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=**Monte Verde: Why The Clovis first Model Just Does Not Work.**=



Clovis, Clovis, Clovis. When it came to first settlers of America, All one would hear about would be the Clovis. Said to have crossed the Bering land bridge into the Americas between 12,000 and 13,000 years ago. The Clovis were the said to the bedrock of all native Americans. There were always theories that the Clovis first argument was flawed but those who questioned the "Clovis first" theory of colonization of the new world lacked proof. When Monte Verde was discovered it shattered the Clovis first model. According to carbon dating Monte Verde is at least 1,000 years older than that of the Clovis site in New Mexico. Monte Verde's age directly contradicts the Clovis first model of human colonization of the New world. The Clovis were said to be a semi-migratory people who hunted large game throughout north and central America. They never stayed in one place for too long and only stopped to prepare and eat the game that they had hunted. Little to nothing is known about their family life or social order. There is also little that is known about things such as their building style or language. One could consider them ghosts almost, or perhaps remnants of a past people. The main evidence that remains of the Clovis are flaked rocks or "arrowheads" which the mysterious Clovis used to hunt with.






 * Clovis first Model**

The Clovis model of the settlement of the Americas holds that, the Clovis people crossed the Bering land bridge into the Americas from Asia during a level of low water. Their estimated crossing occurred roughly 13,000 years ago. The first Clovis site that was discovered was the one in Clovis, New Mexico in 1932. At the time when the sites data could be properly quantified, the Clovis people were held up as the bedrock of initial American colonization. When Monte Verde was discovered and the materials there were dated, it shattered the Clovis first model. Old habits die hard and although Monte Verde is more widely accepted, a vocal "Clovis First" [|crowd]still exists. The link is a response to the article which attacked Monte Verde. The article that the link is a response to, could not defame Monte Verde on the facts, so it attacked the excavation and re-excavation of the site. Such pettiness has been the hallmark of the Clovis first minority. When the Clovis were discovered they were thought to be ancestors of all native American peoples. For a large part of the last century any person who disputed the Clovis first model was considered an outcast. But now the roles have been reversed. Discovery of sites such as Cactus Hill, Virginia, Paisley Caves in Oregon, and the Topper site in South Carolina all predate the Clovis culture. Of all the sites that preempt the Clovis Monte Verde is arguably held in the highest regard.


 * Monte Verde**

Monte Verde is located in south central Chile. The area in which it is located is Sub-Antartic and the surrounding area becomes swampy in the summer. The adjacent swamps are quite old contain large amounts of peat. Peat is vegetable matter that has decayed. Usually formed from moss, it occur in areas where large amounts of decaying vegetation come into contact with water. Once peat is formed it decays quite slowly, so slowly in fact that he can act a preservative. Although this seems irrelevant, the substance known as peat is quite important to Monte Verde. At some time in the past [|peat] from the surrounding area was washed into the site. When the site was discovered several important items were found there. Things such a wild potatoes, Mastadon bones, digging sticks and special stones that are used for drilling call bolas were all found [|there.] The items proved several things. First the presence of the the Mastadon bones proved that the people who occupied the site when it was active were hunters, and furthermore the site itself could have been a spot where people came together to eat. The fact that wild potatoes were present also that they foraged for wild vegetation.It also strongly contradicts the ideas that were held about the earliest American people. The Clovis were mainly hunters and many of the sites that were discovered concerning them are places where game was [|prepared.]. It was presumed that all peoples of that era lived in a similar fashion. Monte Verde disproved this. The people present there fed heavily on vegetables. Such a discovery is another blow to the Clovis first argument. Several small smooth stones were also found. They stones could have likely been used for hunting or defense when thrown from a sling. Also found at Monte Verde was a human footprint. Which can be seen [|here.] The size of the footprint strongly suggests that it was left by a child. If children were present there then it is possible that the site was permanent settlement or at very lease an often used camp site. No such sites with "Domestic" artifacts were from the Clovis.

The people who occupied Monte Verde completely contradict the ideas of the Clovis. As seen in this [|article.] Several types of seaweed were found at Monte Verde which the article rightly implies means that the people there combed the beach for food to supplement their diet. The Clovis first theory stated that people of that time Subsisted purely on hunting large game. Such a discovery is a another shock to the Clovis first theory.



