Humans have been making and using symbolic objects for much longer than 24,000 years, but the specific culture represented at Mal’ta, the specific genetic population, the specific ecological and social context — these belong to a chapter of human prehistory that is genuinely foundational for the later story of the Americas.

Because at some point after 24,000 years ago — at some point after the child at Mal’ta was buried — people related to his population left Siberia for the Americas.

They did not all go at once.

They did not announce their departure.

They did not know they were founding a new chapter in human history.

They were following animals, or following the landscape, or responding to pressures we cannot now identify.

But they went.