Table of Contents
Stefan Milo, with North02 beside him, argues that the hard question at Pedra Furada is not the dates but whether people made the early objects. The rock art, he says, falls in roughly the last 12000 years. Charcoal has been put near 47000 years ago, and supporters read circled stones as campfires. Critics, as he presents them, say the rings are loose, the charcoal may be wildfire blown under the shelter, and dirt builds so slowly that neighboring stones can be centuries apart. Flakes look worked, yet capuchin monkeys there bash rocks and leave pieces that refit. Cobbles can tumble down erosion channels, so nothing clearly had to be carried in. A glyptodon near Buenos Aires, placed around 21000 years ago, bears scratches called butchery. He calls a lookalike scratch weak proof, though it looks human to him. Tracks at White Sands and other finds near 20000 years make the lack of obvious tools at the Brazilian shelter harder to ignore. Ambiguity, he says, calls for more tests, not a final yes or a decision to walk away.
Key points
- The paintings are placed in the last 12000 years, so they do not settle the fight over a much older occupation.
- Charcoal in loose stone rings may be wildfire debris, and slow soil buildup can separate neighboring rocks by centuries.
- Simple flakes resemble pieces capuchin monkeys make when they bash rocks, and cobbles can fall from the cliff.
- He remains skeptical of a human workshop at the early levels because supporting evidence is thin.
- A glyptodon dated near 21000 years shows marks that may be butchery, but he calls lookalike proof weak.
- White Sands and similar early sites sharpen the puzzle of why clear tools are missing at the Brazilian shelter.
Short quotes
At the time there was a big debate as to whether any site in the Americas was older than 13,000 years ago.
Stefan Milo, Skepticism on Brazil's oldest site
He recalls the old fight over whether any American site could predate a roughly 13000 year mark. Watch at 2:19
The critics argue that rocks that are right next to each other could be separated by centuries.
Stefan Milo, Skepticism on Brazil's oldest site
Skeptics say stones lying side by side need not belong to one and the same fire. Watch at 4:36
There are actually two shoots that lead down to the bottom of it that were almost certainly caused by water erosion.
Stefan Milo, Skepticism on Brazil's oldest site
He points to erosion paths that could drop stones from the cliff above the shelter. Watch at 8:29
Humans seemingly were walking along the shores of an ancient lake 20 plus thousand years ago.
Stefan Milo, Skepticism on Brazil's oldest site
He brings in lakeshore tracks in the American Southwest dated past twenty thousand years. Watch at 14:32
Video by Stefan Milo. Watch on YouTube.