NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Vanderbilt anthropologist Tom Dillehay has spent the past 30 years uncovering the ancient history of Chile and other South American countries, in the process changing our understanding of how and when humans first came to the Americas. His contributions to Chilean culture were recognized this fall by Chile’s President Ricardo Lagos with an announcement that his work will be used to symbolize Chile’s Sello Bicentenario, or bicentennial, which the nation will celebrate in 2010.
“I am truly honored by this recognition,” Dillehay, distinguished professor of anthropology and chair of the department, said. “Very few countries would put forth a foreigner and his or her research as part of their bicentennial.”
Dillehay’s excavations at the Monte Verde site in the south-central Chile found that humans first reached southern Chile over 12,500 years ago, representing the earliest evidence of their presence in the Americas. The Monte Verde site is a Chilean national monument and has been nominated as a World Heritage Site to the United Nations.
The Chilean government, in partnership with French President Jacques Chirac and U.S. Ambassador to Chile Craig Kelly, has begun plans to construct a museum at Monte Verde featuring Dillehay’s research. The group expects to break ground on the museum site in 2006.
“Dr. Dillehay’s research is of interest not only to the United States and Chile, but to the entire world,” Judith Raine Baroody, counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, said. “There are many types of diplomacy… the study of anthropology and archaeology may be considered a type of diplomacy in itself, demonstrating the commonality of our origins and history. Dr. Dillehay, in that sense, is a cultural ambassador, and we appreciate his dedicated and creative scholarship.”
Media contact: Melanie Moran, (615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu