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Review of America Unearthed S02E11 "Swamp Mammoth"

2/9/2014

150 Comments

 
America Unearthed S02E11 “Swamp Mammoth” is the third episode in a row in which Scott Wolter searches for evidence that Caucasians reached the New World in the distant past. Two weeks ago he hoped to find Bronze Age people from Scotland in Ohio, and last week he hoped to find the Lost Tribes of Israel, also in Ohio. This week is a little different, and we jump back in time more than ten thousand years from the putative Old World builders of the Native American mounds to go in search of the absolute oldest Europeans to possibly reach America, and in so doing reverse centuries of scholarship by reassigning the peopling of the Americas to Europe, against which Native Americans are later interlopers who somehow overtook the Europeans.

This claim has, in various forms, been in existence for more than two centuries.

Background

Over the past two weeks, I’ve discussed the myth of the Mound Builders, which developed in the late 1700s in response to American efforts to provide justifications for seizing Native American lands. This myth, which never had a factual foundation, held that a lost white race had originally inhabited America, but that they had been killed off by Native Americans when they crossed from Asia, believed at that point to have been a relatively recent incursion. This idea was succinctly phrased by a French author and friend of Thomas Jefferson, Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur (a.k.a. John Hector St. John), who wrote a hoax in 1801 blatantly plagiarized from earlier Mound Builder myths (specifically the works of Jonathan Heart and George Imlay) where he made Benjamin Franklin say of the Mounds:
Can we conceive that nations sufficiently powerful to have raised such considerable fortifications, and who buried their dead with such religious care, can have been destroyed and replaced by the ignorant and barbarous horde we see about us at the present day? Could the calamities occasioned by a long state of war have effaced the last traces of their civilization and brought them back to the primitive condition of hunters? Are our Indians the descendants of that ancient people?

This fake Franklin attributed the death of the lost race to a meteor strike, unwilling to believe Native Americans capable of martial puissance. This hoax was accepted as the genuine thoughts of Benjamin Franklin until the end of the nineteenth century. It was believable because ideologically-driven proponents of the Mound Builder myth were looking for a Founding Father whose views could oppose those of Thomas Jefferson, who had established what would become, with modification and correction, the scientific consensus on the peopling of the Americas.

In Query 11 of his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson laid out the many reasons he believed that the first Native Americans had crossed into North America from northeast Asia.
Great question has arisen from whence came those aboriginal inhabitants of America? Discoveries, long ago made, were sufficient to shew that a passage from Europe to America was always practicable, even to the imperfect navigation of ancient times. In going from Norway to Iceland, from Iceland to Groenland, from Groenland to Labrador, the first traject is the widest: and this having been practised from the earliest times of which we have any account of that part of the earth, it is not difficult to suppose that the subsequent trajects may have been sometimes passed. Again, the late discoveries of Captain Cook, coasting from Kamschatka to California, have proved that, if the two continents of Asia and America be separated at all, it is only by a narrow streight. So that from this side also, inhabitants may have passed into America: and the resemblance between the Indians of America and the Eastern inhabitants of Asia, would induce us to conjecture, that the former are the descendants of the latter, or the latter of the former: excepting indeed the Eskimaux, who, from the same circumstance of resemblance, and from identity of language, must be derived from the Groenlanders, and these probably from some of the northern parts of the old continent. A knowledge of their several languages would be the most certain evidence of their derivation which could be produced.

Here Jefferson notes that the Vikings were known to have crossed to Greenland, and therefore a passage to North America was not impossible—as, indeed, archaeology would eventually confirm. But he also correctly deduced from physiology that the Native Americans were likely of northeast Asian extraction, and he goes on to discuss the fact that the wide variety of Native tongues implied a great time depth, suggesting that their Asian forebears had first come ages and ages before, over “an immense course of time; perhaps not less than many people give to the age of the earth.” In fact, it was in service of this hypothesis that Jefferson would charge Lewis and Clark with assembling vocabulary lists of the Native tribes they encountered, in hope that he could arranged them into families to demonstrate the Asian origin of the same. (So, no, not Welsh Indians or Lost Tribes.) Sadly, this project was delayed long past Jefferson’s death because his vocabulary lists were destroyed when the trunk carrying them vanished during shipment from Washington to Monticello at the end of his presidency.

