Do the winds from the Far North blow as far as the Tropics? A response to Y. A. Gomez Coutouly, 2021

摘要

In a recent article published in the Bulletin de la Societe prehistorique francaise (2021, 118-2), Yan Axel Gomez Coutouly presents a critical rereading of part of the publications on Pleistocene sites in America prior to 20,000 years ago. He mainly focuses on the region known as Serra da Capivara, in northeastern Brazil. From the data at his disposal, he concludes that there is no anthropogenic evidence demonstrating such ancient human occupations. This response is not intended to discuss Y.A.G. Coutouly's views and thus expand a literature that is already very prolific on the controversies relating to the origins of the first Americans. Its ambition is to point out numerous inaccuracies or errors encountered throughout the text. I retained four points of discussion: the toponymic confusions and their consequences, the overinterpretation of the results of ethological studies on the capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) of the region, the flaws in the graphic representations presented in this article and the omissions and errors in description of archaeological sites. While restoring to readers a vision closer to the reality of the data available on the archaeological sites of the Serra da Capivara, I highlight the existence of bias in Y.A.G. Coutouly's reasoning, in contradiction with the objective scientific approach he claims.