This image provided by researchers shows artifacts made of bony material from a giant sloth discovered at a rock shelter in Brazil, recovered from archaeological layers dated to 25,000 to 27,000 years ago. Research published Wednesday, July 12, 2023, in Britain's Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal, suggests humans lived in South America at the same time as now-extinct giant sloths, bolstering evidence that people arrived in the Americas earlier than once thought. (Thais Rabito Pansani via AP)

BRAZIL (AP)– New research suggests humans lived in South America at the same time as now extinct giant sloths, bolstering evidence that people arrived in the Americas earlier than previously thought. Scientists analyzed pendants made of bony material from the sloths and concluded they were the work of deliberate craftsmanship. Dating of the ornaments and sediment at the Brazil site point to an age of 25,000 to 27,000 years. That’s several thousand years before some earlier theories suggested the first people arrived in the Americas over a land bridge from Asia. The research was published Wednesday in a British journal.