One of the earliest examples of human remains ever found in the Americas, an Ice Age skeleton, 12,000 to 13,000 years old, of a sixteen-year-old girl was found in 2007 in Hoyo Negro, an underwater cave in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The cave also contained skeletal remains of saber-toothed tigers, gomphotheres, two species of giant ground sloth (including one previously unknown to Science), cougars, cave bears, coyotes, bats and other small animals. The girl’s skeletal remains were DNA-tested, and her Mitochondrial DNA identified as belonging to Haplogroup D1, one of five haplogroups typical of Native Americans.

National Geographic article & video

Current coverage was occasioned by the appearance of an article in Science.

Hat tip to Karen L. Myers.