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Encounters with the Maverick Archaeologist of the Americas

It took a mountain of data to shake off the skeptics and rewrite the history of human migrations, but archaeologist Tom Dillehay was always interested in so much more than an argument.

The overkill was Dillehay’s response to the Clovis war, he says, as though he was snapping at the critics, “You want data?” And now, years later, with Monte Verde almost completely unquestioned and his own reputation sterling, he says he’s satisfied that his work “made its mark.” But the harsh attacks must have been painful for a young scientist with a vulnerable career, and maybe that effect accounts for his complicated persona. The more interesting things were, in general, what he calls “the archaeology of complex societies,” that is, artifacts of the process of foragers like the Monte Verdeans who later settled into one place, producing food and tools, making communities, and eventually creating political states. These days, the Mapuche’s integrity as a confederation faces the Chilean government’s long-standing attempts to assimilate them—principally by not recognizing them as an Indigenous community with a language, cultural practices, and an ancient history—and the Christian evangelical mission’s efforts to replace their religion.

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