The First Americans of Serra da Capivara
In north-eastern Brazil, an archaeologist claimed people lived 50,000 years ago, far earlier than most think humans reached the Americas.
What was reported
Serra da Capivara National Park, in Piauí, holds thousands of rock paintings of people, animals and hunts, one of the largest groups in the Americas. From the 1970s the archaeologist Niède Guidon excavated a rock shelter there called Pedra Furada.
She reported hearths and stone tools 50,000 years old or more, which would mean people reached South America tens of thousands of years earlier than the commonly accepted date of around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Explanations offered
Many archaeologists argue that the 'tools' and 'hearths' could have been made by natural rockfalls and fires. The debate continues, and other sites in the Americas have since pushed dates earlier, if not that early. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- When
- Excavated from the 1970s
- Where
- Serra da Capivara, Piauí, Brazil
- Witnesses
- The archaeologist Niède Guidon and her team
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.