, study,
955
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:21,834
let alone interpret
956
00:47:21,834 --> 00:47:23,934
the significance
of these footprints.
957
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,634
To uncoverthe full story
958
00:47:25,634 --> 00:47:27,967
of these remarkablehuman prints,
959
00:47:27,967 --> 00:47:30,834
Bennett and Bustos invitea team of experts
960
00:47:30,834 --> 00:47:32,433
to have a look.
961
00:47:32,433 --> 00:47:37,100
One of them is indigenousarcheologist Ed Jolie.
962
00:47:37,100 --> 00:47:38,834
Just the number out here.
963
00:47:38,834 --> 00:47:39,934
It's astounding.
964
00:47:39,934 --> 00:47:43,634
You... Once you realizewhat you're looking at,
965
00:47:43,700 --> 00:47:46,333
it's hard notto step on one.
966
00:47:46,333 --> 00:47:48,233
It's very much a visceral
experience being there
967
00:47:48,300 --> 00:47:52,333
at White Sands and literally,
you know, walking,
968
00:47:52,333 --> 00:47:53,333
you know, potentially
in the footsteps
969
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:54,634
of my ancestors.
970
00:47:54,634 --> 00:47:56,834
You know, these were peoplethat walked and talked,
971
00:47:56,834 --> 00:48:00,100
got mad and sadand angry just like us.
972
00:48:00,100 --> 00:48:02,634
It's a pretty powerful
experience.
973
00:48:02,700 --> 00:48:05,600
But how oldare these footprints?
974
00:48:07,467 --> 00:48:09,834
Kathleen Springerand Jeff Pigati
975
00:48:09,834 --> 00:48:12,634
are here to confirm the age.
976
00:48:12,700 --> 00:48:15,000
Their findings couldreshape our understanding
977
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:19,433
of human history,but it won't be easy.
978
00:48:20,667 --> 00:48:23,467
So we were asked
to come and sort of do
979
00:48:23,467 --> 00:48:26,333
what we do everywhere
and help the team
980
00:48:26,333 --> 00:48:30,367
understand the timingof all of it.
981
00:48:30,367 --> 00:48:32,333
When were the peopleand the animals
982
00:48:32,333 --> 00:48:33,667
hanging out together?
983
00:48:33,667 --> 00:48:34,934
There's a number
of sites all...
984
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:36,967
Sites all throughout
the Southwest
that have documented
985
00:48:36,967 --> 00:48:39,734
interaction between human
and the megafauna.
986
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:41,934
But they're typically
in the, you know,
987
00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:43,734
13,000-year-old range
in that...
988
00:48:43,734 --> 00:48:44,867
In that kind of ballpark.
989
00:48:44,867 --> 00:48:47,934
So, you know, before we gotany numbers or anything,
990
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:50,066
-that's kind of the default--
-The frame of reference.
991
00:48:50,066 --> 00:48:51,667
Exactly. The frame
of reference is that,
992
00:48:51,667 --> 00:48:53,333
yeah, these are...
These are probably...
993
00:48:53,333 --> 00:48:55,867
You know, probably something
very similar.
994
00:48:55,867 --> 00:48:57,667
The questionis how do you datea footprint?
995
00:48:57,667 --> 00:49:00,066
You can't datethe footprints themselves.
996
00:49:00,066 --> 00:49:00,934
It's at the surface.
997
00:49:00,934 --> 00:49:02,233
And so to be able
to date something,
998
00:49:02,300 --> 00:49:04,066
you have to be able
to constrain it in time
999
00:49:04,066 --> 00:49:06,100
below and above.
1000
00:49:06,100 --> 00:49:08,567
And so if the footprints
are always at the surface,
1001
00:49:08,567 --> 00:49:09,734
we can't do that.
1002
00:49:10,467 --> 00:49:11,967
Pigatiand Springer decide
1003
00:49:11,967 --> 00:49:13,266
to dig underneath the prints
1004
00:49:13,266 --> 00:49:16,500
to excavate materialthat could be dated.
1005
00:49:18,100 --> 00:49:18,967
We gotta make an exposure.
1006
00:49:18,967 --> 00:49:20,367
We have to...
We have to dig a trench.
1007
00:49:20,367 --> 00:49:21,634
Yeah.
1008
00:49:21,634 --> 00:49:24,467
They're lookingfor animal or plant remains.
1009
00:49:24,467 --> 00:49:26,800
Anything containing carbon.
1010
00:49:28,033 --> 00:49:31,266
And we arepainstakingly,bit by bit,
1011
00:49:31,266 --> 00:49:33,533
50 centimeter chunksat a time,
1012
00:49:33,533 --> 00:49:36,433
describing the walls
of the sediment.
1013
00:49:39,867 --> 00:49:42,066
As they scrapeat the trench walls,
1014
00:49:42,066 --> 00:49:45,233
each layer marks a differentperiod of history.
1015
00:49:46,367 --> 00:49:47,834
Every four-inch layer
1016
00:49:47,834 --> 00:49:51,066
represents roughly100 years in time.
1017
00:49:53,166 --> 00:49:54,934
In many of the layers,
1018
00:49:54,934 --> 00:49:57,266
they noticetiny black dots
1019
00:49:57,266 --> 00:49:59,934
the size of pinheads.
1020
00:50:02,233 --> 00:50:03,934
We were able to find
seed layers,
1021
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,367
layers of seeds
that were positioned
1022
00:50:06,367 --> 00:50:09,333
above and below,
uh, various track ways.
1023
00:50:09,333 --> 00:50:12,133
And there were prints downall over the place, right?
1024
00:50:12,133 --> 00:50:13,233
And so...
1025
00:50:13,300 --> 00:50:14,767
And there were prints
at the surface, so it...
1026
00:50:14,767 --> 00:50:16,433
We basically said,
you know, this, this,
1027
00:50:16,433 --> 00:50:17,934
this could cover
a fair bit of time.
1028
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:19,634
And they...
These ones are oxidized.
1029
00:50:19,700 --> 00:50:21,767
There's oxygen in,
but these are the seeds.
1030
00:50:21,767 --> 00:50:24,634
Then right here
you see seeds...
1031
00:50:25,433 --> 00:50:27,867
and they just layers upon
layers of...
1032
00:50:27,867 --> 00:50:29,233
And in someplaces, actually,
1033
00:50:29,233 --> 00:50:31,834
we were able to find seeds
in the footprints themselves.
1034
00:50:31,834 --> 00:50:34,133
So these people were walking
around on a landscape,
1035
00:50:34,133 --> 00:50:35,734
um, you know, stepping
on these plants,
1036
00:50:35,734 --> 00:50:37,166
which were alive
at the time.
1037
00:50:37,166 --> 00:50:39,533
They were walkingon a margin of a lake.
1038
00:50:39,533 --> 00:50:42,266
So it was wet and dryin places and these plants
1039
00:50:42,266 --> 00:50:44,233
that need waterfor their lifecycle,
1040
00:50:44,233 --> 00:50:47,200
were growing in the wet partsof this environment.
1041
00:50:48,166 --> 00:50:49,433
And we usedradiocarbon dating
1042
00:50:49,433 --> 00:50:52,000
of those seedsto constrain them in time.
1043
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,333
So since that time
when the people stepped
1044
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:55,767
on the plants,
1045
00:50:55,834 --> 00:50:56,967
- the plants haven't moved,the footprints...
- -Mmm-hmm.
1046
00:50:56,967 --> 00:50:58,367
...haven't moved,and so they're...
1047
00:50:58,367 --> 00:50:59,834
- They're directlyassociated in time.
- -Right.
1048
00:50:59,834 --> 00:51:00,734
There's a lot of layers here.
1049
00:51:00,734 --> 00:51:02,834
So we're really documenting
all of them.
1050
00:51:02,900 --> 00:51:06,533
And then of course, putting it
all together in time
1051
00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:09,200
to sort of tell the storyof all of these layers.
