Anthropology 140: Introduction to Archaeology

Anthropology 140: Introduction to Archaeology

Announcements

  • Section 1: Laboratory 1 is due.

  • Section 1: Laboratory 2 is due on Monday, September 29 (originally Wednesday, September 24).

  • Reminder: Labs are held in Room LA5-163.

Postscript #2: Native American Gene Flow into Polynesia

  • Source: Ioannides et al., Nature, July 8, 2020.

  • Finding: Conclusive evidence for prehistoric contact between Polynesian individuals and Native American individuals.

  • Timing: Around AD1200AD 1200, which is contemporaneous with the settlement of remote Oceania.

  • Evidence: Genomic analysis from Native American and across Polynesian populations.

  • Scientific Principle: This study emphasizes that science is a self-correcting process; what is currently known is susceptible to refinement or being overturned in the future.

Postscript #3: Genomic History of the Rapanui (Easter Island)

  • Source: Moreno-Mayar et al., Nature, September 12, 2024.

  • Study Basis: Genomic history of the Rapanui (Easter Islanders) through 1515 ancient Rapanui individuals dated between 1670−19501670-1950 CE.

  • Key Findings:

    • Indisputable Polynesian ancestry.

    • Admixture with Native American populations: Similar to the 2020 study, this new research shows admixture with Native American populations.

      • Percentage: Admixture ranging from 6.56.5 to 12.4%12.4\%.

      • Closest Match: Most closely matched to Andean populations.

      • Estimated Timing: Estimated to have occurred 15−1715-17 generations before the births of the 1515 individuals studied.

      • Date Range: Implies a date range of 1246−14251246-1425 CE.

      • Significance: This timing coincides with archaeological data for the initial settlement of Easter Island and clearly predates European arrival in the Americas.

Calico Hills – The “Early Man Site”

  • Location: Approximately 1515 miles northeast of Barstow, California, off Interstate 1515.

  • Artifacts: Stone artifacts.

  • Significance: The deeply stratified alluvial fan deposits in this area have been argued to represent the oldest evidence of human occupation in the Americas.

  • Dating: In 19801980, Drs. James Bischoff, Richard Ku, and Roy Shellman estimated the soils at this site might date back over 200,000200,000 years using uranium-thorium dating on surrounding strata.

  • Association: The site is particularly associated with Louis Leakey.

Doubts about Calico Hills

  • Lack of Other Evidence: Absence of human or animal remains, or non-tool artifacts.

  • Deep Antiquity: The site's extreme age drastically predates other accepted dates for human artifacts in the Americas. The next oldest controversial date is around 16,00016,000 BP.

  • Sheer Number of Possible Tools: One account reported up to 60,00060,000 possible tools, raising suspicion.

  • Statistical Analysis (Duvall and Venner, 1979): Showed that the stone objects were