Despite repeated outbursts of mythic history attempting to reassign American prehistory to the Lost Tribes of Israel, a lost white race, or various Europeans of the Bronze, Classical, or Dark Ages, science came to accept Jefferson’s version of the peopling of the Americas. As Charles McCarthy’s 1919 History of the United States, a standard high school textbook of its era, put it, the ancient earthworks of America “were built not by a civilized race that has passed away but by just such people as the first white settlers found in America.” Additionally, while the exact origins of the first Americans remained unknown, “men from Asia have crossed Bering Strait on the ice to Alaska in pursuit of fur-bearing animals. […] In figure, features, and complexion as well as in civilization the Indian does not bear so close a resemblance to Europeans or Africans as he does to certain peoples in northeastern Asia.” We may profitably take this as the default position, and the standard view of American prehistory from the late nineteenth century to today.

But not everyone has been satisfied with this explanation, and even after the collapse of the Lost White Race theory of mound building, there has been a consistent stream of thought that has looked to Europe as the origin point for the peopling of the Americas—despite centuries of archaeological, anthropological, linguistic, and genetic evidence tying Native Americans to Asia.

Let me stress here that the impetus behind this is not always or explicitly racist. In fact, the Solutrean Hypothesis was not intended as a claim of race but rather as a way to explain the apparent similarity between Old World and New World stone tools.

In the 1930s, archaeologists working in New Mexico found odd stone tools different from and older than anything else they had known. These stone points were obviously meant for big game hunting—the first so-called Folsom points were found embedded in the ribs of a bison in 1926. (Lovecraft alludes to this discovery in “The Mound” in describing intimations of Native antiquity.) The great age of the Clovis finds implied to archaeologists of the 1960s that the Clovis people must have been the first Americans. Because anthropology was at this time in thrall to the wrong and sexist idea called “Man the Hunter” (named for a 1966 symposium), which attempted to view prehistory as a male-dominated culture based on killing and big game hunting, the Clovis finds played directly in to this male he-man ideology. (It’s not hard to correlate “Man the Hunter” ideology with a reaction to women’s liberation and feminism.) The so-called “Clovis-first” theory was popular from the late 1960s to around 1990, when the widespread acceptance of the pre-Clovis site of Monte Verde in Chile forced archaeologists to abandon Clovis-first. By that time, “Man the Hunter” was largely seen as discredited (though it gained some renewed support during the 1990s culture wars) as more sophisticated analyses demonstrated that early humans consumed a wide variety of foods, especially plants, and that big game hunting was most important during periods of environmental stress.

However, most fringe writers working today came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, when their school textbooks reflected Clovis-first and “Man the Hunter.” They therefore mistake this relatively brief period in the history of anthropology for an unchanging dogma. My textbook from the North American Prehistory class I took back in 2001, Brian Fagan’s Ancient North America (3rd ed., 2000), had a whole section explaining these changes since the 1960s, and it also included a discussion of the evidence for pre-Clovis people at Monte Verde in Chile and Meadowcroft Rock Shelter in Pennsylvania. His was a very conservative text for its time, but it provides clear evidence that “Clovis-first” had come and gone, despite the efforts of fringe writers to assert it as living dogma.

