Surovell paper challenges Monteverde dating using volcanic lens evidence. Todd Surovell of the University of Wyoming published a geomorphological study arguing a volcanic lens beneath the Monteverde site dates to approximately 11,000 years ago. Surovell's argument contends the landform the site sits on is approximately 8,000 years old, making older-than-Clovis occupation stratigraphically impossible. Surovell did not take geological cores at the primary Monteverde 2 site, instead sampling at other points along the surrounding ravine.
Todd Surovell (University of Wyoming) argues in Science that a volcanic lens beneath Monte Verde dates to ~11,000 years old, making the landform only ~8,000 years old. If correct, pre-Clovis occupation is stratigraphically impossible. He also doubts the site's artifacts and hearths are anthropogenic. Proposed fix: new cores directly at Monte Verde 2.
Key Facts
- Todd Surovell of the University of Wyoming published a geomorphological study arguing a volcanic lens beneath the Monteverde site dates to approximately 11,000 years ago.
- Surovell's argument contends the landform the site sits on is approximately 8,000 years old, making older-than-Clovis occupation stratigraphically impossible.
- Surovell did not take geological cores at the primary Monteverde 2 site, instead sampling at other points along the surrounding ravine.
- Surovell questions whether the artifacts and hearths are anthropogenic.
- The proposed resolution is to take new geological cores directly at Monteverde 2 and conduct comparative stratigraphic analysis with Surovell's samples from up the ravine.
- Surovell's paper was published in Science.
Related site: Monteverde — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: A Catastrophe Killed the Ice Age Giants by The Cosmic Summit