TALLAHASSEE Fla.-- Florida State Researchers say they've made a groundbreaking discovery in the Aucilla River.
They discovered the oldest known site of human life in the Southeastern United States.
Evidence shows humans settled the Aucilla River area, which is 45 mins from Tallahassee, as much as 1,500 years earlier than previously believed.
The site dates back 14,550 years.
This is a big deal," said Florida State University Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jessi Halligan. "There were people here. So how did they live? This has opened up a whole new line of inquiry for us as scientists as we try to understand the settlement of the Americas."
Halligan was on the research team for the findings, she and her colleagues excavated the site, which is about 30 feet underwater in a sinkhole in the Aucilla River.
Halligan's research was published Friday May 13, in the academic journal Science Advances
The excavation team says they found stone tools along with the bones of extinct animals.
According to researchers, there are only about five other sites in all of North and South America that are older.
