21 January 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

27,000-year-old Pendants made from giant sloths suggest earlier arrival of people in the Americas

Archaeologists discovered three pendants made from the bony material of an extinct giant sloth in a rock shelter in central Brazil.

The pendants are believed to be between 25,000 and 27,000 years old, making them the oldest known personal ornaments in the Americas and the only ones made from giant sloth bone in the archaeological record.

New research suggests humans lived in South America at the same time as now-extinct giant sloths, bolstering evidence that people arrived in the Americas earlier than once thought.

Recent research has challenged the notion that humans migrated to the Americas about 13,000 years ago by crossing a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska.

The ornaments were found about 30 years ago at a rock shelter in central Brazil called Santa Elina. The new study is the first to analyze them extensively and rule out the possibility that humans had found and carved them thousands of years after the animals perished.

The pendants were among thousands of osteoderms — hard bony deposits that form within the skin of certain animals —. The osteoderms belonged to a species of giant sloth known as Glossotherium phoenesis, which weighed around 600 kilograms (1,323 pounds) and had long clawed arms for digging.

This illustration provided by researchers depicts a person carving an osteoderm from a giant sloth in Brazil about 25.000 to 27.000 years ago. İmage: Julia d’Oliveria / AP

To ascertain how the pendants were created and altered by human hands, the researchers who discovered them analyzed them using a variety of methods and experiments. They found that the osteoderms were polished and had holes drilled into them, suggesting they were used for personal adornment, probably as necklaces or earrings. The holes were not caused by natural abrasion or predation, according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The team of researchers from Brazil, France, and the United States said their analysis shows this handiwork was done within days to a few years after the animals had died, and before the materials had fossilized. The researchers also ruled out natural abrasion and other things that might explain the shapes and holes.

Giant ground sloths could reach 13 feet long, weighed more than a thousand pounds, and were equivalent in size to an Indian elephant. According to the report, it walked on all fours and was one of the largest creatures in South America.

The discovery of the pendants has significant implications for our understanding of the Americas’ human history. It suggests that humans were present in South America thousands of years earlier than previously thought, coexisting with giant sloths and other megafauna that became extinct around 10,000 years ago.

“We now have good evidence — together with other sites from South and North America — that we have to rethink our ideas about the migration of humans to the Americas,” Mirian Liza Alves Forancelli Pacheco, study co-author and archaeologist at the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil told The Associated Press.

Cover Photo: Thais Rabito Pansani/AP

Related Articles

Magical Roman Phallus Wind Chime Unearthed in Serbia

15 November 2023

15 November 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman phallus wind chime known as a tintinnabulum, during excavations at the ancient city of Viminacium...

A new study reveals the Achaemenid Kingdom paid its workers silver

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

A new study on inscribed clay tablets that were used in the treasury archives of the Achaemenid Empire revealed that...

Archaeologists uncovered an Aztec altar with human ashes in Mexico City

1 December 2021

1 December 2021

Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered a 16th-century altar in Plaza Garibaldi, the center in Mexico City famous for its revelry...

Early Female Emperors in Japan “Empress Kōken”

2 July 2021

2 July 2021

Born into the aristocratic Fujiwara clan, this extraordinary woman first ascended to the throne as Empress Kōken and became the...

1.5 tons of bronze coins found in east China

19 December 2022

19 December 2022

An ancient coin hoard containing 1.5 tonnes of coins from the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties has been discovered...

Around 400-year-old Bronze idols found during house construction in India

25 April 2024

25 April 2024

Three bronze idols, estimated to be about 400 years old, were unearthed during excavation for a house construction project in...

Archaeologists Unearth 78,000-Year Oldest Human Burial

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

A 78,000-year-old group of bones discovered at the mouth of a Kenyan coastal cave constitutes the oldest recorded formal human...

3,000-Year-Old leather Shoe discovered On A Beach In Kent, UK

26 February 2023

26 February 2023

A Bronze Age relic found on a Kent beach is believed to be the oldest shoe ever found in the...

New evidence for early regional exchanges in Eurasia: Ice skates made of animal bones over 3,000 years old

9 March 2023

9 March 2023

Chinese archaeologists have discovered ancient ice skates made of animal bones at the Gaotai Ruins in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous...

A statue of God Apollo was found during sewerage works in Afyon city in western Turkey

30 May 2021

30 May 2021

A statue thought to belong to God Apollo was found during sewerage works in Afyon city in western Turkey. During...

A Roman tomb where magical nails were used to fend off the ‘restless dead’ has been discovered in Türkiye

15 March 2023

15 March 2023

In the ancient city of Sagalassos in southwestern Türkiye, archaeologists have identified an unusual burial practice from the early Roman...

Archaeological settlements dating back 3000 years found in Qurayat, Oman

2 October 2022

2 October 2022

Archaeological research in Oman’s Qurayat Province has revealed numerous archaeological and historical settlements, some dating back more than 3,000 years...

1900-year-old Child’s Nightgown with intriguing knots found in the Cave of Letters in the Judean Desert

5 October 2023

5 October 2023

The Cave of Letters in Israel is one such site that has yielded a large number of papyrus letters and...

Khufu Boat moved to its New Museum by Smart Vehicle

8 August 2021

8 August 2021

A 4,600-year-old intact wooden boat bearing the name of an Egyptian pharaoh, Khufu, was transported to a new museum about...

A gilded silver Anglo-Saxon object “made by someone with a real eye for loveliness” has the experts baffled

2 January 2024

2 January 2024

An enigmatic Anglo-Saxon object has been unearthed in a captivating discovery near Langham, Norfolk, East of England. This gilded silver...