1052
00:51:10,266 --> 00:51:14,100
The deeperthey dig, the more they find.
1053
00:51:14,100 --> 00:51:16,867
- There's footprintseverywhere.
- -Oh, I know that.
1054
00:51:16,867 --> 00:51:17,967
Let me...Let me show you.
1055
00:51:17,967 --> 00:51:19,100
Well,there's a mammoth here.
1056
00:51:19,100 --> 00:51:21,467
Oh, yeah,there's a mammoth right here.
1057
00:51:21,467 --> 00:51:24,867
Wow. Oh, my God.
1058
00:51:24,867 --> 00:51:26,533
There, one.
And there's a whole bunch
1059
00:51:26,533 --> 00:51:28,233
of humans all through.
1060
00:51:28,233 --> 00:51:31,000
They're in the subsurface.
We're, like, "Yes."
1061
00:51:32,166 --> 00:51:35,133
Animal printsmingle with human ones.
1062
00:51:35,133 --> 00:51:39,634
Each layer takes themfurther back in time,
1063
00:51:39,634 --> 00:51:44,133
and many contain the organicmatter needed to date them.
1064
00:51:46,467 --> 00:51:48,467
It's not justone time frame,
1065
00:51:48,467 --> 00:51:50,333
one, you know,
stamp in time.
1066
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:53,133
There's multiple layers
over and over and over again
1067
00:51:53,133 --> 00:51:55,233
where you have the megafauna
and the human prints.
1068
00:51:55,300 --> 00:51:57,567
So there's some places
where we have mammoth prints,
1069
00:51:57,567 --> 00:52:00,634
a meter above, uh,
human prints down below,
1070
00:52:00,700 --> 00:52:02,634
and there's also mammoth
prints down below.
1071
00:52:02,634 --> 00:52:05,233
You can tell there's been
a long history of people
1072
00:52:05,233 --> 00:52:07,233
through the stratigraphy,
walking along
1073
00:52:07,233 --> 00:52:09,066
with the megafauna
for thousands of years.
1074
00:52:09,066 --> 00:52:11,233
After a week of digging,
1075
00:52:11,233 --> 00:52:13,000
they're three feet down
1076
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:15,734
and still no endto the prints.
1077
00:52:15,734 --> 00:52:18,433
The possibilitiesare staggering.
1078
00:52:18,433 --> 00:52:20,634
It's the sheervolume of tracks there.
1079
00:52:20,634 --> 00:52:23,033
Thousands,tens of thousands of tracks.
1080
00:52:23,033 --> 00:52:25,934
We can actually go backin time
1081
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:27,533
as if we were, you know,
1082
00:52:27,533 --> 00:52:30,033
trackers and track
the animals and the humans
1083
00:52:30,033 --> 00:52:32,667
through the landscape
over large areas.
1084
00:52:32,667 --> 00:52:36,634
And that gives us, uh,
an insight into the way
1085
00:52:36,634 --> 00:52:38,867
these different animalsare interacting
1086
00:52:38,867 --> 00:52:40,767
with one another.
1087
00:52:40,767 --> 00:52:42,634
The teamwill have to wait for weeks
1088
00:52:42,634 --> 00:52:46,533
before they get dates backfor the tiny seeds.
1089
00:52:46,533 --> 00:52:50,767
But now there's evidenceof another giant beast
1090
00:52:50,767 --> 00:52:54,166
who left its markin the sand.
1091
00:52:54,166 --> 00:52:56,834
These massive beasts,
you know, that roamed
through here.
1092
00:53:01,333 --> 00:53:02,834
After finding thousands
1093
00:53:02,834 --> 00:53:03,934
of human footprints...
1094
00:53:03,934 --> 00:53:05,233
Hey, look at that.
1095
00:53:05,233 --> 00:53:06,834
...scientistsdiscover the tracks
1096
00:53:06,900 --> 00:53:09,867
of anothergiant ice age beast.
1097
00:53:09,867 --> 00:53:11,433
These massive beasts,
you know,
1098
00:53:11,500 --> 00:53:13,433
that roamed through here.
1099
00:53:16,834 --> 00:53:18,834
A lot of animalprints in nature
1100
00:53:18,900 --> 00:53:21,734
are round prints,
especially the predators.
1101
00:53:21,734 --> 00:53:24,066
Um, you know,
a bison is sort of a,
1102
00:53:24,066 --> 00:53:27,000
a round print and a camel,you know, a round print.
1103
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:29,734
But humans,they have an elongated print
1104
00:53:29,734 --> 00:53:31,367
and also giantground sloth.
1105
00:53:31,367 --> 00:53:34,433
They also havean elongated print.
1106
00:53:34,500 --> 00:53:37,133
The sloth prints
are absolutely fantastic.
1107
00:53:37,133 --> 00:53:38,967
This was oneof the most
1108
00:53:38,967 --> 00:53:42,066
bizarre-looking megafaunaof the Ice Age.
1109
00:53:42,066 --> 00:53:44,433
The ground slothstood ten feet high
1110
00:53:44,500 --> 00:53:47,333
and weighed 2,200 pounds.
1111
00:53:47,400 --> 00:53:49,333
They spent their liveseating plants
1112
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:51,000
and lumberingthrough grasslands
1113
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:52,634
searching for water.
1114
00:53:52,700 --> 00:53:54,567
They were strong, but slow
1115
00:53:54,567 --> 00:53:56,266
and could have beeneasy targets
1116
00:53:56,266 --> 00:53:58,333
for Ice Age hunters.
1117
00:53:58,400 --> 00:53:59,567
When you start lookingat the prints,
1118
00:53:59,567 --> 00:54:00,934
it does come to life.
1119
00:54:00,934 --> 00:54:03,867
You know, every slight littlemovement and it becomes real.
1120
00:54:03,867 --> 00:54:06,700
And you see a storyin the footprints.
1121
00:54:07,433 --> 00:54:09,467
Readinga detective story,
1122
00:54:09,467 --> 00:54:11,867
we can see how somebody
1123
00:54:11,867 --> 00:54:14,000
stepped in the tracks
of the sloth print
1124
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:15,233
one after the other,
1125
00:54:15,233 --> 00:54:17,867
harassing or stalking
this sloth,
1126
00:54:17,867 --> 00:54:20,533
making it angry
so that it would turn around
1127
00:54:20,533 --> 00:54:21,934
and flail with its arms.
1128
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:24,867
And you can see
all those flail motions
1129
00:54:24,867 --> 00:54:27,233
and it can readall of that story.
1130
00:54:28,367 --> 00:54:30,233
To think about
and contemplate interactions
1131
00:54:30,233 --> 00:54:33,266
between humans and sloths,
1132
00:54:33,266 --> 00:54:35,233
uh, and all these
extinct fauna.
1133
00:54:35,233 --> 00:54:40,467
Uh, it's, like, something
out of a movie.
1134
00:54:40,467 --> 00:54:42,634
It's a rare glimpseback in time
1135
00:54:42,700 --> 00:54:46,233
when humans livedside by side with giants.
1136
00:54:46,300 --> 00:54:48,533
But what was their worldreally like?
1137
00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:50,934
And how could it help usunderstand how
1138
00:54:50,934 --> 00:54:54,634
and when humans movedacross two continents?
1139
00:54:54,634 --> 00:54:57,934
The answer could lieover 4,500 miles away
1140
00:54:57,934 --> 00:55:00,166
in South America,where a groundbreaking
1141
00:55:00,166 --> 00:55:02,533
investigation is underwayin Brazil.
1142
00:55:07,867 --> 00:55:10,834
Thais Pansani isa Brazilian paleontologist
1143
00:55:10,834 --> 00:55:14,133
whose research focuseson the giant sloth
1144
00:55:14,133 --> 00:55:17,700
and its relationshipto ancient humans.
