Arlington Springs Man facts for kids
The Arlington Springs man refers to very old human remains found on Santa Rosa Island. This island is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California. The place where these remains were found, called the Arlington Springs archeological site, is now protected within Channel Islands National Park. It is also part of Santa Barbara County.
History
Discovery and Study
In 1959 and 1960, a scientist named Phil C. Orr found two leg bones, called femora, at Arlington Springs on Santa Rosa Island. Orr was a curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. He believed these bones belonged to a man who lived about 10,000 years ago. He named the discovery the "Arlington Springs Man."
Later, in 1989, other scientists from the same museum, Dr. John R. Johnson and Don Morris, looked at the remains again. They first thought the bones belonged to a woman, so they started calling it the "Arlington Springs Woman." They used a method called Radiocarbon dating to find out how old the bones really were. This test showed the remains were about 13,000 years old! This made them possibly the oldest human skeleton ever found in North America.
After more research, Dr. Johnson changed his mind in 2006. He decided the bones were more likely from a man after all. So, the name "Arlington Springs Man" was used again.
Ancient Island Life
The Arlington Springs Man lived during the last ice age. This time is known as the Pleistocene epoch. Back then, the four northern Channel Islands were connected together. They formed one much larger island called Santa Rosae.
During that period, the weather was much colder than it is today. The sea level was also about 150 feet (46 meters) lower. Finding human remains on an island from such an early time is very important. It shows that the first people in North America, known as Paleoindians, had boats. They were able to cross the water of the Santa Barbara Channel. This discovery helps support a theory called "coastal migration." This idea suggests that early people traveled south along the coast from Siberia and Alaska using boats.
