Definition: The site of Taima-Taima is located within deeply buried, stratified beach sand deposits in northern Venezuela, and consists of lithic tools (including paleoindian-era El Jobo points) in contact with a mastodon skeleton.
The site was first excavated by Jose Cruxent in the 1960s and again by Ruth Gruhn, and Allan Bryan in the 1970s. The site has been dated between 13,000-12,000 years old. The age alone make the site controversial; however the site is quite well documented, and there is a recent book by Claudio Ochsenius and Ruth Gruhn which apparently substantiates the original dating (I haven't seen the book).
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
The site was first excavated by Jose Cruxent in the 1960s and again by Ruth Gruhn, and Allan Bryan in the 1970s. The site has been dated between 13,000-12,000 years old. The age alone make the site controversial; however the site is quite well documented, and there is a recent book by Claudio Ochsenius and Ruth Gruhn which apparently substantiates the original dating (I haven't seen the book).
Source
Dillehay, Tom. 1996. Settlement of the Americas before 12,500 BC. pp 23-24 in Brian Fagan (ed). 1996. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