In the 1930s Frank Hibben thought that the Clovis and Folsom finds resembled the stone tools used by prehistoric inhabitants of Spain, the Solutreans, around 20,000 years ago, and he proposed that the ancient Solutreans had traveled to America and brought their points with them. His idea failed for reasons I outlined in a 2006 Skeptic magazine article:
Not long after the Solutrean hypothesis was proposed, however, archaeologists dismissed the idea with three arguments: (1) though both cultures used pressure flaking, Solutrean points were not fluted like the Clovis points—many Solutrean tools had a roughly diamond shape while Clovis points often had a concave bottom; (2) the Solutreans, who had no boats [capable of long-distance travel], had no way to get to North America; (3) most important, there was a gap of thousands of years between the latest Solutrean points and the earliest Clovis points—it seemed chronologically impossible for the Solutreans to have given rise to Clovis.

The Solutreans vanished no later than about 13,000 BCE, while Clovis did not arise until around 11,000 BCE, give or take. This problem vexed the Smithsonian’s Dennis Stanford and his research partner Bruce Bradley of the University of Exeter, who were criticized for the same reasons Hibben was when they reintroduced the idea in 1998. The evidence they offered to supplement Hibben’s identification received extensive criticism.

  • Archaeologists discovered no evidence that the Solutreans engaged in any deep-sea fishing or had any involvement with the open ocean.
  • Kieran Westley and Justin Dix reported in a 2008 study that oceanographic data suggest that the glaciation of the Atlantic would not have supported trans-Atlantic crossings in the Solutrean era.
  • Further, the genetic evidence, specifically the presence of Haplogroup X and Haplogroup U in America, does not support a European connection. Both are found in Siberian populations, and the specific Haplogroup X of Native Americans is not European in origin.

Against this, Stanford and Bradley offered a complex explanation. They cited the pre-Clovis sites of Monte Verde and Meadowcroft Rock Shelter as evidence that the Solutreans had come and hung out making small stone points until the environment changed and they decided to start making Clovis points. Of course none of the Monte Verde or Meadowcroft points closely resembled the diamond-shaped Solutrean points, leading the researchers to propose that an unknown “subset” of Solutreans made the Atlantic crossing with nothing more than a stone-working technique and moxie. Convergent evolution is a more parsimonious explanation, something like the independent invention of noodles in China and Italy.

Since I first wrote about this in 2006, Sandford and Bradley have offered up some new pieces of evidence. The first is the Vero Beach Mammoth, a piece of ancient art from Florida depicting the titular pachyderm as an etching on a piece of bone and dating to around the time of the Clovis culture. Stanford suggested it was European in origin based on similarities to Solutrean cave art, but art historians like Barbara Olins Alpert note that the resemblance is no closer than the realistic art style of the modern San Bushmen; in other words, we have no reason to suspect Paleoindians could not express creativity; indeed, the recently-discovered Paleonindian rock carvings in the western United States (as seen last week on Ancient Aliens of all places!) demonstrate that Paleoindians could and did create elaborate art; those rock carvings depict what seem to be leaves and flowers. Why could Paleoindians in Nevada make art while those in Florida required European assistance? The mammoth carving is an interesting piece, but one whose European ties are not as clear-cut as Solutrean supporters represent.

The second piece of evidence is also problematic. It is the “Cinmar Discovery,” a rather grand name for a collection of material hauled up a fishing trawler off the coast of Virginia in the 1970s. This haul comprised a diamond-shaped stone tool, a mammoth bone, and a mammoth molar. These were kept in the boat’s captain’s personal collection until 2002, a gap of three decades. The mammoth bone was later carbon dated to 22,000 BCE. Lacking any context for their discovery, it is impossible to determine whether the tool and the bones were originally related. Even if they are, it is also impossible to distinguish between several hypotheses given the available evidence:

  • The tool was made by Solutrean people living in or visiting Virginia
  • The tool was made independently by Paleoindians who used a similar technique
  • The tool was made by Solutreans but brought to America later by accident, such as in a Spanish ship’s ballast
  • The tool was made by Solutreans and migrated to the American coast due to natural ocean currents
  • The tool was made by some unknown people in any of the above scenarios

The blade is certainly interesting, but due to the lack of context, there isn’t anything more that can really be said about it. Stanford and Bradley have catalogued five similar blades from coastal areas, but so far they have not been able to make the case that these are of European-derived manufacture and not a case of convergent evolution.

