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Monte Verde, Chile: A Comment on Lynch

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Tom D. Dillehay  and
Michael B. Collins
Tom D. Dillehay
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
Michael B. Collins
Affiliation:
Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, Balcones Research Center Bldg. 5, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712
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Abstract

A recent review by Lynch of late Pleistocene sites in South America is impaired by numerous errors and misrepresentations. Although Lynch omits several important sites and often selectively uses data to support his own position, this comment addresses his review of the Monte Verde site in Chile. Although Lynch has not visited Monte Verde and has inspected few artifacts from the site, he questions the Pleistocene association of artifacts and the “hand of humans” in the site. Lynch’s interpretations are refuted on the grounds that he is unfamiliar with the site, that he reviewed obsolete publications, and that he often misrepresented material in these publications. The archaeological evidence for late Pleistocene human activity at Monte Verde is reviewed in terms of the site stratigraphy, chronology, and artifacts.

Résumé

Résumé

La reciente revisión de los sitios del Pleistoceno tardío en Sud América, escrita por Lynch, está sembrada errores y malentendidos. Aunque Lynch omite varios sitios importantes y con frecuencia opta por discutir selectivamente datos que apoyan su posición, esta réplica apunta solamente a su revisión del sitio Monte Verde en Chile. Lynch, quien nunca ha visitado Monte Verde y ha examinado muy pocos datos del sitio, pone en duda el contexto y las asociaciones pleistocénicas de los artefactos, así como la presencia humana en el sitio. Las interpretaciones de Lynch son refutadas en base a que él no está familiarizado con los datos del sitio, él revisó publicaciones obsoletas y a menudo distorsionó el material presentado en estas publicaciones. Aqui se revisa la evidencia arqueológica de actividad humana del Pleistoceno tardio en Monte Verde en términos de la estratigrafia, cronología, y artefactos del sitio.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 333 - 341
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1991

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