Researchers at the National University of La Plata in Argentina have unveiled evidence suggesting that about 21,000 years ago, ancient peoples hunted glyptodonts, massive relatives of armadillos, within what is now Argentina. The discovery appears in the scientific journal PLOS One (PLOS One). The team identified fossil remains bearing clear butchery marks, indicating deliberate butchering processes and meat extraction by early humans who inhabited the region long before many previously established timelines. The findings underscore a period of human activity in South America that challenges and refines our understanding of how early populations spread across the continent.
The fossils were attributed to glyptodonts, a prehistoric lineage that shared a broad resemblance with modern armadillos but reached monumental sizes. Individual glyptodonts could extend up to three metres in length and weigh as much as two tonnes. Their armor consisted of heavy, fused bony plates forming a protective shell, a feature that would have influenced how early hunters approached and processed these creatures. The evidence of butchery on these remains helps paint a vivid picture of subsistence strategies during the late Pleistocene in this region. Radiocarbon dating places human occupation in these landscapes well before some earlier summaries, expanding the known timeline of human presence in southern South America (PLOS One).
These new results align with a growing body of research that places humans in the Americas more than 20,000 years ago, a timeframe that is reshaping discussions about migration corridors, climatic adaptation, and technological development among prehistoric populations. The extended chronology implies that early communities possessed substantial knowledge of megafauna and their ecological roles, enabling them to exploit large prey while navigating challenging environments and variable resources. In the broader scholarly conversation, such discoveries contribute to a more nuanced map of when and where early societies foraged, hunted, and perhaps domesticated or managed animal resources in coastal and inland settings across the American continents (PLOS One).
Scientists interpret the glyptodont hunting traces as a clue that these animals may have contributed to their eventual extinction as a consequence of intensified predation and habitat pressure exerted by human groups. The pattern echoes similar narratives from other regions where human activity intersected with megafaunal decline, highlighting a pivotal chapter in the story of late Pleistocene extinctions. While ongoing debates continue about the exact mechanisms—whether climate change, human predation, or a combination of factors were decisive—the current evidence adds weight to the argument that early humans played a direct role in reshaping the megafauna landscape in parts of South America (PLOS One).
In related research, scholars have previously explored other megafaunal movements, including investigations into the dispersal and behavior of giant prehistoric kangaroos. Those studies, like the new glyptodont findings, contribute to a broader, interconnected picture of how Ice Age ecosystems functioned and how early inhabitants interacted with their environment. Taken together, these lines of inquiry illustrate a dynamic, evolving understanding of the ancient Americas and the long arc of human adaptation in a world that looked very different from today’s. The ongoing work continues to refine timelines, methods, and interpretations, inviting a more integrated view of prehistoric life across continents (PLOS One).