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https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-state-university-oldest-human-artifacts-idaho-north-america/

Ancient human artifacts found in a remote corner of Northwestern Idaho could deliver a major blow to a long-held theory that North America's first humans arrived by crossing a land bridge connected to Asia before moving south through the center of the continent.

The artifacts have been dated to as far back as 16,500 years ago, making them the oldest radiocarbon dated evidence of humans in North America, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science.

The artifacts are part of a trove discovered where Cooper's Ferry, Idaho, now stands. They are a thousand years older than what has previously been considered North America's most ancient known human remains. Together with dozens of other archaeological sites stretched across the continent, it helps decipher the story of when, and how, humans first arrived.

[...] The site at Cooper's Ferry doesn't fit with [the land Bering Strait land bridge] model. For one, the ice-free corridor probably didn't exist when humans first arrived at Cooper's Ferry — scientists think it didn't open up until about 15,000 years ago, which means these early people had to find a different route south. Other early sites challenged this theory, but none were this old, and the oldest were dated with a method considered less precise than radiocarbon dating.

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