Before the 1990s, the Clovis First theory dominated—archaeologists said people only arrived ~13,000 years ago. The 1997 Monteverde site visit in Chile changed everything, showing people were already here before Clovis points and before ice sheets blocked Beringia.
Key facts:
- Prior to the 1970s-90s, the prevailing scientific position held that first humans arrived in the Americas about 13,000 years ago using Clovis points
- Archaeologists in the 1940s who suggested earlier arrival faced professional ostracization
- The 'Clovis mafia' or 'Clovis police' labeled colleagues who challenged the paradigm
- The 1997 meeting at Monteverde, Chile changed the consensus and accepted pre-Clovis arrival
- The consensus shifted when timeline evidence showed people arrived before the ice sheets separated in Beringia