1145
00:55:19,266 --> 00:55:21,634
So I love the whole megafauna,
1146
00:55:21,634 --> 00:55:24,734
but I'm particularly in love
with the giant sloth.
1147
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:27,367
The interaction of humanswith the megafauna
1148
00:55:27,367 --> 00:55:30,333
is something that
makes me really interest.
1149
00:55:30,333 --> 00:55:33,033
Giant slothevolved in South America
1150
00:55:33,033 --> 00:55:34,467
30 million years ago,
1151
00:55:34,467 --> 00:55:36,533
but there is littleinformation
1152
00:55:36,600 --> 00:55:39,066
about when they firstencountered people.
1153
00:55:39,066 --> 00:55:41,533
Pansani is doinga deep examination
1154
00:55:41,600 --> 00:55:45,033
into sloth bones that mighthold clues to this mystery.
1155
00:55:45,033 --> 00:55:47,667
They were unearthedfrom an archeological site
1156
00:55:47,667 --> 00:55:50,367
in central Brazilin the 1980s.
1157
00:55:50,367 --> 00:55:53,233
There are 8,000 sloth bonesin the collection,
1158
00:55:53,233 --> 00:55:55,934
most of whichare called osteoderms.
1159
00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:58,567
These small boneswere embedded in the skin
1160
00:55:58,567 --> 00:56:00,333
beneath the sloth's fur.
1161
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:02,033
For a slow moving beast,
1162
00:56:02,033 --> 00:56:04,634
this armor may have beentheir best defense
1163
00:56:04,700 --> 00:56:06,367
against predators.
1164
00:56:06,367 --> 00:56:09,233
In a box marked27,000 years old,
1165
00:56:09,233 --> 00:56:12,333
Pansani finds several bonesthat stand out.
1166
00:56:12,333 --> 00:56:14,834
I have threegiant sloth osteoderms
1167
00:56:14,834 --> 00:56:16,734
that are perforatedand polished.
1168
00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:19,967
So it is somethingthat makes possible
1169
00:56:19,967 --> 00:56:22,367
the hypothesis of, "Okay.
Someone did that.
1170
00:56:22,367 --> 00:56:23,533
It's not natural."
1171
00:56:23,533 --> 00:56:25,333
Could these tiny bones
1172
00:56:25,333 --> 00:56:27,967
have been reshapedby ancient humans
1173
00:56:27,967 --> 00:56:30,433
making ornaments or jewelry?
1174
00:56:30,433 --> 00:56:32,266
Nobody did
a deep investigation
1175
00:56:32,266 --> 00:56:34,100
on these ornaments yet.
1176
00:56:34,100 --> 00:56:36,567
So I startedtwo main questions.
1177
00:56:36,567 --> 00:56:39,333
If these ornaments
were made by humans,
1178
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:44,000
and two, provide evidencesthat these modifications
1179
00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:46,333
were made in fresh bones,
in fresh carcass.
1180
00:56:46,333 --> 00:56:49,000
If she's right,it will place people
1181
00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:52,934
in the heart of Brazil27,000 years ago
1182
00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:55,533
at the same timeArdelean claims humans
1183
00:56:55,600 --> 00:56:58,333
are in Mexicoand could be further proof
1184
00:56:58,333 --> 00:57:00,533
that humans made itpast the ice
1185
00:57:00,600 --> 00:57:02,934
long before we ever thought.
1186
00:57:02,934 --> 00:57:05,000
The name of the sitewhere they were found
1187
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,266
is Santa Elina in Brazil.
1188
00:57:07,266 --> 00:57:09,734
It was discovered byhusband and wife team,
1189
00:57:09,734 --> 00:57:13,200
Denis and Agueda Vialouin 1984.
1190
00:57:13,934 --> 00:57:16,533
Agueda is a Brazilianarcheologist
1191
00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:20,033
who's an expertin prehistoric stone tools.
1192
00:57:32,834 --> 00:57:34,834
Denis Vialouis a well-known
1193
00:57:34,834 --> 00:57:37,934
French specialistin prehistoric art.
1194
00:57:45,567 --> 00:57:47,734
Santa Elina standsin the shadow
1195
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:50,734
of a massive cliff wallcovered with breathtaking
1196
00:57:50,734 --> 00:57:52,433
ancient artwork,
1197
00:57:52,500 --> 00:57:54,634
depictions of humans,animals,
1198
00:57:54,634 --> 00:57:57,634
and mysteriousgeometric symbols.
1199
00:58:20,967 --> 00:58:24,033
Extensive excavationspanned 20 years.
1200
00:58:24,033 --> 00:58:25,867
Evidence of human occupation
1201
00:58:25,867 --> 00:58:28,166
is found at every layerin time.
1202
00:58:28,166 --> 00:58:29,834
Clothing, tools,
1203
00:58:29,834 --> 00:58:31,433
and ritualistic garb.
1204
00:58:31,433 --> 00:58:33,634
The Vialous claim the site
1205
00:58:33,700 --> 00:58:35,533
spans from 2,000 years,
1206
00:58:35,600 --> 00:58:39,667
all the way backto 27,000 years ago.
1207
00:58:53,767 --> 00:58:57,367
This would meanan unprecedented 25,000 years
1208
00:58:57,367 --> 00:59:01,333
of human occupationin the centerof South America.
1209
00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:03,433
The region is Mato Grosso,
1210
00:59:03,433 --> 00:59:05,634
a rare oasis,
1211
00:59:05,700 --> 00:59:08,967
almost unaffectedby the Ice Age.
1212
00:59:08,967 --> 00:59:11,367
It was a microclimatethat remained habitable,
1213
00:59:11,367 --> 00:59:14,700
unlike the icy landscapesurrounding it.
1214
00:59:15,533 --> 00:59:18,333
Santa Elina could have beena safe haven
1215
00:59:18,333 --> 00:59:20,300
for people and animals.
1216
00:59:21,133 --> 00:59:23,000
At several time periods,
1217
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:24,634
the Vialous find evidence
1218
00:59:24,634 --> 00:59:28,100
of humans livingwith giant sloth.
1219
00:59:48,767 --> 00:59:50,634
In 2011,
1220
00:59:50,634 --> 00:59:53,934
the Vialous publishedtheir astonishing results,
1221
00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:56,634
a site in the Americasclaiming to have people
1222
00:59:56,700 --> 01:00:00,433
living in the same locationfor 25,000 years.
1223
01:00:00,433 --> 01:00:03,934
But like Bluefish Cavesand Chiquihuite,
1224
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:08,066
questions are raised aboutthe validity of the dates.
1225
01:00:08,066 --> 01:00:10,133
There is the issue that
a lot of these are cave sites,
1226
01:00:10,133 --> 01:00:12,467
so they do suffer
from preservation,
1227
01:00:12,467 --> 01:00:14,934
sediments blowing in,
things coming into the caves,
1228
01:00:14,934 --> 01:00:18,233
things going out.
The difficulty
of dating stone tools,
1229
01:00:18,300 --> 01:00:20,934
a lack of, you know,
organic, um,
1230
01:00:20,934 --> 01:00:23,567
material culture that could
be more easily dated.
1231
01:00:23,567 --> 01:00:26,266
It's gonna takeour South American colleagues
1232
01:00:26,266 --> 01:00:27,734
in Brazil,
1233
01:00:28,667 --> 01:00:30,834
convincing us firsthand,
1234
01:00:30,900 --> 01:00:33,967
not just through
their publications,
1235
01:00:33,967 --> 01:00:36,367
that this is evidence
that we need
1236
01:00:36,367 --> 01:00:38,433
to be paying attention to.
1237
01:00:39,734 --> 01:00:41,233
Twenty years later,
1238
01:00:41,233 --> 01:00:43,233
Pansani brings Santa Elina
1239
01:00:43,233 --> 01:00:44,867
back into the spotlight.
