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Monte Verde. Studies have found this Chilean human settlement to be one of the oldest on the American Continent (*).

Earliest human traces

The evidence suggests that a human settlement could have existed in Patagonia as early as 14,000 BC.

Monte Verde

Without a doubt, the most important archaeological discovery of the 20^th Century in South America occurred with the findings at Monte Verde, near the city of Puerto Montt, in Chilean Patagonia. Discovered by local farmers in 1970, Monte Verde is a major archaeological site that was exposed following the farmers’ intervention in the course of a creek to facilitate the transit of their teams of oxen. They used shovels to dig out a new watercourse, and the erosion caused during the following winter exposed large mastondon bones.

The bones discovered by the farmers were given to the student Felix Werner during his visit in 1976, and he, in turn, handed them to Mauricio van de Maele (RIP), a scientist working at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia. He then visited the site and examined the bones that remained visible in the substrata of the Chinchihuapi Creek and it was this work that led to the discovery of Monte Verde in 1977, subsequently identified as the oldest verifiable archaeological site showing evidence of human habitation in the Americas.

The scientific research was led by Tom Dillehay, an American anthropologist, working alongside the Chilean geologist Mario Pino from the Universidad Austral de Chile (Valdivia). Together with four of their students, they studied an exploratory deep trench. Dillehay confirmed they had found a settlement that was significantly different to any other acknowledged site and that this location indicated a camp for semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers. We can take it from this fact, therefore, that we are dealing with the original ancestors of Chilean Patagonia.

Monte Verde represents a human settlement from the Late Pleistocene where –14,200 BC– a group of humans arrived to inhabit the environs of what is now the city of Puerto Montt. The archaeological site is near the Río Maullin that rises in the extreme south-east of Lake Llanquihue and empties into the Pacific Ocean after a long and sinuous route gently descending towards the coast at the Golfo de Coronados, facing Isla Doña Sebastiana across the Canal de Chacao (Chacao channel). Given the cold waters, and the fact that the river rose to cover the site shortly after it was inhabited, the archaeological remains found in the peat-filled bog were exceptionally well-preserved.

The discovery of Monte Verde constituted a serious challenge to the theory that was developed from work at Clovis (New México) that postulated the oldest human settlements on the American Continent date from 11,500 BC, and also that it was the Clovis Culture that populated the American Continent during the last Ice Age.

The glacial formations are believed to have lowered sea levels to such a degree that land formerly submerged was exposed to connect the areas that are today known as Alaska and Siberia, thus enabling groups of humans to cross the Bering Strait from Siberia to North America via a mile-wide corridor. The region from Alaska to Canada was covered by ice, and geological sources confirm that the glacial corridor allowed these groups to settle in Clovis, in the American State of New México, from where they migrated throughout the American territory and as far as the southern continent.

Patagonian Mastodon

At Monte Verde, perfectly preserved remains of mastodon bone and pelt have been found, as well as cords, stakes, wood, and a large quantity of food items and a human footprint. This high level of conservation was the result, as already indicated, of a rise in the water level of the little Chinchihuapi Creek that transformed the riverbed and the floor level of the Monte Verde site into a swamp with an abundant presence of peat. The evolution of this bog developed with a great quantity of iron coming from the Patagonian volcanoes and created a second layer, whose oxidating iron formed a protective cap, preserving the objects underneath. Using carbon dating, later investigations of Monte Verde have established that this human settlement could be around 33,000 years old.

Substantially modified section with brushed sides. The trunk is supported by branches in an inverted V-position to stabilise it in a working condition.

Mastodon defensive tusk fragment exhibiting severe abrasion and scoring on its sides as a result of use.

Among the wood artifacts, traces of the earliest architecture discovered in the Americas were found. The conservation conditions of the site allowed a large tent-like dwelling to be identified, whose structure was characterized by poles covered with animal hides and which is very similar to the homes of groups of Tehuelches in Patagonia and also to the Kawesquar tents found along the Patagonian channels. This type of early architecture suggests the existence of a community that already had a well-defined division of labour between hunting and gathering food sources, as well as the presence of fire.

The archaeologists have been able to conclude that the inhabitants of Monte Verde had knowledge of the seasons, of fluctuating weather patterns, and also that they had social interaction with other groups of human settlements.

