Also discovered at Monte Verde II was a hut with a wish-bone shaped foundation, that researchers are interpreting as a medicinal hut. Within the hut was discovered preserved fragments of seaweed leaves, including nine species of plants that the residents would have harvested within the rocky coastlines and intertidal pools located nearby, on the Pacific coast or within the Seno de Reloncavi estuary.
Seaweed has also been identified on the edges of stone tools discovered at Monte Verde II, including microparticles of Gigartina species on a worked edge. A plug of seaweed, possibly chewed, was also recovered. These evidence processing the seaweed for consumption or other use.
Based on the variety of species in evidence at Monte Verde II, the seaweeds were collected from early spring to early fall at various coastal locations. Two of the nine species of seaweed are non-edible and would have been used for medicinal purposes only.
In addition to seaweeds, plants discovered at the Monte Verde II site have included those native to distant regions, including inland wetlands, river bottoms, forests, and the foothills of the Andes. Two of the medicinal plants were collected from the Patagonian plains, in present-day Argentina. The presence of these plants reveals the Monte Verdeans had a broad understanding of available regional resources, typical of most hunter-gatherer groups. That understanding may be an indication of an extensive exchange system, or simply the familiarity of long-term settlement.
Sources and Further Information
From Whence Came those Aboriginals of America?, the discovery of Monte Verde
Hunter-gatherers
Dillehay, Tom D., et al. 2008 Monte Verde: Seaweed, Food, Medicine, and the Peopling of South America. Science 320:784-786.
