New study challenges theories about when people may have arrived in the Americas
Three decades ago, most archaeologists were certain that people first arrived in the Americas no earlier than about 13,000 years ago. The evidence came from well-dated spearheads with characteristic fluted bases known as Clovis points, named for the city in New Mexico near the archaeological site where they were first identified in 1929. But the so-called “Clovis first” hypothesis appeared to crack for good in 1997, when a cadre of archaeologists visited a site called Monte Verde in southern Chile. They studied the evidence for claims first made in 1979 that the human occupation there dates to about 14,500 years ago and gave them their stamp of approval.
“[Monte Verde] broke the pre-Clovis barrier,” says Ben Potter, an archaeologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “Up until now, it’s been seen as the bedrock.”
A study out today in Science (which has a related Perspective) aims to shatter that bedrock. It suggests the stratigraphic layers at Monte Verde are scrambled, with older wood and other organic material mixed into younger sediments, resulting in misleading radiocarbon dates. The site is just 8200 to 4200 years old, the study concludes.
“This is going to cause a furor in the field,” says Stuart Fiedel, a retired archaeologist and longtime critic of pre-Clovis sites, including Monte Verde. “There’s going to be a fight.”
It has already begun. “This is a rigorous study,” says Potter, who wasn’t involved with the work. Other archaeologists vehemently disagree. “If I’m going to be charitable, it’s a start,” says Loren Davis, an archaeo-logist at Oregon State University. “But the conclusions are stronger than the evidence currently warrants.” [Continue reading…]