The discoveries at Monte Verde and other anthropological sites in the Americas, such as Piedra Museo in Argentina, Pedra Furada in Brazil, and Topper in the United States, have completely changed the predominant theory on how the American Continent was populated –a theory based upon and formulated as a result of work on the Clovis Culture. That theory has been challenged by the new discoveries at Monte Verde, which demonstrate that the presence of human settlements on the American Continent date from 14,200 BC; that is to say, they are 2,700 years ealier than the date postulated by the theory based on the Clovis Culture. Thus the first human migrations occurred in the south of our American Continent, and not in the north. It is for this reason that this new thesis modifies the theories regarding the migration routes for mankind and for its spread throughout the American Continent.

Given these discoveries, it is very difficult to assert the origins of the early human inhabitants of Patagonia, and it is only possible to provide very wide ranges of time. The necessary archaeological investigations in the region around Puerto Montt will provide greater precision in future, both for the arrival dates of mankind on the American Continent, and for the true antecedents of its inhabitants. Furthermore, it will reveal how early human settlement occurred and consolidate the new historical and archaeological theories in the face of those that already exist, thus providing us with a better understanding of their relationship to other continents, eras, and civilizations.

This is why Monte Verde must be considered of great archaeological significance for the American Continent, alongside the discoveries in the north, in México, as well as in Perú and Bolivia, among others.

Analysis of the discovery of the oldest archaeological remains in Patagonia

The historic achievement of 1976 was the discovery of an archaeological site at Monte Verde, located 30 km to the south-west of Puerto Montt, which rendered current theories regarding the immigration of mankind to the Americas obsolete and made Patagonia central to theories regarding the earliest human settlements. As a result of the investigations carried out at Monte Verde, an abundance of petrified pieces of meat and animal hide have been discovered, as well as wild potato specimens, non-native plants, and architectural elements such as pieces made of wood, the majority of which are related to domestic dwelling structures; over 650 Paleolithic cultural items were also found, made of bones and mastodon molars, as well as of other giant animals. Hearths and brazier pits were found in distinct areas, and also string fragments and cord made of reeds, which indicate the presence of human activity. These remains comprise a collection gathered at the Historical and Anthropological Museum of the Universidad Austral de Chile, located in the city of Valdivia, in Chile’s Los Ríos Region.

The excavations carried out at Monte Verde (1 and 2), later known as MV-I and MV-II, were led by the American anthropologist Tom Dillehay and the Chilean geologist Mario Pino, alongside their colleagues C. Ramírez, M. Collins and J. Rossen. This group of scientists continue to investigate the site and has been able to date the artefacts and bones found here to 13,500 BC at MV-I, and to 14,200 BC at MV-II.

These facts challenge and make obsolete the theory based on the Clovis Culture regarding the arrival of mankind on the American Continent via the northern hemisphere and the Bering Strait. The dating was confirmed by an international panel of scientists who visited the site in 1997, when it had recently been recognised by the majority of the global scientific community as one of the oldest sites of human habitation found in the Americas verified to date. Later, in 2007, Monte Verde was connected to a new archaeological site known as Pilauco Bajo, in an area near the Chilean town of Osorno, which led to the theory that these sites were complementary, with Monte Verde having been the habitational center and Pilauco Bajo the butchering site⁽¹⁾.

On May 9^th 2008, a team from Science, the journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), announced they had identified nine new species of marine algae recovered from homes and other areas around the Monte Verde site. These algae samples were dated as being 14,220 years old, confirming that the date for human settlement identified at the MV-II archaeological site was reliable⁽²⁾.

The Monte Verde Foundation established by the Government of Chile, Municipality of Puerto Montt and the scientist that discovered the archaeological site at Chinchihuapi creek plan to construct a museum to safeguard and protect the archaeological finds and provide an appropriate setting for their public display, as well as for the promotion of research, study, publication and discussion of said findings.

These discoveries, so recently achieved, and only published three years prior to this book, pave the way for science to begin a new chapter, which must be written using the new background information supplied by scientists from their future investigations. Their new research will enable us to connect with the past in ways that will create an amazing new challenge to the facts known up to date on the history of humanity. Analysing those layers of historical information to formulate a new approach to the methods and routes used for the earliest arrival of mankind on the American Continent is a great challenge for contemporary society, not least because it contradicts the traditional view that human settlement of the Americas occurred via the initial incursions of peoples representing the Clovis Culture into the northern continent during their emigration made possible by the last Ice Age, dated at 80,000 BC, when glaciation created a terrestial connection that later disappeared in the post-glacial era beginning around 10,000 BC. This theory and others have initiated much speculation, and now, at the very least, we see a new dimension opening for historical research and the opportunity for the global scientific community to take the lead in this history.

