Hot take: The Clovis First theory is still being taught wrong in universities

I work at a dig site in New Mexico and every year we get interns who were taught Clovis people were the first Americans 13,000 years ago. But we have evidence from Monte Verde in Chile pushing that back to 14,500 years, plus those footprints in White Sands dated to 23,000 years. Why are intro archaeology classes still using textbooks that ignore this stuff? I think profs are stuck on old narratives because it's simpler. Which side do you buy into - the old Clovis timeline or the newer pre-Clovis evidence?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilykelly3d ago

Read that Monte Verde study too. Old textbooks need serious updating.

johnson.jason3d ago

Old textbooks need serious updating" is like saying the Titanic had a minor plumbing issue. My high school history book had us hunting woolly mammoths until like 1992, I swear.

taylor.amy1d agoTop Commenter

My buddy's kid asked what a floppy disk was and his teacher said it was a save icon for ancient texts.