They are a window, opened by contingency and preserved by science, into a world that is otherwise almost entirely gone.

The Final Word — Or The Absence Of One

The most honest conclusion about the Arlington Springs individual is that there is no final word.

The age is well-established within a scientific margin of uncertainty: approximately 13,000 calendar years before present, based on well-characterized collagen radiocarbon dates calibrated with modern curves and corroborated by independent chronostratigraphic work.

The geographic context is established: an island separated from the mainland by miles of open water, reachable only by deliberate crossing.

The consequence is established: maritime capability existed on the terminal Pleistocene California coast.