Discovered in the heart of Patagonia, this terra incognita is a challenge. For, according to the numerous studies and information emanating from publications on Monte Verde, the artefacts and human traces found there, as well as the customs of the inhabitants, indicate that these human beings resemble the indigenous Patagones we know as Tehuelches, Huilliches, Kaweskars, or Alacaluf, who once lived in Western Patagonia; and, by virtue of being their ancestors, we can deduce they were the earliest human inhabitants of the American Continent.

Until now, only the Patagons have been identified, in that first encounter in 1520. They were tall and well-built. The Spanish only reached up to their waists, according to the early chroniclers, who estimated their height at being between 1.85 m and 3 m. Those giant Patagons were the first human beings known to inhabit the American Continent. The traces recently discovered at Monte Verde, however, are the key to extremely valuable information to be analysed and studied by the scientific world in the near future. History and science has advanced hand in hand, studying human development, decyphering human origins, and the nature of the ethnic groups that once lived in both Insular and Continental Patagonia, in this vast region of South America.

Contemporary historians also face a challenge from now on, giving them the opportunity to develop a new historical framework, incorporating the new discoveries and taking advantage of current scientific advances to apply them to their own field of study and order the flow of information gathered on this great territory.

The most notable feature of human development noted so far among the indigenous inhabitants of Patagonia, is their adaptation to nature, and the manner in which they chose to locate their settlements at sites that seemed to offer the most safety. By siting their camps near the rivers flowing down from the Andes Mountains, they facilitated hunting, fishing and gathering, while also ensuring the fresh water supply necessary for their survival. Another distinctive practice identified for the earliest inhabitants, is their common tendency to spend long periods of time near the coast during winter, to avoid the biting cold on the hillsides and mountains of the Andes.

Human settlements can be found in the valleys of Patagonia, where the indigenous populations established themselves in the most temperate regions, alongside riverbeds and creeks. Later, during spring, they migrated east, to the headwaters of the rivers in the Andes, reaching their highest summits during the summer, when the snowline retreated, which provided them with camp grounds at the lakes and by the native forests, where an abundance of flora and fauna could be found. That virgin paradise was the great universe they inhabited, enabling the nomadic and sea-kayaking peoples of Patagonia to become highly skilled hunters and gatherers during their eternal wanderings along the rivers connecting the Andean Mountains with the Pacific Ocean.

One assumes that those Patagons who succeeded in crossing to the other side of the Andean Cordillera during the summers, reaching Eastern Patagonia, became isolated over time, from those that inhabited the environs of the Pacific Ocean on the western side of Patagonia. By means of distancing themselves from the great mountain range and travelling towards the valleys and great plains spreading towards the Atlantic Ocean, these groups left the coldest zones found in the Andes behind them. As the Patagons encountered the Argentine Pampa, with its pastures stretching towards the endless horizon and flat plateaus descending towards the Atlantic Ocean, and a more temperate climate, they followed the most natural routes dictated by their continuous hunt for guanacos.

The development of weapons, such as boleadoras, along with the use of wild horses, enabled the hunter-gatherers to move across those vast territories with great ease, which marks a significant step in their evolution. It is also fair to say that these more temperate eastern regions had a distinct flora and fauna –for example with far less trees– that gave rise to distinct customs, forms of expression and communication. All this allowed for the evolution of a distinct race of people –different but related– who did not have to live with the challenge of the Andes Mountains and could develop their nomadic lifestyle unimpeded.

From the Pampa to the Amazon, those tribes mixed with other peoples from the north, such as the Guaraní, and later also with the Araucanian tribes. In contrast, the Western Patagonian tribes remained more homogeneous and isolated as a result of the accidental geographical environment created by the Andean Cordillera, the Pacific Ocean, and the great rivers, such as the Río Calle-Calle in the province of Valdivia, all the way to the south, to the narrow fjords and the Straits of Magellan. This tremendous transformation of the inhabitants of Patagonia occurred over a gradual evolutionary period that took over 14,000 years to develop.

