Monte Verde
Archaeological site in south-central Chile, which is suspected to date 12,500 years before present, making it one of the earliest inhabited sites in the Americas.
The site was discovered in late 1975 when a veterinary student visited the area of Monte Verde and found a strange "cow bone" that showed to be from a mastodont. Mario Pino, a Chilean geologist and Tom Dillehay both teachers of Universidad Austral de Chile at the time started excavating Monte Verde in 1977. The site is situated on the banks of Chinchihuapi Creek, a tributary of the Maullín River located 36 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
One of the rare open-air prehistoric sites found so far in the Americas, Monte Verde was preserved as the waters of the Creek rose a short time after the site was occupied and the peat-filled bog that resulted inhibited the bacterial decay of organic material and preserved many perishable artifacts and other items for millennia.
On Monte Verde: Fiedel's Confusions and Misrepresentations
UNESCO
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Selk'nam
Selk'nam, also known as the Ona lived in the Tierra del Fuego islands, in southern Chile and Argentina. They're one of the last aboriginal groups in South America to be reached by Westerners, in the late 19th century, when the Chilean and Argentine governments began efforts to explore and integrate Tierra del Fuego (literally, the "land of fire" based on early European explorers observing Selk'nam smoke from their bonfires).
The Selk'nam were nomadic people and survived by hunting. They dressed sparingly, a remarkable feat given the cold climate of Patagonia.
Westerners killed most of the local animals which were the food source for the Selk'nam and used a great part of the land of Tierra del Fuego to establish large sheep ranches. Selk'nam, who lacked an understanding of sheep herds as private property, hunted sheep, behavior which was perceived as banditry by ranch owners. Ranchers supported armed groups to hunt down and kill the Selk'nam. To receive their bounty, such groups first had to return with the ears of the victims. After some ear-less Selk'nam were seen to be wandering the grounds the process was changed to exchanging a complete head for bounty.
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