New evidence, more questions. That's the thumbnail of the first new data reported in 10 years from Monte Verde, the earliest known human settlement in the Americas.
Evidence from the archaeological site in southern Chile confirms Monte Verde is the Americas earliest known settlement and is consistent with the idea that early human migration occurred along the Pacific Coast more than 14,000 years ago, but questions remain about just how rapidly that migration occurred.
"If all the early American groups were following a similar pattern of moving back and forth between inland and coastal areas, then the peopling of the Americas may not have been the blitzkrieg movement to the south that people have presumed, but a much slower and more deliberate process," says Tom Dillehay, professor of anthropology at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., who led the study.
Seaweed was an important source of food and medicine at the oldest human site in the Americas, suggests a new report. The findings suggest that these early explorers previously lived along the coast.
Nine species of 'useful' seaweed were found in remains of dwellings at Monte Verde in Chile. The specimens dated from 14,220 to 13,980 years ago. Remnants of these marine plants were found on the edges of stone tools, which the researchers propose were used to cut and prepare the seaweed. Some of them formed parts of 'cuds' — palate-shaped mixtures of plant matter that looked like they had been chewed on but not swallowed, perhaps for medicinal purposes. Several of the edible seaweeds are known to have been eaten by many different cultures over the millennia.
I don't know what nutritional or medical value seaweed has, other than being rich in minerals. I'll try to find out.
The Monte Verde site was discovered in 1976. It is located in a peat bog about 500 miles south of Santiago and has revealed well-preserved ruins of a small settlement of 20 to 30 people living in a dozen huts along a small creek. A wide variety of food has been found at the site, including extinct species of llama and an elephant-like animal called a gomphothere, shellfish, vegetables and nuts.
In 1979, when Dillehay and his colleagues first reported that the radiocarbon dating of the bones and charcoal found at Monte Verde returned dates of more than 14,000 years before the present, it stirred up a major controversy because the early dates appeared to conflict with other archaeological evidence of the settlement of North America.
Since at least 1900, the prevailing theory had been that human colonization began at the end of the last Ice Age about 13,000 years ago, when groups of big game hunters, called the Clovis culture, followed herds from Siberia to Alaska over a land bridge across the Bering Strait and then gradually spread southward. None of the Clovis artifacts were dated earlier than 13,000 years ago. So having a substantially older human settlement in southern Chile was difficult to reconcile with this view.
It wasn’t until 1997 that the controversy was resolved by a prominent group of archaeologists who reviewed the evidence, visited the Monte Verde site and unanimously approved the dating.
The plant material was found around hearths or fire-places in wishbone-shaped huts, one of which is thought to have been a medicinal house. Some remnants were charred, indicating that they had been cooked. Two of the plants are known to be used as traditional medicines, for disorders such as stomach ailments and infections.
From the second article above, this is interesting in light of recent discussions. If the researchers are right, this would be the house o' the shaman.
Monte Verde in Chile at 14,000 years old was enough to break down the Clovis First paradigm, but nobody has had the balls yet to excavate and date the older mounds behind the site since they are estimated to be a controversial 33,000 years old.
Monte Verde in Chile at 14,000 years old was enough to break down the Clovis First paradigm, but nobody has had the balls yet to excavate and date the older mounds behind the site since they are estimated to be a controversial 33,000 years old.
Thanks for bringing that up Cogs. Do you have the article that goes into more depth about this? I have read it but didn't save it, but I think Charlie may have it. I may track him down Monday.
Back 14,000 years ago, Monte Verde was located about 90 kilometers east of the sandy Pacific coast and 15 kilometers north of a rocky-shored inland marine bay. Algae from both environments were recovered, including inedible species that are today used as medicines in Chile and elsewhere. Moreover, the algal species found are known to flourish at different times of the year, suggesting to Dillehay's team that the Monte Verdeans were intimately familiar with coastal resources--possibly because they had originally arrived in the region via that route. Erlandson agrees: "The variety of seaweeds implies a pretty deep knowledge of coastal ecosystems and a long history of exploiting them."
