An "Idiot's Guide" to the American Upper Paleolithic

presented by Dr. Clark Wernecke

Over the years, a number of researchers have publicly doubted the mainstream idea that the Clovis culture represented the first peoples in the New World. Excavations at Monte Verde, Chile in the 1970s changed the nature and tenor of these arguments. For the first time. a large number of archaeologists agreed that a site showed definitive evidence of human occupation in the Western Hemisphere prior to Clovis. As more evidence surfaced and older sites were reexamined, scholars were forced to revise the story of the peopling of the Americas. Paradigm shifts are messy and there are still just as many questions as answers, but it's clear that scholars need to test new hypotheses.

In this talk, Dr. Wernecke will review the history of Paleoindian archaeology and the evidence that debunks the “Clovis First” theory, and examine how this evidence is shifting the paradigm on how scholars perceive the early migrations into the Americas.

Recorded: June 23, 2022
Running Time: 1 hr 6 min