The large amounts of plants that were found there were both land and marine species. Furthermore many seasonal types of plants and berries were present which further implies that the settlement was permanent or at least used several times throughout the year. As seen [|here] such discoveries further undermine the Clovis first theory.


 * Other Important Items discovered there include:**


 * **Wooden House Foundations**: The homes were composed of wood planks and logs and held together sharpened pieces of wood that were stuck in the ground. It is possible that the homes could have been temporary and transportable.
 * **Foreign Items**: Several items that were found at the site could not have been obtained for immediate area. These item include quartz and tar.
 * **Medicine**: 22 species of plants that could have been used a medicine.

Although it is difficult to say for certain, you could judge Monte Verde to be a permanent if you used the metric of the amount of items discovered there. This being the case, it would be the people who occupied the site very well could have been sedentary. According to the Clovis first model, all peoples who lived in the Americas during such a time would have been semi-nomadic hunters. Why then does the evidence at Monte Verde suggest something else completely? It paints a different picture because the Clovis argument was flawed from the start. The people who made the argument were not lying, they simply did not have the all the relevant information to make a proper argument over who conquered the Americas. With the discovery and confirmation of Monte Verde, their should be no argument anymore. In my opinion the flaws in the Clovis first theory are a result of a general lack of knowledge of the Clovis as a people.


 * Crushing the Clovis First Crowd**

Upon the discovery and dating of Monte Verde and the materials found there, a large vocal crowd of dissenters appeared. (Think 9/11 truther only with a phd) The "Clovis First" crowd attacked the methods off excavation and collecting and storing of data of the original series of excavations. A summary of the Clovis first view can be seen [|here.] In that article you will see a summary of the Clovis first argument. Here is a quote from the aforementioned article "At present, however, there is no definitive evidence that any humans lived in the Plateaus and Canyonlands prior to Clovis peoples." Such a statement is a flat out lie and a complete deception. This article did not even seek to disprove Monte Verde, instead it completely ignores it! The few scholars that doubted the age Monte Verde were silenced when Dr. Tom Dellehay led a team of scientists to the [|site.] Many of the remaining doubters inspected the Doctors work and came away convinced.




 * Conclusion: Why It Matters.**

How important is it for us to understand how the Americas were populated? The answer is simple: very important. Take for example the Clovis first model. It is said that the Clovis crossed the Berring land bridge during a time of low water levels. Low water levels imply that a colder time period, when more water was locked away in polar ice caps. Well if the occupiers of Monte Verde came over at least 1,000 years earlier, what does that say about the climate at the time. A logical assertion would be that the climate was colder for a longer a period of time and the Clovis could have crossed the bridge at the same time had they choosen to. This raises a question, why didnt the Clovis cross earlier? Were they otherwise occupied in Asia? Or pehaps that question is incorrect as well. Maybe we should ask if the people who lived at Monte Verde came to the Americas on land at all? It seems so completely extreme but could they have come on boats? It is important for us to know how the Americas were populated because knowing the circumstances of how people came to live here paints a picture of how our part of the earth was at that time. From this snapshot of the earth we can glean clues about human adaptation and we can also glean more questions. As we seek to answer these questions we gain more knowledge our planet. It is also important for us to take note of how the Clovis first was formed to begin with. As I stated earlier very little is actually know about the Clovis, the main remnants which we indentfy them by are the arrowheads that they left behind. We have little else in evidence. How then were these arrowheads used to paint a picture of people? Perhaps in the future, in order for us to greater understand human population of the Americas,we should wait to form theories about a people until we have enough evidence to a make a plausable arguement.

Bibliography 1. http://www.uky.edu/Projects/MonteVerde/ 2. http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/peatmoss.htm 3. http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1873/ 4. http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/mverde.html 5. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth210/monteverdefootprint.jpg 6. http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200819/931/Earliest-known-American-settlers-had-beachcomber-tradition 7. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/plateaus/prehistory/images/clovis.html 8. http://www.unl.edu/rhames/monte_verde/MonteVerde.htm

These are other works from our class which are relevant to my project:
 * For Your Consideration**

Warfare A project about warfare in many of the periods discussed in our class. Did the Citizens of Monte Verde engage in warfare? Several small smooth stones were found there. Perhaps they were for more than hunting? It is a possibility that the warfare that is described in this progress could have been by the occupiers of Monte Verde.