Scientists clash over Monte Verde's age, defending a 14,500-year timeline

The Monte Verde site, discovered in the 1970s in a creek valley of southern Chile, has long been cited as evidence of human presence in the Americas around 14,500 years ago. A recent Science article argued the site was only 4,200-8,200 years old, citing a volcanic ash layer they said lay beneath the cultural deposits. Researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of Wyoming have now challenged that claim in PaleoAmerica, asserting the ash layer was never observed by Monte Verde investigators and that the newer study selectively used geological data.

Tom Dillehay, who has worked at Monte Verde since its discovery, maintains confidence in the original methodology, while Todd Surovell, whose team produced the younger-one outlet estimate, welcomes further independent testing. The debate matters because an older Monte Verde predates the Clovis culture and suggests earlier migration routes into the New World. The site’s anaerobic peat preservation has yielded rare organic artifacts, including wooden tools, plant remains, and human footprints, offering a detailed glimpse of hunter-gatherer life during the last Ice Age.