@article{StinnesbeckBeckerHeringetal.2017,
  author    = {Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang and Becker, Julia and Hering, Fabio and Frey, Eberhard and Gonzalez Gonzalez, Arturo and Fohlmeister, Jens Bernd and Stinnesbeck, Sarah and Frank, Norbert and Terrazas Mata, Alejandro and Elena Benavente, Martha and Aviles Olguin, Jeronimo and Aceves Nunez, Eugenio and Zell, Patrick and Deininger, Michael},
  title     = {The earliest settlers of Mesoamerica date back to the late Pleistocene},
  series = {PLoS one},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {PLoS one},
  publisher = {PLoS},
  address   = {San Fransisco},
  issn      = {1932-6203},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0183345},
  pages     = {20},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Preceramic human skeletal remains preserved in submerged caves near Tulum in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, reveal conflicting results regarding C-14 dating. Here we use U-series techniques for dating a stalagmite overgrowing the pelvis of a human skeleton discovered in the submerged Chan Hol cave. The oldest closed system U/Th age comes from around 21 mm above the pelvis defining the terminus ante quem for the pelvis to 11311 +/- 370 y BP. However, the skeleton might be considerable older, probably as old as 13 ky BP as indicated by the speleothem stable isotope data. The Chan Hol individual confirms a late Pleistocene settling of Mesoamerica and represents one of the oldest human osteological remains in America.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HeringStinnesbeckFolmeisteretal.2018,
  author    = {Hering, Fabio and Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang and Folmeister, Jens and Frey, Eberhard and Stinnesbeck, Sarah and Aviles, Jeronimo and Nunez, Eugenio Aceves and Gonzalez, Arturo and Mata, Alejandro Terrazas and Benavente, Martha Elena and Rojas, Carmen and Morlet, Adriana Velazquez and Frank, Norbert and Zell, Patrick and Becker, Julia},
  title     = {The Chan Hol cave near Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico)},
  series = {Journal of quaternary science},
  volume    = {33},
  journal   = {Journal of quaternary science},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0267-8179},
  doi       = {10.1002/jqs.3025},
  pages     = {444 -- 454},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Numerous charcoal accumulations discovered in the submerged Chan Hol cave near Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, have been C-14-dated revealing ages between 8110 +/- 28 C-14 a BP (9122-8999 cal a BP) and 7177 +/- 27 C-14 a BP (8027-7951 cal a BP). These charcoal concentrations, interpreted here as ancient illumination sites, provide strong evidence that the Chan Hol cave was dry and accessible during that time interval. Humans used the cave for at least 1200 years during the early and middle Holocene, before access was successively interrupted by global sea level rise and flooding of the cave system. Our data thus narrow the gap between an early settlement in the Tulum area reaching from the late Pleistocene (similar to 13 000 a) to middle Holocene (e.g. 7177 C-14 a BP), and the Maya Formative period at approximately 3000 a bp. Yet, no evidence has been presented to date for human settlement during the similar to 4000-year interval between 7000 and 3000 a. This is remarkable as settlement in other areas of south-eastern Mexico (e.g. Chiapas, Tabasco) and in Guatemala was apparently continuous.},
  language  = {en}
}