The Archaeological Conservancy's
2022 Virtual Lecture Series
An Idiot's Guide to the American Upper Paleolithic
Watch the Recorded Lecture:
More about the lecture:
We are excited to welcome back special guest Dr. Clark Wernecke for another enlightening discussion on the peopling of the Americas! This time, you will learn more about some of the Paleolithic sites that have challenged the timing for the first migrations into the Americas.
16,000-18,000 year-old artifacts from the Gault Site in Texas.
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 1970’s 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 its 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. Don’t miss this special presentation!
About the presenter:
Clark Wernecke is the Project Director for the Prehistory Research Project at the University of Texas at Austin and Executive Director of the Gault School of Archaeological Research, a nonprofit dedicated to research and education regarding the earliest peoples in the Americas.
Dr. Wernecke started his academic career with a degree in history from SMU followed by an MBA from Northwestern University, an M.A. in Anthropology from Florida Atlantic, and finally his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. He came back to archaeology after a career in business and has worked in the Middle East, Mesoamerica, the American Southeast and Southwest, and Texas. Dr. Wernecke’s primary specialty is that of archaeological project management, but he has also written extensively on architecture and Paleoindian art.
✨ Watch Dr. Wernecke’s previous virtual lecture here.
This lecture series is sponsored by The Archaeological Conservancy and is free to our Members and the General Public. Recorded lectures will also be available on YouTube or on this page after the event.
For questions about the event or how to register, please contact April Brown (tac.connect@gmail.com) or Sarah Webber (saraht.tac@gmail.com).