Oldest stone tools in the Americas claimed in Chile 17,000 to 19,000 years ago.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Evidence shows earliest Americans arrived 6,000 years earlier than believed

November 19, 2015

Evidence shows earliest Americans arrived 6,000 years earlier than believed
by Susanna Pilny


New evidence uncovered at the Monte Verde site in southern Chile has now provided further evidence that the earliest known Americans became established in South America even earlier than previously thought.

For many decades, it was believed that the Americas were first populated some 13,000 years ago by big-game hunters from Asia, known as the Clovis people. Evidence of their culture was especially apparent in their distinctly-shaped, pointed stone projectiles, known as Clovis points. However, in more recent decades, the Monte Verde site in Chile revealed that, in fact, some American human populations pre-dated the arrival of the Clovis people.

The evidence found there pushed back the 13,000-year estimation another 1,500 years, when the remains of settlements that used a different kind of stone tool technology were discovered at a Monte Verde site known as MVII. Further evidence at another nearby location, known as MVI, yielded then-inconclusive evidence that indicated the advent of humans was even younger.

Now, archaeologists from Vanderbilt University have taken another look at Monte Verde, in an attempt to find new insights and data on the mysterious humans who passed through—and they’ve already made some new discoveries, according to their paper in PLOS ONE.

Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113410891/evidence-shows-earliest-americans-arrived-6000-years-earlier-than-believed-111915/#Ohib9IrhTLcG0oxf.99