Virginia Steen-McIntyre's Story: Paradigm Battle Over Peopling of America

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Virginia Steen-McIntyre's research on volcanic ash layers dating back 260,000 years has sparked significant debate regarding the peopling of America, challenging established timelines associated with Clovis culture. Her findings, published after a 15-year struggle, suggest that paleo-Indian stone tools may be much older than previously believed. However, some experts express skepticism, proposing that sedimentary processes could explain the apparent age discrepancies, indicating that the tools might not be as ancient as suggested. The discussion highlights the complexities of stratigraphy and the difficulties in interpreting geological evidence. Ultimately, the conversation reflects the ongoing tension between emerging scientific anomalies and established paradigms in archaeology.
Andre
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The Earth science battlefields are as fierce as any other. One highly contested paradigm is the peopling of America. And quite unwillingly, a major feature in that battle is poor innocent Virginia Steen-McIntyre, who was so unfortunate to date volcanic ash layers that covered some paleo indian stone tools to an ago of some 260,000 years

That story is http://disputatio.com/articles/006-1.pdf and it took 15 years of ardent battling to get those results published in:

Steen-McIntyre, Virginia; Fryxell, Roald; Malde, Harold E (Jul 1981) Geologic evidence for age of deposits at Hueyatlaco archeological site, Valsequillo, Mexico . Quaternary Research, vol. 16, no.1, pp.1-15

As everything bound to get on the net eventually, this paper is now available too, at least the first ten pages:

http://www.valsequilloclassic.net/VSM/quaternary_research/quaternary_research_1981.pdf

But much more on her website here:

http://www.valsequilloclassic.net/VSM/index.htm

I love those little anomalies, challenging mainstream science and 260,000 old Clovis type flute points (normally 12-11,000 years old) is outrageous. However, looking at (studying) the pictures and reading the story, I'm not so sure anymore if there could be a simple down to Earth explanation. That mud mixed with the tephra layer is suspicious Those tools may not be older than 260,000 years at all. They may in fact have any age.
 
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Quick look at the stratigraphy --- too many possible interpretations to call it an "anomaly" --- more along the lines of "Gee, it's the second half of the 20th century, and we're trained geologists, paleontologists, and can untangle any stratigraphic puzzle" vs. the hard reality of messy sedimentary processes.
 
Right. I was thinking of (recent) mud flows which do happen sometimes in hilly areas like that which could have mixed the tephra with mud as narrated, covering much younger strata.

But really, if true then it's again

The great tragedy of science, the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis with an ugly fact. Thomas Huxley
 
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