Not the oldest possible evidence — there may be older sites, and there may be older dates hidden in existing collections that future analysis will reveal.

But the oldest well-documented, peer-reviewed, published evidence that has survived appropriate scientific scrutiny.

What that evidence establishes is specific: people were in eastern Beringia approximately 24,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum, and they were engaged in the systematic processing of large animal carcasses using stone tools.

They were not visitors to an empty landscape; they were inhabitants — or at least regular travelers through — a landscape that they knew well enough to exploit effectively.

What the evidence does not establish, and what it was never claimed to establish: the precise timing of the initial dispersal of people into the ice-free parts of North America; the specific route or routes by which people moved from Beringia into the Americas; the genetic identity or cultural affiliations of the Bluefish Caves people; the duration of human presence at the site; whether the Bluefish Caves site represents a seasonal stopping point, a long-term base camp, or an occasional shelter; or any of the many other questions that a more complete archaeological record might answer.