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Ocean Trails and Praire Paths? Thoughts About Clovis Origins

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... The transatlantic model suggests that the first human groups that arrived in North America during the LGM may have originated in southwestern Europe and travelled to the Americas through the Atlantic (Stanford and Bradley 2002;Bradley and Stanford 2004). During the LGM the polar front was pushed southwards to latitudes as far south as Portugal, turning the Iberian peninsula into a steppe-tundra environment with lowered temperatures (Bradley and Stanford 2004). ...
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The questions – When did humans arrive in the Americas? Who were they, or from where did they come from? – are enduring and fascinating inquiries that have been approached from different perspectives, thanks to the contributions of archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistics, among other disciplines. As a result, and after several centuries of studies, this body of research inspired several proposed models on the peopling of the Americas. These models are not only equally unique from each other but also distinct from the current themes in recent literature. However, there is a limited and occasionally inaccurate reference to the knowledge produced in the peripheral countries. This may be attributed to differences in language, academic traditions, as well as the consequences of geopolitics and neocolonialism in science. By reviewing both the old and recent literature, my aim is to present a historical account of how biological evidence has contributed to supporting and discussing some of the broad models that were proposed to explain the peopling of the Americas. Instead of providing an exhaustive account of the models, herein I focus on critically linking evidence and discussions ranging from the early skeletal discoveries at Lagoa Santa in Brazil in the 1830s to the current challenges of integrating a large amount of disparate data and collaborating with indigenous communities in the “omics” era. Far from being fully understood, investigations into the antiquity and the ancestral origin of Native Americans are revealing that these complex questions should be addressed by combining diverse data, articulating information at finer and larger grain scales, and adopting a sensitive and respectful approach by engaging with the views of indigenous communities.
... • Similarly, overshot (i.e., outrepassé) flakes resulted from biface thinning, but in this case, retained a portion of the biface edge on the distal rather than proximal end (Callahan 1979:85;Crabtree 1982:46). Such flakes are also generally thought to represent manufacturing errors, although recent analysis of Clovis points, for example, has suggested that such outcomes might have been desired in the production of extremely thin, large bifacial tools (e.g., Stanford and Bradley 2002). In either case, the presence of overshot flakes indicates on-site tool manufacturing, as opposed to maintenance, activities. ...
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This report details the archaeological monitoring and data recovery efforts undertaken by Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), at CA-LAN-63, CA-LAN-64 and CA-LAN-206A, archaeological sites located at the West Bluffs property in Playa del Rey, California. This report is divided into 16 chapters. In Chapter 1, we laid the interpretive foundation for this report by presenting the background to the current project. This included both a regulatory and historical back-ground to the project. After this introduction, Chapter 2 presents a detailed summary of the prehistoric and historical-period background for both the specific project area at West Bluffs, as well as the larger regional background in the Ballona and greater Los Angeles. Chapter 3 presents both previous research in the Ballona and at West Bluffs and outlines the current research questions and foci for the project area in light of these previous excavations. Chapter 4 presents a detailed analysis of the soils and stratigraphy on the project area and how this relates to the archaeological investigations. Chapter 5 explains the methods and results of geophysical work at West Bluffs conducted prior to SRI’s hand excavation on the property in 2000. Chapter 6 outlines the methods used during the various phases of the project and summarizes the results of the data recovery program. In a related role, Chapter 7 describes specific features studied as part of the analytical sample for this report. Chapters 8 through 11 detail specific analyses of different classes of artifacts, respectively flaked and ground stone, beads and ornaments, vertebrate faunal remains, and invertebrate faunal remains. Next, remains related to environmental and subsistence strategies are investigated in the micro- and macrobotanical remains chapter, Chapter 12. Human remains identified at West Bluffs, including descriptions of burials, are discussed in Chapter 13. Chapters 14 and 15 synthesize and evaluate the detailed data presented in Chapters 5–13. In Chapter 14, chronology for both the project area and the greater Ballona area is evaluated, and Chapter 15 discusses subsistence strategies present at the three West Bluffs sites. Finally, in Chapter 16, the various data collected and analyzed are discussed, research questions are evaluated, and conclusions are drawn.
