Early Peopling of the West Coast of North America: New Perspectives
December 14, 2011
Hosted by Dr. Joseph Schuldenrein
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Guest Information
Episode Description
This episode expands our discussion of the Early Peopling of the North America to the West Coast. When did people first appear in the region? How did climates and environments diverge from the present? How did early peoples adapt to nearshore and interior environments and when did these landscapes change? Answers to these questions have broad implications for understanding the human ecological dynamic in the present age of sustainability. Late glacial and post-glacial events along the Pacific margins diverge significantly from those discussed earlier for the East Coast. Patterns of deglaciation, tectonics, and climate change resulted in surfaces that were significantly different, but can still be reconstructed with increasing accuracy with new geoarchaeological methods. We discuss these reconstructions and theories with guests Dr. Loren Davis and Dr. Matthew Des Lauriers, renowned West Coast researchers and Ms. Amy Gusick, PhD candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Indiana Jones: Myth, Reality and 21st Century Archaeology
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel
This show targets an audience interested in archaeology. It explores myths surrounding this exotic, often misunderstood field and acquaints listeners with the contemporary practice of unearthing the human past. Themes range from Dr. Schuldenrein’s own “Indiana Jones”-like adventures in the land of the Bible to his team’s archaeological forensics effort to unearth Kurdish mass graves in Iraq. That undertaking helped convict Saddam Hussein in 2006. Topical issues contribute to the evolution vs. creationism controversy based on updated fossil records and innovative DNA studies. An episode highlights the main funding source for archaeology in the U.S. (Hint: the oil and gas industry). Experts reveal the latest high-tech approaches to buried archaeological landscapes that provide clues to understanding climate change, past, present and future.
Dr. Joseph Schuldenrein
Joseph Schuldenrein is president and senior scientist of Geoarcheology Research Associates (GRA) in Yonkers, New York. He has been a Visiting Scholar at New York University since 1996. His professional expertise is in geoarchaeology, a sub-discipline that introduces earth science techniques to traditional archaeological excavation. Joe has worked extensively across North America and the Old World. He received his doctorate in 1983 at the University of Chicago. Recent research in North America has concentrated on the urban archaeology of New York City and Native American landscapes of the Atlantic Coast. Joe’s projects in South Asia have ranged from Human Origins investigations to the beginnings of civilization of the Indus Valley. During the Iraq war Dr. Schuldenrein’s team helped direct a forensic archaeological mission in support of the Saddam Hussein prosecution. His newest venture is an assessment of Cultural Heritage Sites in war-torn Afghanistan (2011). Dr. Schuldenrein publishes widely in numerous archaeological and geological journals. He is a reviewer for American Antiquity, Geoarchaeology, and Quaternary Science Reviews. He has acted as Principal Investigator or Consulting Scientist for grants awarded by the National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory. Dr. Schuldenrein has been interviewed for PBS, as well as national and regional TV and radio outlets over the past 30 years.
