Our understanding of the timing of human arrival to the Americas remains fragmented, despite decades of active research and debate. Genetic research has recently led to the ‘Beringian standstill hypothesis’ (BSH), which suggests an isolated group of humans lived somewhere in Beringia for millennia during the Last Glacial, before a subgroup migrated southward into the American continents about 14 ka. Recently published organic geochemical data suggest human presence around Lake E5 on the Alaskan North Slope during the Last Glacial; however, these biomarker proxies, namely faecal sterols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are relatively novel and require replication to bolster their support of the BSH. We present new analyses of these biomarkers in the sediment archive of Burial Lake (latitude 68°26′N, longitude 159°10′W m a.s.l.) in northwestern Alaska. Our analyses corroborate that humans were present in Beringia during the Last Glacial and that they likely promoted fire activity. Our data also suggest that humans coexisted with Ice Age megafauna for millennia prior to their eventual extinction at the end of the Last Glacial. Lastly, we identify fire as an overlooked ecological component of the mammoth steppe ecosystem.

中文翻译：

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沉积生物标志物在上个冰河时期重申了人类对贝林北部生态系统的影响

尽管经过数十年的积极研究和辩论，我们对人类到达美洲时间的理解仍然是零散的。遗传研究最近导致了“柏林停顿假说”（BSH），这表明在最后一次冰川时期，一群孤立的人类在白令的某个地方生活了几千年，然后一个亚群向南迁移到大约14 ka的美洲大陆。最近公布的有机地球化学数据表明，在上一次冰川期期间，人类在阿拉斯加北坡的E5湖附近存在。然而，这些生物标志物代理，即粪便固醇和多环芳烃（PAH），相对较新，需要复制以增强其对BSH的支持。我们在埋葬湖（北纬68°26′N，东经159°10′W m asl）的沉积物中提供了这些生物标记物的新分析。）在阿拉斯加西北部。我们的分析证实，上次冰河时期人类存在于白令海地区，并且很可能促进了火活动。我们的数据还表明，人类与冰河世纪大型动物共存了数千年，直到最后一次冰河末期灭绝。最后，我们将火识别为猛mm草原生态系统中被忽视的生态成分。