Andean Pioneers Were Up Early
Early South Americans moved high into the Andes, soon after arriving on the continent. The remains of the oldest settlement in the high mountains of the Andes has been discovered and investigated by a team, including Dr. Sonia Zarrillo, an archeologist and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Calgary. The site they found is at an altitude of 4500 meters - where cold and altitude make activity a challenge - and was occupied 12,400 years ago - not very long after the first humans arrived in South America. The site is on a plateau which would have had a healthy population of llamas and other animals, and was also near a valuable source of obsidian for tools. Both of these would have attracted early peoples to the site, despite the difficulties of making a living at altitude.
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