Led by University of Wyoming archaeologist Todd Surovell, alongside collaborators from Chile, Austria, and the U.S. Geological Survey, the research team reexamined the famous Monte Verde site. Their findings indicate that the site dates between 4,200 and 8,200 years old, a stark contrast to the 14,500-year age established by studies from the 1970s through the 1990s. This revelation has the potential to reshape our understanding of human migration into South America.
A Paradigm-Shifting Reexamination
For decades, the prevailing theory held that hunter-gatherers crossed from Asia into North America via the Beringia land bridge, eventually moving south through an ice-free corridor. The validation of Monte Verde by outside experts in 1997 fundamentally changed this narrative, pushing back the timeline of human arrival and suggesting a rapid coastal migration route to explain such an early presence so far south.
"Because of a validation of the Monte Verde site by outside experts 29 years ago, our understanding of the date of human arrival to the Americas was fundamentally changed," Surovell explained.
"We now correct the record and show that the site is much younger than initially believed. With colonization of the Americas no longer anchored by Monte Verde, our revised chronology supports a more recent date of human arrival to the Americas" (University of Wyoming, 2026).
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Overhead view of the Monte Verde archaeological site in Chile. (Todd Surovell/Science)
Uncovering the Geological Truth
The new investigation, the first independent study of the site in nearly 50 years, focused on the alluvial deposits along Chinchihuapi Creek, where Monte Verde is located. The team analyzed and dated nine different sediment exposures along the creek banks. Their results suggest that the older dates previously reported were likely the result of erosion and "redeposition," where ancient Ice Age wood was moved into younger archaeological layers.
Radiocarbon dating of this ancient wood produced ages older than the actual human activity, misleading earlier researchers. The team also identified an 11,000-year-old volcanic ash layer - known as the Lepúe Tephra - beneath the archaeological material. If humans had been present 14,500 years ago, this ash layer should lie above the occupation level, but it does not (Surovell, T. A., et al., 2026).
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This basalt wedge is one of the artifacts found at the Monte Verde site in Chile, whose dating is now under scrutiny. (T. Dillehay, 2015/PLoS ONE)
Implications for Human Migration
The implications of this redating are profound. According to the researchers, the surface where the Monte Verde artifacts were found did not even exist 14,500 years ago, likely forming sometime after 8,600 years ago. This finding significantly weakens the case for Monte Verde as key evidence supporting an early coastal migration route into South America. As archaeologist Ted Goebel of the University of Kansas, who was not involved in the study, told National Geographic:
"Suddenly, the iconic site that transformed our thinking about when and how the first people came to the Americas is being disputed with what seems like very convincing evidence."
While these findings do not completely rule out the possibility of earlier dates of initial entry to the Americas, they do breathe new life into the hypothesis of an initial interior migration into continental North America. In a Perspective piece published alongside the study, archaeologist Jason Rech wrote: "Although Monte Verde grounded chronologies for early colonization of the Americas for decades, the landscape is different now, with more sites that appear to be older than the Clovis culture. Yet as Surovell et al. conclude, their findings highlight the need for independent verification of old archaeological sites." As researchers continue to scrutinize other early sites in the Americas, the debate over when and how the first humans arrived is sure to intensify.
Top image: Monte Verde archaeological site and Chinchihuapi Creek in Chile. Source: Geología Valdivia/CC BY 2.0
By Gary Manners
References
Rech, J. 2026. A later debut for humans. Science. Available at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aef9954
Surovell, T. A., Méndez, C., García, J-L., Lüthgens, C., Thompson, J. M. and Latorre, C. 2026. A mid-Holocene age for Monte Verde challenges the timeline of human colonization of South America. Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Available at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw9217
University of Wyoming. 2026. Did We Get It Wrong? New Study Challenges Timeline of First Americans. SciTechDaily. Available at: https://scitechdaily.com/did-we-get-it-wrong-new-study-challenges-timeline-of-first-americans/
Wade, L. 2026. When did humans arrive in the Americas? A new study reignites the debate. National Geographic. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/monte-verde-redated
