Archaeologists studying Monte Verde claim an age of 18 Ka BP and add some detail

Quickies

I'm going in this and upcoming short entries through my backlog. You are warned.

New archaeology from Monte Verde (Chile) suggests a date of 18 Ka BP (slightly older than the oldest known North American site) and also that it was a transiting site for highly mobile peoples and not a main base, as they were not using superior local lithics but bringing their own.

Tom D. Dillehay et al. New Archaeological Evidence for an Early Human Presence at Monte Verde, Chile. PLoS ONE 2015. Open access → LINK [doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141923]

Abstract

Questions surrounding the chronology, place, and character of the initial human colonization of the Americas are a long-standing focus of debate. Interdisciplinary debate continues over the timing of entry, the rapidity and direction of dispersion, the variety of human responses to diverse habitats, the criteria for evaluating the validity of early sites, and the differences and similarities between colonization in North and South America. Despite recent advances in our understanding of these issues, archaeology still faces challenges in defining interdisciplinary research problems, assessing the reliability of the data, and applying new interpretative models. As the debates and challenges continue, new studies take place and previous research reexamined. Here we discuss recent exploratory excavation at and interdisciplinary data from the Monte Verde area in Chile to further our understanding of the first peopling of the Americas. New evidence of stone artifacts, faunal remains, and burned areas suggests discrete horizons of ephemeral human activity in a sandur plain setting radiocarbon and luminescence dated between at least ~18,500 and 14,500 cal BP. Based on multiple lines of evidence, including sedimentary proxies and artifact analysis, we present the probable anthropogenic origins and wider implications of this evidence. In a non-glacial cold climate environment of the south-central Andes, which is challenging for human occupation and for the preservation of hunter-gatherer sites, these horizons provide insight into an earlier context of late Pleistocene human behavior in northern Patagonia.

Notice that Monte Verde is quite towards the south and, in Ice Age contexts, it was a rather extreme environment, barely outside of the glaciers. I wonder what they looked for in such a remote place, even if they probably only went there in summer.

Archaeologists: Dakar rally in Chile is a crime against patrimony

The College of Archaeologist of Chile has risen their voice against the Rally Dakar 2014 (which is not anymore held in Africa after much controversy but in South America) because it impacts and destroys many archaeological sites. 

According to the Chilean archaeological guild the rally is a clear crime under the article 38 of law 17288, which should be persecuted by the Council of Defense of the State (CDE). However this entity "has its hands tied" because the Rally is promoted by the National Sports Institute (IND). 

The Council of National Monuments (CMN) has documented not less than 207 archaeological sites damaged by previous editions of the rally up to 2012 (all rallies since 2009 have gone through Chilean, as well Argentine and sometimes Peruvian lands).

Since 2009 five legal actions have been initiated against this destructive competition, all of which have been dismissed by the courts. 

Source[es]: Diario de Antofagasta (via Paleorama).

Oldest mine in America

The oldest known mine in America was, it seems, a iron oxide mine from Chile, dated to as early as 12,000 years ago. 

The mine in Taltal, in today's Northern Chile, was used first between 12,000 and 10,500 years ago and then again since 4300 years ago. More than 500 hammerstones dating to the first use of the mine reveal an unusual interest for such an early exploitation. 

Source: Science Daily. (Paper to be published in Current Anthropology next month).

The mine was previously mentioned, in greater extent, here.


Update (May 26): in the comments' section it was mentioned that another, no so old, quarry is known to have existed in Virginia, where the first inhabitants extracted red jasper. The site is dated to c. 10 Ka BP and you can read about it here and (if you have a Science subscription) also here.

Chile's pre-Neolithic mine

Tim points me to an article at Chilean newspaper El Mercurio[es] (first page, article 1, article 2), where the archaeological finding of the century maybe is discussed. This finding is nothing less than what can be the oldest ever mine, dug by pre-farming peoples of what is now Northern Chile some 12,000 years ago. 

The mine is located in the municipality of Taltal, Antofagasta, and the date has been confirmed by analysis in three independent laboratories from the USA and Poland. In spite of its antiquity, the article mentions it is not the oldest of the world, even if it is the oldest one known in America: the record oldest mine is in South Africa (40,000 years ago), followed by Australia (30,000) and Greece (15,000). 

The Taltal mine was used to extract iron oxide, ochre mineral used for decorative and ceremonial purposes. In that time the area was occupied by the peoples of the Huente-Lauquén culture, the first settlers of the Northern Chilean coast, who lived largely on fishing. 

Besides the mine, more than a thousand stone hammers have been found. The hammers, apparently lacking handles, were the main tool used to work in the mine. They did not even make use of fire to weaken the rock, it seems. 

Even if it is not the oldest mine, it does seem the largest one for any pre-Neolithic culture known so far. In this sense, it raises many questions about how a hunter-gatherer community could muster so many energies for a non-practical purpose of this magnitude. 

However, even if the article does not mention it, it is known that fishing communities in some areas did manage to support large populations and enjoy affluent stable economies that allowed for certain levels of collective organization. The best known case are the potlatchs of NW North American natives, other such cases may be the Jomon people of Japan or the Lepenski Vir culture of Serbia and Romania.