THE TOOLS OF EARLY MAN

AUCILLA RIVER , FLFSU RESEARCH

45 minutes from Tallahassee is the Aucil la River - now the oldest knownsite of human l i fe in the southeastern United States .

FSU Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jessi Hall igan and researchersfrom Texas A&M and University of Michigan discovered evidence of human

activity dating back

14 ,550 years

Divers excavated the site 30 feet below the surface of the Aucil la .

Stone tools and mastodon bones were recovered from the site .

One mastodon tusk bared cutmarks from a tool in a layer more

than 14 ,000 years old .

Prior to this discovery , scientistsbel ieved a group of people cal ledClovis sett led the area about

13 ,200 years ago .

Using the latest radiocarbon techniques , researchers dated theart i facts origins to about 14 ,550 years ago .

"This is a big deal . There were people here . Sohow did they l ive?

This has opened up a whole new l ine of inquiryfor us as scientists as we try to understand the

settlement of the Americas . "

Find more FSU Research s tor ies a t :F ind more FSU Research s tor ies a t :

@FSUResearch on Twi t te r&

/Flor idaSta te on Facebook