Public Events --

Brownbag Lectures: Were Paleoindians Big-game hunting Specialists? Or is this the wrong question?

Brownbag Lectures: Were Paleoindians Big-game hunting Specialists? Or is this the wrong question?

• Location: ISM Research & Collections Center, Springfield
• Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Presented by Matthew E. Hill Jr., University of Iowa, Department of Anthropology

For decades archaeologists have portrayed Paleoindian foragers on the Great Plains as either specialized hunters of large game, especially mammoth and bison, or as generalist foragers utilizing mostly plants and small game. This presentation will argue that the traditional archaeological argument on this topic that emphasizes the specialist-generalist dichotomy has obscured our understanding of Paleoindian lifeways. Paleoindian foragers practiced both a generalist and specialist lifestyle in response to variation in seasonal and environmental conditions. As I try to show in this presentation, only by trying to understand the variaiton in archaeological record in terms of seasonality, diet breadth, and land use can archaeologists hope to make progress in our understanding of past life-ways.

One of our Brownbag Lectures

Weekly lectures held at the Museum's Research and Collections Center. Lectures are usually held during lunchtime on Wednesday. The RCC is located at 1011 E. Ash Street in Springfield. Access to the building is from 10 ½ Street (between Ash and Laurel Streets), where there is ample visitor parking in the west parking lot. For more information, please call 217-785-0037. Brown Bag Lectures are free and open to the public.

Also, if you want to be informed of upcoming lectures by email, you can sign up for the brownbag announcement list.