New research is challenging long-held ideas about when humans first arrived in the Americas. For many years, scientists believed that humans reached the Americas about 13,000 years ago. They also thought that humans were responsible for the extinction of large animals, like giant ground sloths, mastodons, and saber-toothed cats. However, recent discoveries suggest that humans may have arrived as early as 27,000 years ago and may have lived alongside these creatures. One important site is Santa Elina in Brazil, where bones of giant ground sloths show evidence of human activity, changing how experts think about early human history in the Americas.

Recent studies have used advanced techniques, such as ancient DNA analysis and fossil chemical testing, to provide strong evidence of humans’ earlier presence in the Americas. Researcher Mírian Pacheco found that sloth bones from Santa Elina were carved shortly after the animals died, showing that humans interacted with them before they became extinct. This new evidence challenges the “Pleistocene overkill” theory, which claims that humans caused the extinction of large mammals. As more sites are discovered and studied, the timeline of human settlement may need to be adjusted, offering new insights into how humans and animals interacted long ago.