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According to legend, contortion "given them abilities." Two Olmec reliefs that were carved onto big, round stones by archaeologists in Mexico are considered to show regional leaders executing ceremonial contortions. The Olmec civilisation, whose name is derived from the Aztec (Nahuatl) term "lmcatl," which means "rubber people," is said to have produced the twin sculptures, which were discovered in Tenosique, a village in the state of Tabasco, close to Mexico's southernmost coast. The Olmec, who ruled between 1200 and 400 B.C., are regarded as Mesoamerica's earliest sophisticated pre-Hispanic civilisation (opens in new tab). Today, their sculptures of enormous skulls are what they're most renowned for (opens in new tab). The enormous 3D sculptures are made of limestone and are each around 4.5 feet (1.4 meters) in circumference and 1,543 pounds (700 kilograms) in weight. According to a translated statement, the two carved statues show the faces ...

The timing of human arrival in North America has already been called into question by research on ancient footprints; however, a recent find may help to clarify the situation. On the US Air Force Utah Test and Training Range, scientists discovered 88 fossilized prints that belonged to adults and children and probably date back 12,000 years. Only a second pair of Ice Age human footprints have been found in what is now the United States. According to Kevin Hatala, a paleoanthropologist at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, footprints preserve a particular kind of data that most people cannot obtain from other kinds of archaeological or fossil records. He had no part in making the finding. You can see how big these people were, Hatala said. "You can see where they were going. When many footpaths of footprints are found at one location, you may begin to guess how many individuals were there." He said, "Were they probably heading in various directions or were the...