Photo: Rat Remains Suggest Humans Came Late to New Zealand



Radiocarbon dating of ancient seeds gnawed by the invasive Pacific rat (above, in an undated photo) have confirmed that humans arrived in New Zealand in A.D. 1280, a thousand years later than previously thought.

The results match with radiocarbon dating of rat bones from the island, as well as research into the earliest-dated archaeological sites, human-induced plants extinctions, and deforestation.

Photograph by CINHP/G. McCormack


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