Recent geological findings in the United States unveil a shocking theory: a catastrophic cosmic event may have led to the demise of a once-thriving culture over 12,800 years ago. Researchers, who meticulously analyzed sediment samples from regions in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, discovered the presence of shocked quartz. This unique mineral, characterized by tiny grains that are deformed under extreme pressure, dates back to approximately 10,800 BC.
Shocked quartz forms when minerals experience sudden and intense pressures, typically from meteorite impacts or large-scale atmospheric explosions. The presence of shocked quartz at these archaeological sites strongly suggests that an airburst or impact event ravaged vast areas of the continent, leading to catastrophic wildfires, climate instability, and the extinction of many Ice Age megafauna. This geological evidence aligns with the timeline of the rapid decline of the Clovis people, an advanced hunter-gatherer culture that flourished in North America for centuries.
Archaeological records indicate that the distinctive stone tools associated with the Clovis culture abruptly vanished shortly after this period. This disappearance coincided with the onset of the Younger Dryas, a significant and sudden cooling event that lasted for about 1,200 years. Notably, some researchers, including renowned author Graham Hancock, have long theorized that a giant 'Doomsday comet' traversed Earth’s atmosphere during this time, blocking sunlight, disrupting ocean currents, and triggering a drastic climate change.
In their recent study published in PLOS ONE, the research team highlighted that the onset of the Younger Dryas closely coincided with two crucial events: the extinction of over 70% of North America's megafauna, including mammoths, camels, and saber-toothed cats, and the collapse of the Clovis technocomplex. The team meticulously collected sediment samples from key locations: Blackwater Draw in New Mexico, Murray Springs in Arizona, and Arlington Canyon on Santa Rosa Island, California.
At Blackwater Draw, a significant Clovis site, the first Clovis artifacts were found just beneath a 12,800-year-old black mat, which marks the onset of the Younger Dryas and the end of the Clovis technocomplex. Evidence from this site, including a Clovis-butchered mammoth, indicates a major environmental disruption that coincided with the extinction of megafauna and a notable decline in human populations.
Murray Springs is notable for preserving terminal Clovis artifacts alongside remains of extinct megafauna, all buried under a black mat. This site contained a butchered mammoth and numerous footprints, rapidly buried after the proposed Younger Dryas event. Archaeological data suggest a post-Clovis human hiatus lasting several hundred years, pointing to significant cultural and ecological shifts triggered by the onset of the Younger Dryas.
Arlington Canyon provided human remains from the Clovis era beneath a black mat, revealing a gap of 600 to 800 years before subsequent human habitation. This indicates a post-Clovis hiatus even in areas that could have served as refuges. The site also records the extinction of pygmy mammoths around 12,800 years ago, making it crucial for understanding the impacts of environmental disruptions during the Younger Dryas.
The research team employed ten different laboratory techniques to identify glass-filled cracks in quartz and conducted computer simulations to determine the pressures and speeds necessary to produce such shocks. Their findings indicate that the shocked quartz samples from the southwestern U.S. resemble those found at nuclear airburst sites and various Younger Dryas sites across Syria, the eastern United States, the Netherlands, and Venezuela.
Many of these quartz grains exhibited signs of exposure to extremely high temperatures, exceeding the melting point of quartz at 3,123 °F. Some grains remained amorphous, while others had recrystallized. Previous research has indicated that melted silica within shock fractures signifies airburst- or impact-related shock, allowing these Younger Dryas grains to be classified as thermally and mechanically shocked quartz.
The findings from these key archaeological sites provide compelling evidence of the interrelationship between the collapse of the Clovis technocomplex and the extinction of North American megafauna. The presence of airburst and impact-related materials at these locations reinforces the temporal and spatial connection between the proposed cosmic event and major ecological and cultural transformations that occurred during this critical period in history.
