1. What Happened When. 2. Work of the Archaeologist. 3. History and Archaeology. 10 ways humans will leave fossils. Updated Imagine if humans overnight simultaneously vanished from the face of the Earth. If intelligent beings came to examine the Earth a million years hence, would they find evidence our species ever existed? It sounds like the beginning of a science fiction film, but it is a serious question scientists are pondering this year. In 2016 the International Commission on Stratigraphy will meet to consider whether humans have made an impact on the fossil record.
Today, in the journal Science, a group of eminent scholars are arguing we have entered a new geological age, and they are pushing for the commission's recognition. The scholars argue this one, like the "age of the fishes" or the "age of the dinosaurs" before it, should be defined by the dominant species on the planet: humans. "From their criteria, they can see a change occurring and this would be a new geological time period," he said.
Here are 10 ways the scientists say humans have left their imprint on the fossil record. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 4. Thinking like an Archaeologist 1. 5. Thinking Like an Archaeologist 2. Iceman.