The earliest settlers of Mesoamerica date back to the late Pleistocene

Abstract

Preceramic human skeletal remains preserved in submerged caves near Tulum in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, reveal conflicting results regarding 14C dating. Here we use U-series techniques for dating a stalagmite overgrowing the pelvis of a human skeleton discovered in the submerged Chan Hol cave. The oldest closed system U/Th age comes from around 21 mm above the pelvis defining the terminus ante quem for the pelvis to 11311±370 y BP. However, the skeleton might be considerable older, probably as old as 13 ky BP as indicated by the speleothem stable isotope data. The Chan Hol individual confirms a late Pleistocene settling of Mesoamerica and represents one of the oldest human osteological remains in America.

The Chan Hol cave near Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico): evidence for long‐lasting human presence during the early to middle Holocene

“…Although the early human settlers in the Tulum area may have used the cave system as a burial ground (González González et al ., , ), there is no positive evidence to support this scenario for the two human skeletons discovered at Chan Hol (Chan Hol I and II). Rather, their death in the caves may have been accidental (González González et al ., ; Stinnesbeck et al ., ). Therefore, the use of these distant locations is presently unknown.…”

“…Human visits to caves in the area, including Chan Hol, started earlier, probably during the late Pleistocene, as is indicated by 14 C and U/Th ages of skeletons in the Tulum cave system (e.g. Hoyo Negro, Naharon, Chan Hol II; González González et al ., , ; Chatters et al ., ; Stinnesbeck et al ., ). Although the early human settlers in the Tulum area may have used the cave system as a burial ground (González González et al ., , ), there is no positive evidence to support this scenario for the two human skeletons discovered at Chan Hol (Chan Hol I and II).…”

“…(), while Stinnesbeck et al . () discussed the age of the Chan Hol II skeleton. These latter authors used U‐series techniques to date a stalagmite overgrowing the pelvis of the Chan Hol II human.…”

“…While fossil bones, especially human remains, have attracted immediate interest (González González et al ., , ; Chatters et al ., ; Stinnesbeck et al ., ), charcoal concentrations in the cave system have received little attention, even though these patches and clusters may evidently represent ancient fire sites and hence present important evidence for human activity, long before Maya times (González González et al ., , ). Underwater bone material from the area is difficult to date accurately, due to extreme loss of organic carbon.…”

“…Some of the human individuals in deep parts of the submerged cave system (>20 m) were almost complete (>80%) and articulated to a major extent, indicating an in situ decay of the bodies at times when these parts of the caves were still dry (González González et al ., , ; Stinnesbeck et al ., ). The evidence also indicates that humans deliberately accessed the caves.…”