
New Archaeological Evidence for an Early Human Presence at Monte Verde, Chile - r0muald
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141923#pone-0141923-g001
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duaneb
Wow, HUGE news if corroborated:

> MV-I dated ~33,000 BP and initially defined by scattered occurrences of
> three clay-lined, possible culturally-produced burned areas and twenty-six
> stones, at least six of which suggest modification by humans.

Even at MV-II this provides more evidence against clovis culture being the
dominant force defining early America—people went south faster than we had
anticipated.

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r0muald
Regarding the ~33,000 BP materials, the authors "remain inconclusive and
skeptical about their cultural status".

Still, at ~ 18,500 BP there is a lot to change in the widely held assumptions
for the early human population of the Americas. Or, as this tweet implies,
some are just outright denying any value to the Monte Verde findings:

[https://twitter.com/archaeocore/status/667362478674677760](https://twitter.com/archaeocore/status/667362478674677760)

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duaneb
Even the ~15,000 BP - 18,500 BP it's still quite exciting; the evidence they
describe is still quite vague, although I'm no archaeologist, so the 33,000
would be out of left field. I'm excited for further developments—corroboration
is the ultimate decider, and it seems they've found _something_.

EDIT: The gentleman who posted the tweet you mentioned also wrote this:
[https://medium.com/@johnhawks/did-humans-approach-the-
southe...](https://medium.com/@johnhawks/did-humans-approach-the-southern-tip-
of-south-america-more-than-18-000-years-ago-a97414475718#.cw6ae5w1m). It gives
a broader look, and it still has exciting implications for understanding early
American travel. I think even more exciting is the potential for other sites
with similar ancient sites.

