Anthropologists thought they had it all. figured out. The people who became Native Americans crossed over from Asia, leading to the Paleo-Indian groups: Clovis, Folsom, and Plano. Afterward, the Archaic people, such as the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mound Builders of the East, built their civilizations. But then, Monte Verde.
In the 1990S, scientists located an ancient camp along a creek bank in a wooded, hilly area in Chile. Years of study led to the conclusion that the dwellings, tools, and other artifacts were at least a thousand years older than those found at the Clovis site in New Mexico. The world’s most prominent archaeologists traveled to South America and verified that a hunting and gathering society camped at Monte Verde at least 12,500 years ago, making it the oldest known native site on the American continents.
It’s believed that approximately 20 to 30 people lived at Monte Verde for about a year. About 12 huts stood in the settlement, built from wood planks and covered in animal hides held down with tent stakes that were found at the dig. Some of the stakes and poles still had cords tied with overhand knots. The Monte Verde people were hunters, but they also were gatherers, collecting berries, chestnuts, mushrooms, potatoes, and marsh grasses during different seasons of the year. For variety, they also traveled to the Pacific Ocean, about 30 miles away, for shellfish.
The reason that archaeologists were able to learn so much about Monte Verde is that it was covered with a peat bog. Over time, oxygen in the air causes items to decay. Peat bogs effectively keep oxygen away, allowing items to be preserved. The peat bog at Monte Verde was so effective that it even preserved a child’s footprint near a cooking pit.
Most interesting of all, however, was that the people of Monte Verde couldn’t have crossed the Bering Strait—there wouldn’t have been a land bridge or an ice-free corridor at the time they would have had to migrate. In other words, the people of Monte Verde didn’t migrate from Asia through Alaska. Perhaps, at some point, the people of Monte Verde traveled by boat up the Pacific
CAVE PAINTINGS
Before the Ancestral Puebloans created their amazing structures, early people in North America lived in pit houses in the ground. Before that, they lived in caves. Many ancient people throughout the world have communicated by painting on cave walls. Early rock and cave paintings record information about hunts or battles. Perhaps the paintings even served some ceremonial purpose. One of the most famous Native American rock art sites is the Chumash Indian Painted Cave in Santa Barbara, California.
A glimpse into Kiowa history. Sometimes a pole was included in the summer pictures. This always meant that the Sun Dance had taken place. An owl in the picture often meant that someone had died.
World History
