Course Abstract
The occupation of the American continent is a topic of intense debate in the academic community. This course takes a multidisciplinary approach in introducing this debate. The following topics will be covered. 1-) Historical background (from the rise of the American Paleolithic - and the work of Peter Lund - to the fall of the Clovis-first paradigm); 2-) Timing of arrival of humans in America (pre-Late Glacial Maximum occupations?, Serra da Capivara, skepticism/colonialism, dating, taphonomy and geoarchaeology); 3-) Geographic/genetic origin(s) of Native Americans (population genetics, ancient DNA, Solutrean hypothesis, trans-Pacific migrations and Y-population/Melanesian ancestry); 4-) Biocultural diversification (linguistic diversity, technological ancestry/NE Asian archaeology, Lagoa Santa, Fishtail points and shovel shaped incisors); 5-) Impact of geological processes in the settlement of America (glaciation, global warming, Younger Dryas, changes in sea level, erupting volcanoes and impacts of asteroids) and, 6) Megafaunal extinction (megafauna species, evidence of human praying, role of humans in extinction).