May 4, 2005
Contact: Nora Buffett
Cal Poly Social Sciences
(805) 756-2752
Archaeologist To Debunk Beliefs About North America’s
Original Settlers
In May 18 Talk at Cal Poly
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Archaeologist Mark Raab will present “The Peopling of North America -- Ice Age Mariners and Archaeology's New Frontier” from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, Business Building Rotunda (Room 213).
Archaeologists once believed the New World's original settlers
were big-game hunters who migrated from Asia to North America during
the last Ice Age. Maritime cultures, such as California's Chumash
Indians, were thought to have been among the last to appear, as
people gradually developed the skills necessary for seafaring and
marine
hunting and gathering.
In his presentation, Raab will discuss how recent research in California's Channel Islands has shown that seafaring peoples must be counted among North America's earliest settlers. “Excavations on San Clemente Island show that between 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, islanders possessed seafaring capabilities and maritime economies as sophisticated as those of native coastal groups of the early historic era. After a century of neglect and misdirection, the study of coastal prehistory is emerging as one of archaeology's most important research frontiers,” he said.
Raab is professor of anthropology and director of the Northridge
Center for Public
Archaeology at Cal State Northridge. He has conducted extensive
archaeological research at the Channel Islands and has led dozens
of excavations at numerous locations in California and Mexico.
He is currently developing an Internet-based, distance-learning program in archaeology with colleagues and students in Mexico. The project includes ongoing work at two field locations spanning the cultural spectrum between hunter-gatherers and civilization.
Raab’s speaking event is sponsored by Cal Poly’s Social Sciences Department. It is free and open to the public. For more information, call Nora Buffett at 756-2752.
# # #