A third piece of evidence is a stone knife found under a seventeenth-century chimney in Virginia in 1971. Stanford and Bradley reported that x-ray florescence tests indicated it was made from French flint and therefore could have been brought by the Solutreans since it was unlikely to have been placed under the chimney by a colonist, as the
original archaeologist who uncovered it had thought. However, the authors do not press the point because they cannot exclude a colonial origin for the deposit.

It’s a possibility, to be sure, but so far the weight of evidence is against the idea of a European incursion in the Solutrean. More work remains to be done, and that will take underwater archaeology along the continental shelf, which had been dry land in the Ice Age.

But while the Solutrean hypothesis is a scientific one, relying on facts and evidence, it spawned several extreme reactions from white nationalists who seized upon it as a replacement for the Mound Builder myth. As I discussed elsewhere, white supremacists have added the Solutrean claim to a series of controversies about supposedly European (read: white) visitors to America. The most important of these claims was Kennewick Man, the skeleton of an individual from about 7500 BCE (long after the Paleoindian period) found in 1996. When archaeologist James Chatters declared the skull shape Caucasoid, fringe groups, including white supremacists, read this as confirmation that this was a white person. Later, more careful work by Joseph Powell determined that the skull was not European but closer to that of the Ainu or Polynesians. While this opened a fascinating question about the genetic diversity of the first Americans, for many it was simply an attempt to cover up the true “European” ownership of America. In fact, Kennewick Man is of a piece with other skulls older than 6000 BCE, which are markedly more diverse than those from after 6000 BCE, implying a marked change after that time.

A genetic study published just a few weeks ago in Nature found that central Siberian populations share DNA with Native Americans, implying that some of the people who crossed the Bering Strait had origins in central Asia, and, more distantly, Europe—but more than 20,000 years ago. The European influence, to whatever extent, came from the West, as the authors reported: “non-east Asian cranial characteristics of the First Americans derived from the Old World via migration through Beringia, rather than by a trans-Atlantic voyage from Iberia as proposed by the Solutrean hypothesis.” In other words, the first Americans were more genetically diverse than had long been assumed, accounting for such seeming anomalies as the Kennewick Man, but that for whatever reason, this diversity declined over the millennia, possibly due to an ancient population collapse.

This kind of genuinely interesting information, though, isn’t enough for television. When the Learning Channel (now the schlock channel TLC) broadcast a documentary on The Secrets of the Bog People: Windover in 2003, the show’s British producers weren’t satisfied to look at the fascinating culture of Windover Bog, one of the best-preserved Native American sites in history. Instead, they wanted something “sexy” and for them “sexy” meant European (read: white). They seized on DNA results that showed the presence of European haplotypes, even though they had been informed that those results were likely due to contamination of the sample and had not been confirmed by subsequent retesting, which found no European DNA markers. According to Joseph Lorenz, one of the researchers who conducted the DNA study for the Coriell Institute for Medical Research (and who is now a professor at Central Washington University), the TV producers tried to craft a narrative, as Lorenz told one of this blog’s readers, John Linehan, in an email:

My original results of the mitochondrial DNA did show European haplotypes which I feel was due to contamination of the tissue at the time of collection. I told the producer that the most parsimonious explanation was that the results were due to contamination at the excavation but they wanted a "sexier" interpretation. In the interview I was asked questions along the lines of "if the results of the analysis were not due to contamination would this indicate European ancestry..." but I adamantly hold to my position that the results most likely were due to contamination. Subsequent analysis of mtDNA from teeth showed that the skeletal DNA was concordant with Asian origins of the individuals.