The Argentinean historian Susana Bandieri has written in her book already mentioned that:

According to the experts, it is possible to distinguish, at the very least, three phases in the socio-cultural history of Patagonia, prior to the arrival of the Europeans... The first of these phases extends roughly from 13,000 to 7,000 years prior to the present day, when small groups of hunters and gatherers used refuges built of stone to protect them from the elements while they followed various routes in their search for food and water. What were possibly permanent settlements have been found in Northern Patagonia, especially at the Monte Verde site, 35 km south-west of Puerto Montt, in the Republic of Chile, which dates from over 13,000 years prior to the present day(3).

The classification of Northern Patagonia made by Susana Bandieri in relation to the territory of Monte Verde near Puerto Montt is a clear example of the acknowledgement of the key role the recent discovery of Tehuelche traces of such antiquity (dating back to 14,220 BC, according to the records on Monte Verde), and of the historic facts that cannot possibly be ignored.

The 2009 edition of her book, ‘Historia de la Patagonia’ (The History of Patagonia), has been updated to take account of the later archaeological discoveries at Monte Verde. Those later discoveries also allowed the archaeologist Tom Dillehay and others to publish their conclusions in numerous publications on the subject of what was found at Monte Verde, and to state that the Tehuelches can be considered related to the Huiliches, Kaweskars, and Alacaluf of Western Patagonia.

The name of the Tehuelches is widely acknowledged to be a denomination of origin that is sinonomous with the Patagons. These groups have also been classified as subgroups by Frederico Escalada, who has denominated them as Insular Tehuelches and Continental Tehuelches. Likewise, the Argentinean anthropologist Rudolfo Casamiquela has defined them into sub-groups, calling them Insular Tehuelches and Continental Tehuelches, and further dividing them into Southern and Northern groups. Both Argentinean scientists came up with their definitions years prior to the discovery of Monte Verde in Puerto Montt and Pilauco Bajo. Therefore, just like Susana Bandieri, other contemporary historians must revise their conclusions on the true delineation of the territories inhabited by the Patagones or Tehuelches of Greater Patagonia, which is shared between the Republics of Chile and Argentina.

Conclusion regarding Monte Verde and Patagonia

The Chinchihaupi Creek that empties into the Río Gato that flows into the waters of the great Río Maullin leading to the Pacific Ocean has been identified as Monte Verde I and Monte Verde II by the North American anthropologist Tom Dillehay. Until forty years ago, the majority of archaeological studies claimed that groups of humans crossed from Asia to North America 11,000 years ago, during their hunt for the great mammals. The discoveries at Monte Verde, however, suggest that the American Continent was populated at least 3,000 years earlier. That is to say, in 14,000 BC, and that those early inhabitants were organized communities dedicated to hunting large animals and also to gathering plants⁽⁴⁾.

The large collection of artefacts found at Monte Verde is the most complete that has been found in the New World, according to Dillehay, and demonstrates that the development of primitive techniques was initiated at an early stage in that culture. And even though there remains a great deal to be investigated at those archaeological sites, the samples found so far suggest that the group of people once living there were characteristic nomads. Therefore we are dealing with diverse cultures with distinct habits and survival techniques, where an exchange of knowledge and technologies occurred, and which were similar to the groups of hunter-gatherers and kayaking peoples found in Chilean Patagonia.

(*) Tom A. Dillehay, Monte Verde. A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile. Vol. I Palaeoenvironment and Site Context. Vol II, The Archeological Context and Interpretation. Smithsonian Institutions Press, Washington and London. 1997.

(1) Salisbury, David F, New Evidence About Earliest Americans Supports Coastal Migration Theory, Vanderbilt University.

(2) Dillehay T, Ramírez C, Pino M, Collins MB, Rossen J, Pino-Navarro JD, (9^th May 2008). Monte Verde: Un asentamiento humano del pleistoceno tardío en el sur de Chile. Tom D. Dillehay, 2004, Editores Independientes S.A., Buenos Aires.

(3) Susana Bandieri, Historia de la Patagonia, segunda edición, Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2009. pp. 30 & 31.

(4) Tom A. Dillehay, Monte Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile, Smithsonian Institutions Press, Washington and London, 1997.