A mid-Holocene age for Monte Verde challenges the timeline of human colonization of South America
Summary
Our understanding of the timing of the human colonization of South America has been anchored by the Monte Verde II site in Chile, reported to date to ~14,500 years before the present (B.P.) and regarded as one of the most secure pre-Clovis archeological sites. We report the first independent investigation of Monte Verde in the nearly 50 years since initial excavations. We argue that radiocarbon and luminescence dates from alluvial exposures, in combination with the identification of a teph
Content
# A mid-Holocene age for Monte Verde challenges the timeline of human colonization of South America
*Published: 2026 Mar 19*
Our understanding of the timing of the human colonization of South America has
been anchored by the Monte Verde II site in Chile, reported to date to ~14,500
years before the present (B.P.) and regarded as one of the most secure
pre-Clovis archeological sites. We report the first independent investigation of
Monte Verde in the nearly 50 years since initial excavations. We argue that
radiocarbon and luminescence dates from alluvial exposures, in combination with
the identification of a tephra dated to 11,000 years B.P. stratigraphically
underlying the archaeological component, suggest that Monte Verde cannot be
older than the Middle Holocene (8200 to 4200 years B.P.). With colonization no
longer anchored by Monte Verde, our revised chronology supports a more recent
date of human arrival to South America.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adw9217