Monte Verde Age Debate Continues: Researchers Challenge Younger Dating

The Monte Verde site in southern Chile, first reported in 1997 as 14,500 years old, has been the focus of a new debate after a March study in Science suggested it dated only 4,200–8,200 years. Two research teams, led by Vanderbilt’s Tom Dillehay and University of Wyoming’s Todd Surovell, published analyses in PaleoAmerica that identify what they call fundamental flaws in the Science paper. Dillehay argues the study relied on geological data outside the site and misidentified a volcanic ash layer that would otherwise indicate a later occupation. Surovell welcomes further independent work to resolve the issue. If the older age is upheld, Monte Verde would predate the Clovis culture by more than 1,500 years, reshaping theories of early human migration into the Americas.