1997 Monteverde meeting changed Clovis First consensus. Prior to the 1970s-90s, the prevailing scientific position held that first humans arrived in the Americas about 3,000 years ago using Folsom points Archaeologists in the 1940s who suggested earlier arrival faced professional ostracization The 'Clovis mafia' or 'Clovis police' labeled colleagues who challenged the paradigm
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
Key Facts
- Prior to the 1970s-90s, the prevailing scientific position held that first humans arrived in the Americas about 3,000 years ago using Folsom 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
Related site: Monteverde — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: Who Were the First Americans & Where Did They Come From? by DeDunking