Nearly 10,000 years ago, the body of a young woman ended up in a dry cave in southern Mexico. Her bones, discovered by divers in the now-submerged cave, are revealing clues to a short, hard life as well as the history of the first Americans.

In an underwater cave in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, researchers wearing full scuba gear are about to make a startling discovery. Through the gloom, two divers called Vicente Fito and Ivan Hernandez have found some ancient bones. And these remains may challenge what we know about the early colonizers of the American continent.