1240
01:00:44,867 --> 01:00:47,433
She spentthe last four years
1241
01:00:47,433 --> 01:00:49,233
analyzing thetiny osteoderms
1242
01:00:49,233 --> 01:00:51,166
with electron microscopes
1243
01:00:51,166 --> 01:00:53,266
and performing experiments.
1244
01:00:53,266 --> 01:00:56,033
There's a lot,
a lot of evidences
1245
01:00:56,033 --> 01:01:00,333
that this was...
made by humans.
1246
01:01:00,400 --> 01:01:02,567
If she can provethese bones
1247
01:01:02,567 --> 01:01:04,333
were modified while fresh,
1248
01:01:04,333 --> 01:01:05,734
shortly afterthe beast died,
1249
01:01:05,800 --> 01:01:07,967
it directly places humans
1250
01:01:07,967 --> 01:01:11,166
on the site 27,000 years ago.
1251
01:01:11,166 --> 01:01:13,367
At the same time,humans could be
1252
01:01:13,367 --> 01:01:15,433
in central Mexico
1253
01:01:15,500 --> 01:01:17,033
and in the north.
1254
01:01:17,967 --> 01:01:20,166
If people are settledin every corner
1255
01:01:20,166 --> 01:01:22,000
of both continentsthis early,
1256
01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:25,033
how much earlier wouldthey have had to arrive?
1257
01:01:25,033 --> 01:01:26,600
See? It can be done.
1258
01:01:28,867 --> 01:01:30,467
In Sao Paulo, Brazil,
1259
01:01:30,467 --> 01:01:32,533
an experiment is underway
1260
01:01:32,600 --> 01:01:34,433
that could determineif ancient humans
1261
01:01:34,500 --> 01:01:38,000
were making ornamentsfrom giant sloth bone.
1262
01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:41,333
Thais Pansani usesoriginal stone tools
1263
01:01:41,333 --> 01:01:43,934
from Santa Elinato carve holes
1264
01:01:43,934 --> 01:01:45,934
in an armadillo bone,
1265
01:01:45,934 --> 01:01:47,533
the only modern mammal
1266
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:50,033
with an osteoderm shell.
1267
01:01:52,967 --> 01:01:54,634
See? It can be done.
1268
01:01:56,834 --> 01:01:58,834
Armed with her final results,
1269
01:01:58,900 --> 01:02:01,266
she presents her findingsto Agueda Vialou,
1270
01:02:01,266 --> 01:02:04,333
one of Santa Elina'soriginal researchers.
1271
01:02:15,767 --> 01:02:18,333
They scanning
electron microscope.
1272
01:02:18,333 --> 01:02:20,634
We have photo
luminescence that shows
1273
01:02:20,634 --> 01:02:23,967
all of these modifications
were made in fresh bones
1274
01:02:23,967 --> 01:02:27,266
by humans during
contemporaneous interaction
1275
01:02:27,266 --> 01:02:31,433
with the giant sloth
around 27,000 years ago.
1276
01:02:35,467 --> 01:02:37,233
Bravo, bravo.
1277
01:02:37,233 --> 01:02:40,033
And now finally,
she has these results,
1278
01:02:40,033 --> 01:02:42,667
just one more piece
that shows
1279
01:02:42,667 --> 01:02:45,333
the significance
of Santa Elina.
1280
01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:47,734
The Santa Elinasite in central Brazil
1281
01:02:47,734 --> 01:02:50,433
is further evidencethe date of human arrival
1282
01:02:50,500 --> 01:02:52,333
could have beenthousands of years
1283
01:02:52,400 --> 01:02:55,100
before the ice barrierwas formed.
1284
01:03:03,000 --> 01:03:05,634
I'm trying to doa really good work,
1285
01:03:05,700 --> 01:03:06,934
but at the same time,
1286
01:03:07,000 --> 01:03:09,000
I am just waiting
1287
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:10,734
to hear the critics
1288
01:03:10,734 --> 01:03:14,367
because I know that
some people will not believe.
1289
01:03:14,367 --> 01:03:17,367
And this is bad actually,
because in science,
1290
01:03:17,367 --> 01:03:21,467
we don't need to believe
in things,
we need to discover.
1291
01:03:21,467 --> 01:03:23,934
A constellationof sites is now threatening
1292
01:03:24,000 --> 01:03:26,000
to rewritethe history books.
1293
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:29,033
From the south in Chileto the heart of Brazil,
1294
01:03:29,033 --> 01:03:30,867
and from the centerof Mexico
1295
01:03:30,867 --> 01:03:33,634
all the way northto the Yukon.
1296
01:03:33,634 --> 01:03:35,867
But the official storywon't change
1297
01:03:35,867 --> 01:03:37,567
until the scientificcommunity
1298
01:03:37,567 --> 01:03:39,934
is convincedbeyond a doubt.
1299
01:03:41,367 --> 01:03:43,000
Changing a paradigmin science
1300
01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:45,066
is a monumental effort,
for sure.
1301
01:03:45,066 --> 01:03:47,533
And in archeology,
it definitely means
1302
01:03:47,533 --> 01:03:50,667
that the lines of evidence
all have to converge,
1303
01:03:50,667 --> 01:03:53,834
to come together,
to present
1304
01:03:53,900 --> 01:03:57,367
a very cohesive story
1305
01:03:57,367 --> 01:04:00,133
about the age
and the significance
1306
01:04:00,133 --> 01:04:02,000
of an archeological site.
1307
01:04:02,000 --> 01:04:05,634
And that's a very
difficult thing to do.
1308
01:04:05,700 --> 01:04:08,066
For now,the prevailing theory says
1309
01:04:08,066 --> 01:04:09,734
humans entered North America
1310
01:04:09,734 --> 01:04:13,100
no more than15,000 years ago.
1311
01:04:13,100 --> 01:04:14,834
The email Ciprian Ardelean
1312
01:04:14,900 --> 01:04:17,367
is about to opencould change that.
1313
01:04:17,367 --> 01:04:19,533
Radiocarbon datesfor his human
1314
01:04:19,600 --> 01:04:21,867
cut bones have just landed.
1315
01:04:21,867 --> 01:04:24,634
Will they finally provehumans made the marks
1316
01:04:24,700 --> 01:04:27,934
as far backas 20,000 years ago?
1317
01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:29,634
Oh, no.
1318
01:04:31,367 --> 01:04:34,000
Oh, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no.
1319
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:35,734
This is not good.
1320
01:04:39,834 --> 01:04:41,634
No. This is not good.
1321
01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:46,533
They didn't work.
1322
01:04:46,533 --> 01:04:48,333
The samples didn't work.
1323
01:04:51,367 --> 01:04:53,166
They couldn't date them.
1324
01:04:53,166 --> 01:04:55,834
I thought that should date
1325
01:04:55,900 --> 01:04:58,934
to the glacial maximum,
1326
01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:03,467
something like 22,000,
23,000 years old.
1327
01:05:03,467 --> 01:05:07,000
So that was at stake
with these dates.
1328
01:05:08,667 --> 01:05:10,634
The boneshave been exposed
1329
01:05:10,634 --> 01:05:13,333
to thousands of yearsof water,
1330
01:05:13,400 --> 01:05:16,433
leaching out the collagenneeded to date them.
1331
01:05:17,734 --> 01:05:19,533
I cannot prove it.
1332
01:05:21,066 --> 01:05:22,900
I cannot publish this.
1333
01:05:24,467 --> 01:05:27,533
And then,at White Sands, New Mexico,
1334
01:05:27,533 --> 01:05:31,166
an extraordinary turnof events is unfolding.
1335
01:05:31,166 --> 01:05:33,867
The date of the organicmaterial is in,
1336
01:05:33,867 --> 01:05:37,834
and this time,there is a clear date.
1337
01:05:37,834 --> 01:05:40,233
The oldest known
human footprints
1338
01:05:40,300 --> 01:05:43,734
in North America have
been discovered in New Mexico.
