Oldest Civilzation Discovered: Hueyatlaco Archaeological Site and the "Extreme Dating Controversy"

The following is an Article Originally from:

Early Sites Research Society, Newsletter Volume 1; No 1, by Neil Steede  

 

The Hueyatlaco Archaeological Site has found remains of human habitation at about between 250,000 to 350,000 years ago.

Many things are happening with this site, which have not been reported in other magazines such as "the Ancient American." We would like to report some of these events to our readers at this time. Hueyatlaco was excavated at first by an archaeologist by the name of Cynthia Irwin-Williams.
 

Williams found that she had a very early occupational site. She found some crude stone tools and also found many animal bones from which meat had been butchered.  The animal bones consisted of such things as the wooly rhinoceros and other pre-glacial fauna. She realized, having such an early site, that she must get laboratory dating done on the site, and requested that to be done by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The U.S. Geological Survey sent down a three member team who dated the site and found the range of very ancient dates mentioned above. Much of their controversy has been reported by Geologist Virginia Steen-McIntyre.

We consider Virginia to be a very good friend of ours, and have helped channel some of the financing that she needed to complete her work more recently. We will not attempt here to cover ground which she has already covered in her articles. What we do wish to relate to our readers in this article are the steps that we took in parts of the investigation of this enigma.

Shortly after the excavation of the Hueyatlaco site, and shortly after the dating of the site was made public, the Mexican Government came to be directly involved. The head of the Archaeological Department of the Mexican Government was very upset at these very ancient dates at this site. 

It is also believed by us that he did not like the fact that Americans were finding this site, nor did he like that the Americans involved were women. Whatever his motive, he had the Mexican army go and close the site down, and confiscate all of the artifacts and related materials. 

The man who was in charge of this was a very powerful man in the Mexican archaeological community, and no one would confront him directly with these misdeeds. About three years ago, this gentleman passed on to that "big dig in the sky where all archaeologists go."

When that happened, it was once again a subject that could be talked about in the archaeological world. We began doing interviews with different people that were related to the site or to the area at that time, We found archaeologists who now are very famous, but who were students then.

One of them related to us the story that the head Mexican archaeologist had come to him and told him that since his site, that he was excavating, was several hundred feet up the mountain from the site at which these people were excavating, that he should claim that he had found some more artifacts at his site, and that artifacts from his site probably had washed down to their level in ancient times.

He also told us that, in fact, this was not true. He had not found any artifacts. In fact, he had found no artifacts whatsoever, and had a barren dig at the site.

After the death, some thirty years later, of the "head honcho" of Mexican archaeology, this now-famous archaeologist published a paper simply claiming that he had found nothing.

To him, that was very important, from the standpoint that he could report honestly for the first time in three decades what he had really found. He was well aware that the head Mexican archaeologist was trying to destroy the validity of the site.

For the sake of continuity, we will give this head Mexican archaeologist the name of "Dagwood." "Dagwood" had an immense amount of power. He controlled all archaeology executed within the Mexican borders. He was a very opinionated man, and was a man whom very few people liked.

"Dagwood" not only controlled what archaeology and what sites were excavated, but also controlled what was published about them. It is obvious the amount of power he had, since he could muster up the Mexican army to carry out his purposes.

The young archaeologist, located farther up the mountain that we have referred to, we will call "Rusty." "Rusty" was very intimidated by "Dagwood." He knew that his whole future lay within "Dagwood's" grasp, and he would be crushed if he did not do "Dagwood's" bidding.

Therefore, "Rusty" decided simply not to write a report on his site. Only thirty years later, after "Rusty" had become a well-known and respected Mexican archaeologist, and after "Dagwood" had passed away, did Rusty, feel comfortable enough to publish on the excavation he had done hundreds of feet above the Hueyatlaco site.

His report simply says he found "barren ground." All of this is important to understand to what point "Dagwood" would go to control what was said about the site of Hueyatlaco. Once "Dagwood" had stopped the excavations at the Hueyatlaco site, he realized that he was not finished. He realized that he had to control more information and more knowledge. Other people had found similar things to this site. Those collections lay in private hands, and under the control of the University of Puebla.

Therefore, he sent the Mexican army to seize those collections, also; and they also disappeared. "Dagwood" never gave his permission to reopen the site, though there were several requests.

Even after "Dagwood" retired, he had named "puppets" to take his place which would follow his bidding and follow his orders not to allow the site to be opened. Time passed. An immense amount of people who had never heard that any of this had happened, continued their daily lives. The few who had been scarred, "licked their wounds and went to their corners."

One last step "Dagwood must take to fulfill his plan:

 
There was still the problem of the U.S. Geological Survey team's date. That date placed the site of Hueyatlaco at 250,000 to 350,000 years ago, as previously mentioned. 

He must get that date changed. He went to the United States Ambassador and told him in no uncertain terms, that no more Americans would be allowed to excavate in Mexico, unless that date were changed. In fact, he would try to make all relations with the United States extremely difficult. 

The Ambassador reported this to the Secretary of State of the United States, who "leaned upon" the U.S. Geological Survey to change their dates. The U.S. Geological Survey went back to their team and told the members that the date was going to be changed. They were going to take away one zero, thus making the date "35,000" years ago.

This still would be an incredible date, it was claimed, and still would be the oldest date known, they claimed. But one member of the team would have nothing to do with it. The other members reluctantly agreed, knowing that their jobs were "on the line."

One single member stood her ground. Her name was Virginia Steen-McIntyre. Virginia would go on to carry the torch for years, trying to force the truth to come out. If not for her, very possibly all of this would have been lost in the "brambles" of history.

At that time, I was a student in Mexico. I heard in class of the Mexican army's coming and containing the artifacts. I heard how the excavation had been forced to shut down. However, I was guilty, along with many others, of laughing at the story of the "foolish archaeologists" who were finding the dates of early man at hundreds of thousands of years ago in the Americas.

"We simply know it could not be." So I was guilty of lack of judgment at the time, and later I felt guilty about this. However, there was nothing I could do till years later.

By a very happy circumstance, I was brought to meet Virginia Steen-McIntyre. And I had long ago decided that whether I believed her or not, that was irrelevant; the point was, at least she was standing her ground and saying, and practicing something she believed.

When I met her, of course, I asked her many things about the excavation, now some thirty years old--I asked her for clues that I might be able to pick up, and she was very giving with her information.

I decided to re-open the case. You see, during that thirty year lapse, several people had found similar finds in the Americas. One of those people was Dr. Leakey. He had found a very similar ancient site in California called "Calico." So the feasibility of what Virginia was claiming seemed to be true.

First, we must find out if the artifacts still existed. Through a friend, I contracted a "mole." This " mole" worked for the National Institute of Anthropology in the warehouses where all the artifacts from all excavations were kept. And we had him look, and he found the artifacts from Hueyatlaco.

For, you see, "Dagwood" had been so egotistical that he did not think he would have to destroy them. Upon finding the artifacts and examining them, we determined that, in fact, they were authentic. Then, we went to the site and looked at the strata. The strata (the layerings of soil and rock) were all in order. The site did, in fact, seem to be very old, and very ancient.

Could, in fact, man have arrived to the Americas 200,000 years ago? Only time will tell as we develop this site. We are hoping that we resolve this question one way or another within the next year. We will keep our readers informed as this project develops. Whichever side you are for in this controversy, we ask that you "keep your fingers crossed" that everything occur with integrity.

Source: http://www.s8int.com/hueyatlaco.html
Originally Published: Early Sites Research Society, Newsletter Volume 1; No 1, by Neil Steede