New findings by archaeologist Tom Dillehay at the Chilean site he initially made famous in the 1970s with evidence linked to early humans will, if confirmed, "shake up both the archaeology and genomics of the peopling of the Americas,” says UO archaeologist Jon Erlandson.

Erlandson is the first scientist quoted in a story posted online, "Oldest stone tools in the Americas claimed in Chile," by the journal Science. The article cites Dillehay's newest discoveries, which could push back the timetable for the peopling of the Americas by 4,000 years, and provides early reaction from researchers not affiliated with the site at Monte Verde, Chile.

Erlandson, a Phillip H. Knight Professor at the UO and executive director of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, like Dillehay is among a growing number of archaeologists whose research continues to point to human presence that pre-dates Clovis culture.