1339
01:05:43,734 --> 01:05:47,734
Scientists identified
approximately
60 fossilized footprints.
1340
01:05:47,800 --> 01:05:50,834
Recent study detailing
what archaeologists believe
1341
01:05:50,834 --> 01:05:54,000
are the oldest
known footprints
in the United States
1342
01:05:54,000 --> 01:05:55,934
is sparking new questions
1343
01:05:55,934 --> 01:05:58,967
and upending long-held
assumptions.
1344
01:05:58,967 --> 01:06:01,100
The ages were between 23,000
1345
01:06:01,100 --> 01:06:03,867
and 21,000 years ago, right?
1346
01:06:03,867 --> 01:06:06,634
These are...
It's really old. Really old.
1347
01:06:06,700 --> 01:06:08,634
The jaws dropped, right?
That's the...
1348
01:06:08,634 --> 01:06:10,266
It was... It was stunning.
1349
01:06:10,266 --> 01:06:12,100
- It's...
- Well, it's 8,000
1350
01:06:12,100 --> 01:06:14,100
-to 10,000 years
older than Clovis.
-Yeah.
1351
01:06:14,100 --> 01:06:16,667
It's maybe 5,000to 7,000 years
1352
01:06:16,667 --> 01:06:18,934
- older thanmost pre-Clovis sites.
- -Yeah.
1353
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:21,233
And peoplewere here
1354
01:06:21,300 --> 01:06:22,467
before the Last Glacial
Maximum.
1355
01:06:22,467 --> 01:06:23,867
That's the key thing because
1356
01:06:23,867 --> 01:06:25,734
it's that ice sheet barrier
1357
01:06:25,734 --> 01:06:27,266
and saying,"Well, they were here
1358
01:06:27,266 --> 01:06:28,767
before thatice sheet barrier."
1359
01:06:28,767 --> 01:06:30,767
So it fundamentally
changes the way
1360
01:06:30,767 --> 01:06:33,100
that we look at the peopling
of the Americas.
1361
01:06:33,100 --> 01:06:34,634
It changes it entirely.
1362
01:06:34,700 --> 01:06:36,967
It's a completely
new paradigm.
1363
01:06:36,967 --> 01:06:39,667
You cannot denythere are human footprints.
1364
01:06:39,667 --> 01:06:42,333
Really, this looks like humans
1365
01:06:42,333 --> 01:06:46,367
in New Mexico around the time
at the Last Glacial Maximum.
1366
01:06:46,367 --> 01:06:49,533
And people need
to grapple with this now.
1367
01:06:49,600 --> 01:06:51,934
The radiocarbondates of the ancient seeds
1368
01:06:51,934 --> 01:06:54,266
at White Sandsare unequivocal.
1369
01:06:54,266 --> 01:06:58,133
Hundreds of samplesand direct contactwith the footprints,
1370
01:06:58,133 --> 01:07:00,233
proof of humans deepin the continent
1371
01:07:00,300 --> 01:07:02,834
over 20,000 years ago.
1372
01:07:02,834 --> 01:07:05,233
I never anticipated
1373
01:07:05,300 --> 01:07:07,166
or prepared myself for it.
1374
01:07:07,166 --> 01:07:10,133
And I still feel that I'm not
really prepared for it.
1375
01:07:10,133 --> 01:07:11,834
It's just mind-blowing
1376
01:07:11,834 --> 01:07:14,467
that they're at least
twice the age
1377
01:07:14,467 --> 01:07:17,133
that I ever figured
they would turn out to be.
1378
01:07:18,567 --> 01:07:21,033
We're all gonna be going backto the drawing board,
1379
01:07:21,033 --> 01:07:23,433
trying to understand
1380
01:07:23,433 --> 01:07:25,667
how these footprintscould exist there
1381
01:07:25,667 --> 01:07:27,500
at such an early time.
1382
01:07:28,333 --> 01:07:30,467
So there's the potentiality
that humans
1383
01:07:30,467 --> 01:07:33,133
migrated through oneof these corridors
1384
01:07:33,133 --> 01:07:36,300
before the Last GlacialMaximum.
1385
01:07:37,367 --> 01:07:40,033
I think whatthe White Sands site does
1386
01:07:40,033 --> 01:07:44,166
for American archaeology
is it wakes archaeologists up.
1387
01:07:44,166 --> 01:07:46,767
I think we're
at a turning point,
1388
01:07:46,767 --> 01:07:48,934
you know, and I think
we're really going to see
1389
01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:51,100
a lot of change
in the next ten years.
1390
01:07:52,567 --> 01:07:54,333
You wanna sit
in the front, Bon?
1391
01:07:54,333 --> 01:07:55,834
I can sit in the front.
1392
01:07:55,900 --> 01:07:58,233
Native peopleshave been saying
1393
01:07:58,233 --> 01:08:00,734
for what feels like foreverthat they have been here
1394
01:08:00,734 --> 01:08:04,567
since time immemorial,
that we have this deep
1395
01:08:04,567 --> 01:08:06,734
venerable connection
to the landscape
1396
01:08:06,734 --> 01:08:08,834
that many people can't claim.
1397
01:08:08,834 --> 01:08:11,166
White Sands
validates everything
1398
01:08:11,166 --> 01:08:13,934
that native peoples have known
for a long time
1399
01:08:14,000 --> 01:08:16,233
and been telling everybody,
1400
01:08:16,233 --> 01:08:18,000
but no one's really paidattention or listened.
1401
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:20,066
And so it... Deep down,it feels great
1402
01:08:20,066 --> 01:08:23,333
to be able to say,"See, we told you so."
1403
01:08:23,400 --> 01:08:25,934
Bonnie Lenoand Kim Charlie are elders
1404
01:08:26,000 --> 01:08:28,333
whose ancestors have huntedin New Mexico
1405
01:08:28,333 --> 01:08:30,433
for thousands of years.
1406
01:08:30,500 --> 01:08:32,634
Their oral historiescan shed light
1407
01:08:32,634 --> 01:08:35,033
on who theseancient people were.
1408
01:08:36,266 --> 01:08:38,567
We are from a Pueblo tribe
1409
01:08:38,567 --> 01:08:41,834
and we are
from the Pueblo of Acoma.
1410
01:08:43,367 --> 01:08:45,934
David Bustos got ahold of meand told us
1411
01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:48,433
that they had found
some trackways,
1412
01:08:48,500 --> 01:08:51,834
trackways of mammoths, humans.
1413
01:08:52,834 --> 01:08:54,100
-There you go.
-Okay.
1414
01:08:54,100 --> 01:08:55,333
-Good to go.
-There you go.
1415
01:08:55,333 --> 01:08:57,333
Native Americans believe,
1416
01:08:57,400 --> 01:08:59,266
when you go somewherewhere you found,
1417
01:08:59,266 --> 01:09:01,834
you know, evidence of people
1418
01:09:01,834 --> 01:09:03,667
living in the past,
1419
01:09:03,667 --> 01:09:06,233
you always ask permission.
1420
01:09:07,033 --> 01:09:09,433
When you goto a place like this,
1421
01:09:09,500 --> 01:09:11,734
you have to reallyfully go there
1422
01:09:11,734 --> 01:09:13,166
with an open heart.
1423
01:09:13,166 --> 01:09:15,066
Right.
1424
01:09:15,066 --> 01:09:17,767
And that's howyou're able to connect
1425
01:09:17,767 --> 01:09:20,433
with whose everis still there.
1426
01:09:20,433 --> 01:09:22,734
We know thatthey're still there.
1427
01:09:24,000 --> 01:09:26,233
Soon afterthe elders arrive,
1428
01:09:26,300 --> 01:09:29,066
the excavation team makesanother discovery
1429
01:09:29,066 --> 01:09:30,967
working in the bottomof the trench.
