Argument


 * It is my hypothesis that the first people to settle Monte Verde came from across the Pacific Ocean and not by either of the two present theories.**

 There are two main theories of how humans came to populate the Americas: They traveled by foot or they traveled by boat along the coast. The foot route would have been across the land bridge that connected the North American Continent with the Eurasian Continent during the last glacial maximum. According to Richard Cowen, “The most interesting effects were controlled by changes of sea level that occurred with every glacial advance and retreat. Each major glaciation dropped world sea level by 120 m or so (about 400 ft), exposing much more land area and joining land masses together. Each new melting episode reflooded lowlands to recreate islands” (Cowen 2005:300). Therefore, Beringia was dry land during the glacial maximum and remained dry until the ice caps retreated. An ice free corridor opened up at 14,000 BP as the two ice sheets of North America separated (Cowen 2005:300; Crabtree and Campana 2006:174). According to Professor Ron Wallace, “By 14,000 BP, it is believed that the corridor was created and by 13,000-12,000 BP it was habitable. There is no archaeological evidence of occupation of this area by humans. There would have been standing ice water in the corridor for centuries” (Wallace 2008: Cro-Magnon Culture lecture). The melting ice would have provided fresh water for the people but there would be no food for miles as the ground would have been flooded (Dillehay 2000:282). Consequently, migrating from Alaska to Chile on foot, within 500 years over 16,000 km while still stopping for food, seems highly unlikely. The coastal sea route migration would get the people around the ice sheets but some issues remain. The interaction of the ice with the ocean produces a dangerous environment, as calving of glaciers and sea ice, form a treacherous combination.

During the glacial maximum, weather patterns such as storm tracks and ocean currents did migrate to other locales and when the ice retreated, the climate adjusted albeit slowly (Cowen 2005:300). According to Jon Erlandson and Madonna Moss of the University of Oregon’s Anthropology Department, “In Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia, the Cordilleran ice sheet retreated rapidly after 14,000 BP, with a minor readvance between 11,500 and 11,000 BP. Deglaciation here was followed by lowered sea levels during the early Holocene, with isostatic rebound outstripping eustatic sea level rise” (Erlandson and Moss 1996:280). Along the Northwest Coast, the rich marine environment that exists today did not begin until about 9,000 BP due to weather patterns (Erlandson and Moss 1996:281). Therefore the adventurers would have had to have enough room in their boats for fresh water and food. When supplies were low, they would have to go ashore. This is easier said than done as “areas between the ice tongues would have been poor refuges in which to seek food and shelter, separated by heavily crevassed glaciers bordered by steep ridges with harsh climates generated by the nearby ice sheet” (Dillehay and Meltzer 1999:61). Did they travel at night? How far down the coast would they travel? It seems unlikely that they would travel the entire 16,000 km by boat as they would pass many habitable locations. It is quite possible that they found a placed, stayed there a while, and then migrated further south. Though, heading east across the landscape would provide many different opportunities. Many of these possibilities have an answer but they are lost to time. The important aspect of the boat travel is that these explorers were familiar with the skills that are required with nautical travel. They would have had them when they left their homeland. Therefore, it is logical to deduct that people that lived around the Pacific Rim have this knowledge.



Verification of this nautical migration is limited as Thomas Dillehay states, “Although there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of boats in the late Pleistocene period, the presence of people in southern Australia by at least 40,000 years ago clearly suggests that people somewhere in Southeast Asia must have invented some sort of watercraft. Recent archaeological evidence from outer Micronesia also indicates people were there by 30,000 B.P. This presence requires a boat capable of sailing at least 400 kilometers of open sea” (Dillehay 2000: 65-66). In regards to Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, Professor Brian Fagan states, “All these data point to a rapid spread of late Ice Age foragers through Sahul by at least 40,000 years ago, using some form of quite effective watercraft” (Fagan 2008:104). It is quite apparent that humans migrated to the islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean by boat. Where is the evidence? It could be beneath the sea as the sea levels rose. Underwater archaeology may be able to discover them in future endeavors. How far would these early explorers travel? Professor Patrick Kirch stated, “Herein lies one of the most exciting and intriguing aspects of pacific prehistory: //that we are likely dealing with the earliest purposive voyaging in the history of humankind”// (Kirch 2000:67). Traveling over open ocean requires cleverness as Dillehay states, “Exploration is a complex skill. As psychologists have shown, it is entirely mental and perceptual, requiring no instruments of any kind” (Dillehay 2000:263). These pioneers of the ocean continued to travel eastward across the Pacific, populating the various islands of the south pacific. The question is, could they have eventually reached the South American coast? I believe the answer to that is yes. To construct this hypothesis, an examination of the several conditions is needed.

Evidence