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dubamamorange t1_j18ju8m wrote

> “challenges the old notion of sparse early human occupation”

What? you mean the pre modern assumption?

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SomeDEGuy t1_j18pnys wrote

"Discovery disproves old theory" gets more clicks than "Discovery supports modern scientific consensus".

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I_am_BrokenCog t1_j19bdpc wrote

well, it has been the consensus among ethnologists, historians and sociologists that the America's population of North, Central and South, were "only a few millions of people" when Columbus and de Leon explored the hemisphere.

Since the 70s or 80s this has been challenged, although not without remaining doubt, that the population was actually in the hundreds of millions.

So, yes, "old notion" is perfectly correct. Sometimes truth is both sensationalist click bait and factual reporting.

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Anonynja t1_j18w5uc wrote

Don't forget how much education and experts raised on debunked theories lag behind. You can assume many readers only ever heard the "old notion" and haven't updated their info with the newer understanding that many tens of millions of people lived in the so-called Americas before colonization and genocide.

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ITDrumm3r t1_j18z7u8 wrote

Not the story people want to hear. I was taught something much different and I live in Texas near the border. I just recently heard about how populated the Americas were. I had to seek out the info. It’s not something you hear much about. Maybe kids learn about this now but in Texas, I doubt it.

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Tudhal t1_j195xxg wrote

>many tens of millions of people lived in the so-called Americas before colonization and genocide.

This article is about the region 2000 years before Columbus.

There weren’t many places on the planet in 1000 BC to 100 AD with tens of millions of people.

Even Rome was scarcely more than a village in 500 BC.

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