1430
01:09:30,967 --> 01:09:32,266
They expose a layer
1431
01:09:32,266 --> 01:09:34,266
that hasn't been dated yet,
1432
01:09:34,266 --> 01:09:37,834
but what they see hereis unprecedented.
1433
01:09:37,900 --> 01:09:39,834
Just come down
and have a look at it.
1434
01:09:39,900 --> 01:09:43,266
I mean, I'll help you down
so you can see close in.
1435
01:09:43,266 --> 01:09:46,000
Wow.
1436
01:09:47,166 --> 01:09:50,000
Right here.
There's no words to describe
1437
01:09:50,000 --> 01:09:51,734
when you see
things like this.
1438
01:09:55,767 --> 01:09:58,367
In White SandsNational Park,
1439
01:09:58,367 --> 01:10:00,567
ancient footprintshave rewritten
1440
01:10:00,567 --> 01:10:03,767
the story of human migrationto the Americas.
1441
01:10:03,767 --> 01:10:05,233
It changes it entirely.
1442
01:10:05,233 --> 01:10:07,000
It's a completely
new paradigm.
1443
01:10:07,000 --> 01:10:10,400
And the teamuncovers something else.
1444
01:10:12,734 --> 01:10:14,266
Just come down
and have a look at it
1445
01:10:14,266 --> 01:10:16,066
'cause there's amazing
1446
01:10:16,066 --> 01:10:18,467
- child prints here where--
- Really?
1447
01:10:18,467 --> 01:10:20,734
- Yeah.
- One or two-year-olds, probably.
1448
01:10:20,734 --> 01:10:24,266
A small set of footprints
that were once
1449
01:10:24,266 --> 01:10:27,166
inhabited long time ago
1450
01:10:27,166 --> 01:10:29,734
and embedded into the soil...
1451
01:10:29,800 --> 01:10:31,934
- Mmm-hmm.- ...which turned into rock.
1452
01:10:33,033 --> 01:10:35,433
No words to describe
1453
01:10:35,500 --> 01:10:36,967
when you see
things like this,
1454
01:10:36,967 --> 01:10:39,867
it's breathtaking. It's...
1455
01:10:39,867 --> 01:10:43,433
You only think aboutyour own children,
1456
01:10:43,433 --> 01:10:47,166
the tiny toesthat you would see.
1457
01:10:47,166 --> 01:10:48,934
It makes you wanna cry.
1458
01:10:48,934 --> 01:10:50,967
That is so nice to...
1459
01:10:50,967 --> 01:10:54,333
-And to touch it.
-I mean,
there was people here.
1460
01:10:54,400 --> 01:10:57,100
- There was life that day.
- Life here.
1461
01:10:58,066 --> 01:11:00,634
Evidence ofat least two children.
1462
01:11:00,700 --> 01:11:03,233
Probably the youngest onemay be only a one
1463
01:11:03,300 --> 01:11:05,734
or so in agebased on its size.
1464
01:11:05,800 --> 01:11:08,834
And it... It's got all
of these superimposed prints.
1465
01:11:08,900 --> 01:11:11,033
You can createthe scene yourself
1466
01:11:11,033 --> 01:11:14,100
that it's a parent out thereplacing the child down.
1467
01:11:14,100 --> 01:11:15,834
It's makingthe first few tentative,
1468
01:11:15,900 --> 01:11:18,600
wobbly stepsto become a toddler.
1469
01:11:19,533 --> 01:11:20,934
It's very, very emotional.
1470
01:11:23,800 --> 01:11:26,333
I found
another print, Patrick.
1471
01:11:26,333 --> 01:11:28,333
Matthew.
1472
01:11:28,400 --> 01:11:30,000
- Look what I found right there.
- -Oh, my goodness.
1473
01:11:30,000 --> 01:11:31,433
- Look at that.
- I took all
1474
01:11:31,500 --> 01:11:33,033
that dirt off and I said,
1475
01:11:33,033 --> 01:11:34,967
"Oh, there's something
coming up over here."
1476
01:11:34,967 --> 01:11:38,233
All these prints all over.
1477
01:11:38,300 --> 01:11:40,033
The evidencesuggests hundreds
1478
01:11:40,033 --> 01:11:41,834
of generationsof ancient humans
1479
01:11:41,900 --> 01:11:43,500
made the journey here.
1480
01:11:44,834 --> 01:11:47,533
Where did they come fromand where were they going?
1481
01:11:47,600 --> 01:11:51,533
The elders tell a storythat could provide answers.
1482
01:11:51,600 --> 01:11:54,834
We have heard
our migration stories
1483
01:11:54,900 --> 01:11:59,000
passed down from generation
to generation to generation.
1484
01:11:59,000 --> 01:12:00,533
Thousands and thousands
1485
01:12:00,533 --> 01:12:03,467
of great grandmas,grandfathers.
1486
01:12:03,467 --> 01:12:04,967
- Mmm-hmm.- They've walked.
1487
01:12:04,967 --> 01:12:07,667
Pathway that
we're talking about
1488
01:12:07,667 --> 01:12:10,333
coming from all the way
from the north,
1489
01:12:10,400 --> 01:12:14,667
and it leads straight
in the same direction
1490
01:12:14,667 --> 01:12:16,533
as to where White Sands is.
1491
01:12:17,367 --> 01:12:21,533
And it comes
in the same pathway
1492
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:23,567
as we see from the north.
1493
01:12:23,567 --> 01:12:26,734
And it continues
all the way into Mexico.
1494
01:12:26,734 --> 01:12:28,934
And it keeps going.
1495
01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:32,100
White Sandshas everything
1496
01:12:32,100 --> 01:12:33,834
to change the game,
1497
01:12:33,834 --> 01:12:38,934
that shows us
that we as species
1498
01:12:38,934 --> 01:12:41,000
have arrived on the continent
1499
01:12:41,000 --> 01:12:43,834
many, many,
many thousands of years
1500
01:12:43,900 --> 01:12:46,934
before what the accepted
paradigm
1501
01:12:46,934 --> 01:12:49,233
at the moment is claiming.
1502
01:12:52,033 --> 01:12:53,734
Ardelean is compelled
1503
01:12:53,734 --> 01:12:56,634
to see the footprintsfirsthand.
1504
01:12:56,700 --> 01:13:00,767
He drives 1,200 milesfrom Mexico to White Sands
1505
01:13:00,767 --> 01:13:02,033
to bear witness.
1506
01:13:02,033 --> 01:13:03,934
I found it
really important
1507
01:13:03,934 --> 01:13:06,934
to drive all the way
up here to see...
1508
01:13:08,634 --> 01:13:11,066
To see
the footprints. And...
1509
01:13:12,266 --> 01:13:14,333
it's quite emotional
for me to be here.
1510
01:13:16,266 --> 01:13:18,433
I don't thinkthere's any other site
1511
01:13:18,500 --> 01:13:21,734
in the whole continentdiscovered
1512
01:13:21,800 --> 01:13:25,066
so far that has this power.
1513
01:13:26,467 --> 01:13:29,433
You walk on them,
you actually walk
1514
01:13:29,433 --> 01:13:32,934
on Ice Age sedimentsthat were exposed
1515
01:13:32,934 --> 01:13:36,634
by thousands of years of windblowing the sediments
1516
01:13:36,700 --> 01:13:38,433
and forming the dunes.
1517
01:13:43,667 --> 01:13:44,934
Speechless.
1518
01:13:46,000 --> 01:13:49,166
Thousands of them everywhere.
1519
01:13:49,767 --> 01:13:51,834
Busy every daywith their tasks,
1520
01:13:51,900 --> 01:13:54,133
with their chores.That's not the life
1521
01:13:54,133 --> 01:13:55,734
of somebodywho has just arrived.
1522
01:13:57,166 --> 01:14:01,333
That is the life of someone
who's always been here.