... In Across Atlantic Ice and in earlier publications (Stanford and Bradley, 2002;Bradley and Stanford, 2004), the Solutrean Hypothesis is presented as a solution to a problem. The proposed problem is a lack of satisfactory evidence for a Clovis progenitor in Northeast Asia or Beringia. ...
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The “Solutrean hypothesis” for the origins of the North American Clovis Culture posits that early North American colonizers were direct descendants of European populations that migrated across the North Atlantic during the European Upper Paleolithic. The evidential basis for this model rests largely on proposed technological and behavioral similarities shared by the North American Clovis archaeological culture and the French and Iberian Solutrean archaeological culture. The caching of stone tools by both cultures is one of the specific behavioral correlates put forth by proponents in support of the hypothesis. While more than two dozen Clovis caches have been identified, Volgu is the only Solutrean cache identified at this time. Volgu consists of at least 15 exquisitely manufactured bifacial stone tools interpreted as an artifact cache or ritual deposit, and the artifacts themselves have long been considered exemplary of the most refined Solutrean bifacial technology. This paper reports the results of applying methods developed for the comparative analysis of the relatively more abundant caches of Clovis materials in North America to this apparently singular Solutrean cache. In addition to providing a window into Solutrean technology and perhaps into Upper Paleolithic ritual behavior, this comparison of Clovis and Solutrean assemblages serves to test one of the tangible archaeological implications of the “Solutrean hypothesis” by evaluating the technological and behavioral equivalence of Solutrean and Clovis artifact caching. The hypothesized historical connection is evaluated based on the attributes of the caches themselves, the evidence for geographic and temporal continuity in caching between the two cultures, and the proposed uniqueness of this behavior to Solutrean and Clovis. Results from the comparison of Volgu to Clovis caches indicate that they are divergent with regard to a number of important attributes and appear to represent neither equivalent behaviors nor a historical connection.
... Recientemente Bruce Bradley y Dennis Stanford (Bradley y Stanford 2004;Stanford y Bradley 2002) retoman una idea previamente propuesta acerca de las similitudes tecnológicas que vincularían a Clovis con el Solutrense del Paleolítico Superior europeo (ver Cotter 1935;Greenman 1963;Jelinek 1971), para explicar el origen de la tecnología Clovis y de este modo arrojar luz sobre el poblamiento de América. La teoría conocida como "ruta del Atlántico Norte", pone énfasis en resolver el problema del origen de Clovis con argumentos principalmente generados desde una perspectiva tecnológica, sugiriendo que los artefactos Clovis fueron diseñados para la efectiva explotación de ambientes diversos y heterogéneos y su precursor sería el Solutrense del Paleolítico Superior europeo (Bradley y Stanford 2004). ...
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The paper presents the location of 10 translucent agate quarries discovered in the Catalanes Nacientes Arapey Archaeological Region (RACNA), which defines a procurement zone of agate in northern Uruguay. This raw material is the second-most used lithic resource in early stratigraphic contexts dated by 14C in northwestern Uruguay, following silicified sandstone. The frequency distribution of translucent agate is analyzed in two early residential hunter-gatherer sites, Pay Paso 1 (11,000 to 8,500 B.P.), and site K87 (10,420 B.P.), and at Catalan Seco 1 (CS-), which is a quarry-workshop site. A strong chronological basis is presented for the Pay Paso 1 site, which includes 32 radiocarbon dates that allow recognition of three early cultural components and a blade lithic technology for the initial occupation of the 1 site (10,930–10,880 B.P.). The paper discusses the main ways of distributing the translucent agate during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, which are related to accessibility of the resource, lithic technology, territory, and mobility of early hunter-gatherers in the region. Movements were recorded between 140 and 170 km from residential sites to the procurement area of the agate.
