Bluefish Caves

Bluefish Caves, three very small caves in Yukon southwest of Old Crow, became a major archaeological site in debates over the earliest human presence in North America. Known to local First Nations and investigated archaeologically between 1977 and 1987 by Jacques Cinq-Mars, the site yielded animal bones, including some with cut marks that may reflect human activity. Its importance grew when radiocarbon results suggested an age of about 24,000 years before present, far earlier than the long-dominant Clovis-first model. Although both the dating and the evidence of human modification remain disputed, the site is central to discussion of Ice Age migration, eastern Beringia, and the Beringian standstill hypothesis.

Yukon · Canada