内容摘要：Noem’s predecessors traveled less frequently in a low-tax state that values frugality, both on the farm and from elected officials. Daugaard, whose official statue features him pinching a penny, said he reimbursed staff for purchases like ice cream.

Noem’s predecessors traveled less frequently in a low-tax state that values frugality, both on the farm and from elected officials. Daugaard, whose official statue features him pinching a penny, said he reimbursed staff for purchases like ice cream.

In a lab at the University of Sao Paulo, researcher Mírian Pacheco holds in her palm a round, penny-sized sloth fossil. She notes that its surface is surprisingly smooth, the edges appear to have been deliberately polished, and there’s a tiny hole near one edge.“We believe it was intentionally altered and used by ancient people as jewelry or adornment,” she said. Three similar “pendant” fossils are visibly different from unworked osteoderms on a table — those are rough-surfaced and without any holes.

These artifacts from Santa Elina are roughly 27,000 years old — more than 10,000 years before scientists once thought that humans arrived in the Americas.Originally researchers wondered if the craftsmen were working on already old fossils. But Pacheco’s research strongly suggests that ancient people were carving “fresh bones” shortly after the animals died.This photo provided by researchers shows prehistoric drawings at the Santa Elina excavation site in the Mato Grosso state of Brazil. (Águeda Vilhena Vialou, Denis Vialou via AP)

This photo provided by researchers shows prehistoric drawings at the Santa Elina excavation site in the Mato Grosso state of Brazil. (Águeda Vilhena Vialou, Denis Vialou via AP)Her findings, together with other recent discoveries, could help rewrite the tale of when humans first arrived in the Americas — and the effect they had on the environment they found.

“There’s still a big debate,” Pacheco said.

Scientists know that the first humans emerged in Africa, then moved into Europe and Asia-Pacific, before finally making their way to the last continental frontier, the Americas. But questions remain about the final chapter of the human origins story.Natural Resources Conservation Service, Blythe, Calif. (980 square feet)

Corps of Engineers, Civil, Bountiful, Utah (2,961 square feet)United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bozeman, Mont. (7,853 square feet)

Environmental Protection Agency, Castle Rock, Colo. (10,800 square feet)Federal Communications Commission, Cerritos, Calif. (3,680 square feet)