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This article summarizes my experience at Baltimore AlienCon in 2018. The programme offered a curious blend of themes explored in Ancient Aliens and similar programming, alongside other domains of ‘pseudoscience’, ‘rogue’ archaeology, and conspiracy theory, with an added touch of science-fiction fandom and marketing for Prometheus Entertainment. Framed by the event, this article considers aliens, heritage, and belonging in the United States at a moment of unprecedented misinformation campaigns and historical racial reckoning. It explores how archaeological expertise is implicated, invoked, and rejected in such forums and their associated media; and questions how anthropologists and archaeologists might reckon with the often-troubling widespread public uptake of their knowledge into influential conspiracies.
Chapter
Mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) has distinct features from nuclear DNA. It has a circular DNA and coding its own genome. mtDNA consists of two regions, control region and coding region. Control region has start site for replication and transcription start sites. Coding regions have rRNAs and protein coding genes. Only the mtDNA in an oocyte is transmitted to the offspring, therefore it is transmitted through female lineage only. Thousands of mtDNA copies are in a cell and this makes mtDNA extraction easier. The mutation rate of mtDNA is higher than nuclear DNA. Hyper Variable Regions (HVR) in the control region have even higher mutation rates. Because of these features, mtDNA is frequently used for forensic studies or ancient DNA studies. Closely related mtDNA sequences are grouped into haplogroups. The combination of mutation including recurrent mutations determines the haplogroup. Whole mtDNA sequences are ideal for determining haplogroup. Caution is needed when haplogroups are determined based on control region.
Chapter
Stone tools are found throughout the archaeological record left by humans and their ancestors beginning as much as 2.6–3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by hominins, their study is an important line of inquiry for shedding light on questions of evolution and behavior. Because they were parts of past phenotypes, stone tools were shaped by the same evolutionary processes as were the somatic (bodily) features of their users. One evolutionary result of these processes is convergence—the appearance of similar forms in independent lineages that result from functional or developmental constraints. With respect to stone tools, identifying cases of convergence is particularly important because similarities in form are often used to suggest historical connections among prehistoric groups. Identifying cases of convergence would refute hypotheses that otherwise would suggest some degree of physical or cultural connection.
Article
The Badegoulian technocomplex holds a special place among the West European Upper Paleolithic (UP) cultural traditions. Often understated or even bypassed by the main prehistorical overviews, caught between the fascinating Solutrean and the "classic" Magdalenian technocomplexes, it nonetheless probably marks a turning point in the evolving trajectory of hunter-gatherers in present-day France. The deep typo-technological changes, traditionally noted through lithic equipment, have recently been examined in the framework of interdisciplinary programs centered on several key-stratigraphic sequences located in southwest France. The combined analyses of flint, bone and antler assemblages, ornaments and faunal remains, together with the implementation of systematic archaeostratigraphic reassessment and radiometric dating, serve to confirm the speed and the strength of these changes ca. 23 cal ka BP. Without going into detail into the Solutrean-Badegoulian transition issue, the present paper provides a synthetic overview of the main Badegoulian characteristics-and their known variability on the basis of the lithic and osseous equipment that guided the original identification. Following a three-step structure successively exploring the "when", the "what" and the "where" questions, we will look at the current challenges in LGM chronocultural research, between (false) consensus and (true) sticking points. https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1c1LV3ic-FNaAO
Chapter
Being able to identify individual populations has long been of interest in archaeology, but within the last several decades it has become a specific focus as researchers have linked evolution-based theoretical models of cultural transmission with innovative analytical methods to better understand how groups of agents use culturally acquired information to navigate across fitness landscapes. Other animals learn, but humans have the unique ability to accumulate learned information rapidly and to pass it on to future generations. Nowhere is this interest in applying models of cultural transmission more evident than in the archaeology of the late Pleistocene colonization of North America, where researchers are beginning to identify distinct populations and to trace their movements across complex physical and cultural landscapes.
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