1523
01:14:02,567 --> 01:14:05,634
Modern scienceand oral histories combine
1524
01:14:05,634 --> 01:14:07,834
to paint a riveting picture,
1525
01:14:07,900 --> 01:14:11,233
a human journey that spansthousands of years
1526
01:14:11,233 --> 01:14:13,934
from the far northinto New Mexico,
1527
01:14:14,000 --> 01:14:17,634
from Mexico,all the way to South America.
1528
01:14:17,634 --> 01:14:21,834
The beginning of that storyis yet unknown.
1529
01:14:21,900 --> 01:14:25,333
Ardelean is hoping the elderscan help him understand
1530
01:14:25,400 --> 01:14:27,734
what he's discoveredin Mexico.
1531
01:14:27,800 --> 01:14:30,166
Our ancestors will show us.
1532
01:14:30,166 --> 01:14:32,333
- Mmm-hmm.
- When you go to these areas,
1533
01:14:32,333 --> 01:14:34,734
there's some kind of...
1534
01:14:34,734 --> 01:14:38,133
It comes from your heart
and they will show you.
1535
01:14:38,133 --> 01:14:40,634
It's like they let you
find things.
1536
01:14:40,634 --> 01:14:42,033
- Right.
- Exactly.
1537
01:14:42,033 --> 01:14:43,533
That's the same thing
I feel...
1538
01:14:43,600 --> 01:14:45,133
- Mmm-hmm.
- ...when I'm on field work.
1539
01:14:45,133 --> 01:14:46,834
- Mmm-hmm.
- And somehow,
1540
01:14:46,900 --> 01:14:52,667
that's how I think
I was taken to the cave
1541
01:14:52,667 --> 01:14:55,767
that I found in Mexico,
and that's why I'm here.
1542
01:14:55,767 --> 01:14:58,567
So for me,
this is a learning trip.
1543
01:14:58,567 --> 01:14:59,634
Mmm-hmm.
1544
01:14:59,700 --> 01:15:01,000
What would be the link
1545
01:15:01,000 --> 01:15:02,834
between what we have here,
1546
01:15:02,900 --> 01:15:05,166
what your ancestors
taught you,
1547
01:15:05,166 --> 01:15:07,133
and what I
have found there?
1548
01:15:07,133 --> 01:15:11,066
And the connection we have is
through our migration stories.
1549
01:15:11,066 --> 01:15:13,667
We were always traveling,
walking.
1550
01:15:13,667 --> 01:15:16,166
- Back and forth.
- Right. Right. Right.
1551
01:15:16,166 --> 01:15:17,867
And all those tracks
that are just...
1552
01:15:17,867 --> 01:15:20,066
one on top each other.
Just back and forth.
1553
01:15:20,066 --> 01:15:22,000
- Right. Right, exactly.
- Yes. That was--
1554
01:15:22,000 --> 01:15:23,367
For thousands of years.
1555
01:15:23,367 --> 01:15:25,533
When we came down
from the north,
1556
01:15:25,600 --> 01:15:28,533
as we migrated down south,
1557
01:15:28,600 --> 01:15:30,233
according to our stories,
1558
01:15:30,233 --> 01:15:34,767
our people went as far
as to South, uh, America.
1559
01:15:34,767 --> 01:15:37,767
Now, I feel really,
really motivated to go...
1560
01:15:37,767 --> 01:15:40,367
to go to Brazil,
1561
01:15:40,367 --> 01:15:43,934
to see the materials
from those sites in Brazil.
1562
01:15:43,934 --> 01:15:47,934
I have the feeling thatthose stone tools somehow
1563
01:15:47,934 --> 01:15:51,467
are connected
more or less directly
1564
01:15:51,467 --> 01:15:54,834
with my case in Mexico.
1565
01:15:54,900 --> 01:15:57,867
Ardelean travels tothe University of Sao Paulo
1566
01:15:57,867 --> 01:16:00,100
in Brazil,where the collection
1567
01:16:00,100 --> 01:16:02,233
from Santa Elina is housed.
1568
01:16:02,300 --> 01:16:05,233
There are 8,000 artifactsto sift through.
1569
01:16:05,300 --> 01:16:07,634
He focuseson the materials excavated
1570
01:16:07,634 --> 01:16:09,266
from the oldest layers,
1571
01:16:09,266 --> 01:16:12,934
between 23,000and 27,000 years ago.
1572
01:16:12,934 --> 01:16:15,433
Like Chiquihuite's toolsin Mexico,
1573
01:16:15,500 --> 01:16:17,333
they are made of limestone,
1574
01:16:17,400 --> 01:16:22,734
but the similarities seemto go far beyond that.
1575
01:16:22,734 --> 01:16:28,166
I thoughtthat coming here tosee the Santa Elina materials
1576
01:16:28,166 --> 01:16:33,100
would show me some sort
of technological connections,
1577
01:16:33,734 --> 01:16:34,934
but only that.
1578
01:16:36,233 --> 01:16:38,634
An absolute shock to me.
1579
01:16:42,433 --> 01:16:43,433
Deep in the archives
1580
01:16:43,500 --> 01:16:45,734
of a museum in Sao Paulo,Brazil,
1581
01:16:45,734 --> 01:16:47,967
Ciprian Ardeleanis uncovering
1582
01:16:47,967 --> 01:16:50,433
an extraordinary connection.
1583
01:16:50,500 --> 01:16:54,634
I thoughtthat coming here
1584
01:16:54,700 --> 01:16:57,066
to see the Santa Elinamaterials
1585
01:16:57,066 --> 01:16:59,533
would show me some sort
1586
01:16:59,600 --> 01:17:02,433
of technological connections,
1587
01:17:02,500 --> 01:17:03,600
but only that.
1588
01:17:04,266 --> 01:17:06,934
But I identified shapes
1589
01:17:06,934 --> 01:17:10,567
that are shared between Santa
Elina and Chiquihuite.
1590
01:17:10,567 --> 01:17:14,734
There are several here thatyou look at them and you say,
1591
01:17:14,800 --> 01:17:17,734
"Oh, my God,is this from my collection?"
1592
01:17:17,734 --> 01:17:19,667
An absolute shock to me.
1593
01:17:19,667 --> 01:17:23,834
It's just like looking at
Chiquihuite all over again.
1594
01:17:23,900 --> 01:17:26,533
After two daysof intensive comparison,
1595
01:17:26,533 --> 01:17:28,333
Ardelean calls in the Vialous
1596
01:17:28,333 --> 01:17:30,266
to show themwhat he's discovered.
1597
01:17:30,266 --> 01:17:33,667
And I knew that Santa Elina
was the right place to come,
1598
01:17:33,667 --> 01:17:35,133
-right?
-Thank you.
1599
01:17:35,133 --> 01:17:39,734
But I didn't expect this level
of analogy, honestly.
1600
01:17:41,667 --> 01:17:43,467
I saw this.
I went, "Oh my God,
1601
01:17:43,467 --> 01:17:46,233
this is a really
spectacular blade."
1602
01:17:46,300 --> 01:17:49,433
I mean, it's exactly
what I have at Chiquihuite.
1603
01:17:54,433 --> 01:17:56,066
Just... have a look at this.
1604
01:17:59,567 --> 01:18:01,233
Not only arethe blades and scrapers
1605
01:18:01,233 --> 01:18:02,834
the same shape,
1606
01:18:02,900 --> 01:18:04,133
but they seemto have been made
1607
01:18:04,133 --> 01:18:06,133
using the same techniques.
1608
01:18:06,133 --> 01:18:08,066
Wow.
1609
01:18:08,066 --> 01:18:10,533
They obtained
the symmetry of the point...
1610
01:18:10,533 --> 01:18:13,000
...by retouching
one or two edges
1611
01:18:13,000 --> 01:18:14,834
of a transversal flake.
1612
01:18:14,834 --> 01:18:15,867
That's a pattern.
1613
01:18:19,266 --> 01:18:22,433
Blade after blade,tool after tool...
