Did the first humans arrive in the Americas by sea, in southern Chile, and not across the Bering Straits?

Methods

Summary

The methodology that will be employed by this field research is a departure from the way most anthropologists and archaeologists approach dating settlement and migration.  Most dig for small artifacts, stone tools, fire pits, or animal bones with evidence of stone tooling for dismemberment.  In effect, most anthropologists are looking for trash.  The methodology we will employ will instead concentrate on what remains above the surface - extant structure, ruins of engineered structure(s) which have been left behind by past civilizations.

One of the hallmarks of architectural history is the knowledge that general shapes, massing, fenestration, and construction methods are often civilization specific; that each civilization, region, or culture carries with it its building traditions as it migrates and expands.  The Romans, for example, did not build structures in the local tradition when they reached the British Isles, they brought their architecture, their building techniques, and their structural traditions with them.

But there is science built into this artistry.  Mortar joints, where mortar has been used, were culled from natural resources.  We'll be looking for that evidence and, if possible, using traditional Radio-Carbon dating to date those materials.  We'll be looking for common engineering practices, materials use, and design - mathematics - endemic to a single cultural tradition.

We won't be concerning ourselves with the great monolithic blocks of precision cut stones found in South America, though I do have an idea how such precision work was undertaken without the use of hardened steel tools.  Instead, We are focusing on what we believe are the older structures, the ones built from manageable stone blocks and bricks, and the ones with the best chance to yield carbon material to date; the more pedestrian architecture.

We're also going to use some of the latest technology, to view the sites in different ways.  We're going to use aerial drones to capture visible images, the non-visible light spectrum, and LIDAR to not just look carefully at each terrestrial site for what can be seen, but for what can't be seen, as well.  Ivor Noël Hume's "Post Hole Theory" lends itself well to aerial analysis of the overall site.

Challenges

The greatest challenge will be in undertaking this methodology in a non-invasive manner.  We really don't want to displace a single brick to find what we're looking for.  Once compromised, the site loses its integrity, so it will take careful examination to find exactly what we need to find to date the structures.

Pre Analysis Plan

In order to remain non-invasive, we plan to photograph and film the structures in great detail.  I have studied each location in great detail, and believe I know how to approach each structural massing to arrive at obtaining the required material to accurately date.

In a nutshell, our approach with be primary, above ground, non-invasive archaeometric research.