The date of the first settlement of the Americas remains a contentious subject. Previous claims for very early occupation at Pedra Furada in Brazil were not universally accepted (see Meltzeret al.1994). New work at the rockshelter of Boqueirão da Pedra Furada and at the nearby open-air site of Vale da Pedra Furada have however produced new evidence for human occupation extending back more than 20 000 years. The argument is supported by a series of14C and OSL dates, and by technical analysis of the stone tool assemblage. The authors conclude that the currently accepted narrative of human settlement in South America will have to be re-thought. The article is followed by a series of comments, rounded off by a reply from the authors.

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The archaeological evidence of the Pedra Furada rock-shelter (northeastern Brazil), showing a long sequence of dated layers from 50,000 years b.p., was questioned in a paper presented by Meltzer, Adovasio & Dillehay, who visited the region at the end of 1993, in volume 68 of ANTIQUITY (1994). This paper presents the reply of the team directly involved in the research programme in this key area of American prehistory.

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