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Lapa Vermelha IV Hominid 1

 
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Lapa Vermelha IV Hominid 1
Exhibit item
Nickname: 
Luzia
Site: 
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Date of discovery: 
1976
Discovered by: 
Annette Laming-Emperaire
Age: 
About 11,500 years old
Species: 
Homo sapiens

Colonizing the New World

Radiocarbon dating determined the age of this South American skull, which is older than the oldest known North American skull. Smithsonian and other scientists continue to debate when and where the first humans entered the Americas.

Image of Lapa Vermelha IV Hominid 1; Luzia Minas Gerais, Brazil
Image Credit: James Di Loreto, & Donald H. Hurlbert, Smithsonian Institution