1614
01:18:25,367 --> 01:18:27,467
...they find small and large
1615
01:18:27,467 --> 01:18:29,233
technical details that match.
1616
01:18:44,934 --> 01:18:47,567
I came here
and I rediscovered
1617
01:18:47,567 --> 01:18:51,433
the same types of tools
as a Chiquihuite.
1618
01:18:52,233 --> 01:18:55,767
So it's not just
a vague resemblance.
1619
01:18:55,767 --> 01:18:58,467
- Mmm-hmm.
- But probably
1620
01:18:58,467 --> 01:19:00,533
it's the same culture.
1621
01:19:00,533 --> 01:19:01,634
No.
1622
01:19:04,066 --> 01:19:05,200
Oui.
1623
01:19:09,433 --> 01:19:15,266
So analogous sites
does not mean necessarily
1624
01:19:15,266 --> 01:19:17,166
the same nation
1625
01:19:17,166 --> 01:19:20,533
or the sametribe or the same people.
1626
01:19:20,600 --> 01:19:22,533
They meanthe same culture.
1627
01:19:22,600 --> 01:19:27,734
The tools have similar
technology.
1628
01:19:27,734 --> 01:19:30,233
A closer lookalso reveals clues
1629
01:19:30,233 --> 01:19:33,100
about whenand how these ancient people
1630
01:19:33,100 --> 01:19:35,533
may have movedacross the landscape.
1631
01:19:36,767 --> 01:19:39,667
I also realizedsomething very interesting.
1632
01:19:39,667 --> 01:19:45,533
The foundations
for those behaviors
1633
01:19:45,533 --> 01:19:47,934
were set here in the south
1634
01:19:48,000 --> 01:19:50,867
and then these people
moved north
1635
01:19:50,867 --> 01:19:53,934
and stayed there
for longer.
1636
01:19:53,934 --> 01:19:56,767
If the tool makingtechniques Ardelean sees
1637
01:19:56,767 --> 01:19:58,567
originated in the south
1638
01:19:58,567 --> 01:20:00,934
and were further developedin the north,
1639
01:20:01,000 --> 01:20:04,867
could this indicatea south to north migration?
1640
01:20:04,867 --> 01:20:09,300
Once again,turning established paradigmsupside down.
1641
01:20:10,266 --> 01:20:11,800
It's a turning point.
1642
01:20:12,867 --> 01:20:17,233
Not only for me,
for the American prehistory.
1643
01:20:17,300 --> 01:20:19,967
I have received
more than I hoped for.
1644
01:20:26,567 --> 01:20:30,333
If the evidence
from Santa Elina is accurate,
1645
01:20:30,400 --> 01:20:33,734
then it blows the genetic
models out of the water.
1646
01:20:33,800 --> 01:20:35,533
It blows
the archeological models
1647
01:20:35,600 --> 01:20:36,767
out of the water
as well.
1648
01:20:36,767 --> 01:20:39,000
If we can agree
as a community
1649
01:20:39,000 --> 01:20:41,433
that they provide
unequivocal evidence
1650
01:20:41,500 --> 01:20:44,934
of early humans 30,000 years
ago in South America,
1651
01:20:44,934 --> 01:20:46,767
then that's gonna change
everything.
1652
01:20:46,767 --> 01:20:48,166
There's no question.
1653
01:20:50,333 --> 01:20:51,967
The notion that it started
1654
01:20:51,967 --> 01:20:54,100
with a single northernentry point
1655
01:20:54,100 --> 01:20:56,333
is now up for debate.
1656
01:20:56,333 --> 01:20:57,934
Everything is.
1657
01:21:00,533 --> 01:21:03,867
What about multiple
entry points at the same time,
1658
01:21:03,867 --> 01:21:05,667
from all angles?
1659
01:21:05,667 --> 01:21:08,133
People moving north,people moving south,
1660
01:21:08,133 --> 01:21:10,333
people moving east to west,west to east.
1661
01:21:10,333 --> 01:21:12,433
That's what people do
around the world.
1662
01:21:13,767 --> 01:21:15,767
What about seafaring?
1663
01:21:15,767 --> 01:21:17,266
I mean,
we are open. That...
1664
01:21:17,266 --> 01:21:19,166
That's what makes
archeology exciting.
1665
01:21:21,000 --> 01:21:23,734
There's absolutely
no reason to think that humans
1666
01:21:23,800 --> 01:21:25,734
around this period
in the last 20,000 years
1667
01:21:25,734 --> 01:21:27,333
couldn't have had boats.
1668
01:21:27,400 --> 01:21:29,233
People might have takenisland hopping
1669
01:21:29,233 --> 01:21:31,700
between small islands.
1670
01:21:32,467 --> 01:21:34,567
We know that
there were Pacific voyagers,
1671
01:21:34,567 --> 01:21:37,066
certainly within the last
few thousand years old,
1672
01:21:37,066 --> 01:21:38,834
settling Pacific islands.
1673
01:21:38,834 --> 01:21:41,533
And that is incredibly
advanced maritime technology.
1674
01:21:41,533 --> 01:21:44,333
There's no reasonto underestimateindigenous peoples.
1675
01:21:46,000 --> 01:21:47,834
I very much had tunnel vision
1676
01:21:47,900 --> 01:21:50,233
and everything to mehad to do
1677
01:21:50,233 --> 01:21:52,634
with the Bering Land Bridge.
1678
01:21:52,700 --> 01:21:55,967
By broadening my horizons
into coming into contact
1679
01:21:55,967 --> 01:21:59,066
with archeologists
and indigenous peoples
1680
01:21:59,066 --> 01:22:01,367
and I'm much more
willing to accept
1681
01:22:01,367 --> 01:22:04,734
other ways of thinking
about this problem
1682
01:22:04,800 --> 01:22:06,800
than I certainly
ever used to be.
1683
01:22:09,867 --> 01:22:13,233
I'm encouraged to say
that we'll come back next year
1684
01:22:13,233 --> 01:22:15,867
and basically pick up
where we left off
1685
01:22:15,867 --> 01:22:18,367
and ideally extend
the excavations
1686
01:22:18,367 --> 01:22:21,333
back into the rock shelter
and deeper.
1687
01:22:22,867 --> 01:22:26,734
I'm very happy thatI can carry on this work.
1688
01:22:26,734 --> 01:22:29,834
And hopefully,
I will vindicate
1689
01:22:29,900 --> 01:22:31,433
the work
of Jacques Cinq-Mars
1690
01:22:31,433 --> 01:22:35,000
and what
the Vuntut Gwitchin
have kept
1691
01:22:35,000 --> 01:22:36,567
telling all their stories.
1692
01:22:36,567 --> 01:22:38,634
Archeologists, all of us,
1693
01:22:38,700 --> 01:22:41,634
must grapple with the ideathat our earliest prehistory
1694
01:22:41,700 --> 01:22:44,734
may have to be rewrittenover and over again.
1695
01:22:44,734 --> 01:22:48,433
Just sitting down here,
honoring our ancestors.
1696
01:22:48,433 --> 01:22:50,867
When I started with this,
1697
01:22:50,867 --> 01:22:55,934
I was searching
for the oldest, the first.
1698
01:22:57,100 --> 01:23:01,166
Let's be open to whateverthat science brings us.
1699
01:23:01,166 --> 01:23:02,767
Dig deeper and deeper.
1700
01:23:02,767 --> 01:23:06,934
Don't stop
where your current paradigm
1701
01:23:07,000 --> 01:23:08,100
tells you to stop.
1702
01:23:08,100 --> 01:23:10,367
Go all the way
to the bottom.
1703
01:23:10,367 --> 01:23:14,000
Maybe there's people there,
maybe there's people there.
1704
01:23:19,367 --> 01:23:22,734
There is no oldest
and earliest...
1705
01:23:23,734 --> 01:23:24,900
anymore.
138088
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