Over 14,000 years ago, a group of humans occupied a cavern hidden in the Pacific Northwest. In the depths of their home, they explored and labored to live. They also answered a call no one in the world can deny - the call of mother nature. 

A group of archaeologists discovered the ancient poops in the Paisley Caves in Oregon. Unlike most droppings, the findings were well-preserved, mostly due to the arid climate inside the site.

According to reports published in Science Advances on Wednesday, the droppings may be one of the oldest known evidence of the human presence in North America. The findings could help researchers find out when people first arrived in the Americas and how they lived in olden times. 

The coprolite recently found at the cave suggests the first Americans had a varied diet. The analysis showed they ate mammoths, seeds, rodents, insects, and plants. Additionally, the data showed the dung was unlike those found in central rubbish pits that were common in Europe and Asia. This discovery was left where they lay.   

Since the 1930s, archaeologists said the Clovis culture was the first humans to arrive in the Americas. The group was represented by their distinctive spears. However, newer evidence found in recent years challenged the idea. 

Paisley Cave offers researchers a look into a pre-Clovis population. It is also one of the only sites where archaeological materials, including stone tools, were previously found, The New York Times reported. 

Are there other discoveries?

In early July, a group of researchers in the Yucatan peninsula found an ancient mine where the first settlers of the Americas may have farmed for red ocher. The cave, which is now submerged in water, existed thousands of years before the Mayan civilization came into power. 

The team discovered burnt rocks in what may have also served as an ancient ritual grounds for later generations, including the Mayans and the Aztecs. 

In 2019, an anthropology professor at Oregon State University found over 189 artifacts at Cooper's Ferry in western Idaho. The site, which was once the ancient village of Nipehe, held a trove of early remains and archaeological materials. It included 27 stone tools and 161 pieces of rock pieces used in making stone tools. 

The researchers also found bone fragments from an extinct horse and a fire pit, where the large mammals may have been butchered and cooked. A radiocarbon dating of the charcoal and bone sample found at the site suggested the ancient people lived there some 16,560 to 15,280 years ago. 

The tools found at the Idaho location bore similarities to those found in Northern Japan from a similar time. This suggests the people who brought them to the Americas were from the Asian country. 

In 2007, an excavation of the caves led by a team from the University of Oregon found coprolites or preserved dung. The ancient poops were found at the lowest level of the dig and were said to be 14,000 years old.

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