Pendants made from giant sloths suggest earlier arrival of people in the Americas

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. Scientists analyzed triangular and teardrop-shaped pendants made of bony material from the sloths. They concluded that the carved and polished shapes and drilled holes were the work of deliberate craftsmanship. Dating of the ornaments and sediment at the Brazil site where they were found point to an age of 25,000 to 27,000 years ago, the researchers reported. That’s several thousand years before some earlier theories had suggested the first people arrived in the Americas, after migrating out from Africa and then Eurasia.

tips

extinct：灭绝；耗尽的

sloth：树懒🦥

triangular：三角的（tri- 三，angular，有角的）

pendant：下垂物；吊坠（pend- = hang，悬挂）

bony：骨制的（bone 骨头）

carve：雕刻

polish：波兰人；抛光的

drill：钻孔；钻孔机

deliberate：故意的；深思熟虑的

ornament：装饰

sediment：沉淀物