Monte Verde dating dispute escalates as 30 experts challenge new 8,200-year claim
Thirty researchers published three Science eLetters criticizing a March study that argued Monte Verde II in Chile is only about 8,200 years old, contending the paper rests on flawed geology and stratigraphy; they cite integrated archaeobotanical, geochemical, chronostratigraphic, and genetic data that support MV-II as a late Pleistocene site around 14,500 years old, argue that redeposited materials could skew dates, and note that a formal response is forthcoming while genetic evidence remains consistent with the older date.
