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On the Pleistocene Antiquity of Monte Verde, Southern Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David J. Meltzer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275
Donald K. Grayson
Affiliation:
Burke Mueum and Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
Gerardo Ardila
Affiliation:
Departmento de Antropologia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Apartado 13520, Bogata, Colombia
Alex W. Barker
Affiliation:
Dallas Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 150349, Dallas, TX 75315
Dena F. Dincauze
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
C. Vance Haynes
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Francisco Mena
Affiliation:
Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Calles Bandera y Compania, Casilla 3687, Santiago, Chile
Lautaro Nunez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueologicas, Universidad Catolica del Norte, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Dennis J. Stanford
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of National History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560

Abstract

The potential importance of the Monte Verde site for the peopling of the New World prompted a detailed examination of the collections from that locality, as well as a site visit in January 1997 by a group of Paleoindian specialists. It is the consensus of that group that the MV-II occupation at the site is both archaeological and 12,500 years old, as T. Dillehay has argued. The status of the potentially even older material at the site (MV-1, ∼ 33,000 B.P.) remains unresolved.

La importancia potencial del sitio Monte Verde para el poblamiento del Nuevo Mundo estimuló un examen detallado de las colecciones de esa localidad y una visita al sitio en enero de 1997 por un grupo de especialistas en el Paleoindio. Es el consensu de ese grupo que la ocupación MV-II en el sitio es arqueológica y de 12.500 años de edad, tal como ha arguido T. Dillehay. El estatus del material potencialmente más antiguo en el sitio (MV-1, 33.000 a. P.) continúa sin resolverse.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1997

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