I asked Lorenz to confirm the above, and he did so just before the episode aired. He added in an email to me that he had received many inquiries from those interested in providing a European presence in America before Columbus:
I have had a number of inquiries about the Windover results from several interested viewers of the bog video and I have tried to send the message to them that documentaries on TV or YouTube (or wherever) are not necessarily the best sources for scientific information; documentary-makers, I assume, oftentimes have a particular storyline that they are interested in pushing; the fact that the results of a given scientific investigation may not be as cut and dried as people who watch CSI would like it to be. Although I was frustrated with the final product (the documentary) I cannot fault the producer - I should have been more circumspect in my agreeing to become involved or stood my ground more in what I agreed to say in front of the camera.
Further discussion of the contamination issues and failure to replicate the original results can be found in journal articles here and here, where the authors write that “However, since none of the remaining seven sequences reported by Hauswirth exhibited CR sequences characteristic of any other Asian-derived haplogroup and might therefore reflect either contamination or sequencing errors, the assignment of one of those sequences to Haplogroup X was probably in error.” The reference is to the original DNA work done by William W. Hauswirth, some of which can be found here.

By comparison, online reporting for a segment of NOVA’s 2006 documentary “The Perfect Corpse” on the same Windover bog people dealt with the complexity of the DNA evidence, noting that there was no direct genetic link between the Windover people and the region’s current Native population, and quoted archaeologist Glen Doran of FSU that the DNA evidence is partial and incomplete because it “is just not as well preserved as we’d like.” In sum, they said, the DNA evidence was the least productive line of inquiry into Windover, at least until technology improves.

But because in 2003 the TV said the Windover people were European, this is the story the public believes. And a decade-old documentary’s ratings-driven sensationalism is why Scott Wolter is in Windover to look for the first white Americans… As we’ve heard more than once, NOVA it’s not.

The Episode

We open with prehistoric people wandering through tall grass on the edge of a lake. They place a corpse beneath layers of cloth and sink it into the waters. Millennia later, a man with a shovel digs up the skull, which ends up in what looks like a refrigerator. Scientists in lab coats study the skull in a room lit in blue-teal light. They recoil in horror from the results as we cut to Scott Wolter reading an email in his laboratory telling him about the Windover People.

We then watch the title sequence.

Wolter is traveling to St. Johns River in Christmas, Florida to investigate the Windover Bog and its Native American civilization. Wolter tells us that he often investigates Templars, Celts, and Vikings—“brave” explorers—who came to America before Columbus. He asserts that the Windover Bog people came to America at least “8,000 years ago” (i.e., 6000 BCE), some 5,000 years after the Paleoindians were already making Clovis points in America, and longer after the Monte Verde people were living in South America.

“Tipster” Candida Gut, who wrote the email, says that she watched the 2003 TLC documentary discussed in the background material above, which prompted her to want to find Europeans in ancient America, and she summarizes the program for Wolter, who is wearing a shirt with a carefully-positioned corporate logo that is always in frame for maximum product placement. Wolter discusses how bogs preserve human bodies, and he gives a false and over-simplified view of the peopling of the Americas, wrongly suggesting that schoolbooks teach that the first Americans were “Clovis” people, something that has not been taught uncritically since the late 1980s. This is part of the theme of the evening, whereby Wolter repeatedly rants about his schooling and how confusing it is that somehow science has learned new things since then. He has not bothered to keep up and still thinks that his high school textbooks represent OFFICIAL DOGMA.

He seems to confuse Clovis-first, the outdated mid-century theory, with the idea of the peopling of the Americas from northeast Asia, now believed to have occurred prior to the Clovis period thanks to the discoveries at Monte Verde and elsewhere. Gut and Wolter say that they believe that the first Americans were Europeans, and Wolter even denies that Paleoindians were the ancestors of Native Americans, sniffing that “some think” this while there are other, more European possibilities. The fact that repeated genetic studies have found Paleoindian remains to be genetically related to Asian populations does not factor into his speculation.

Wolter explains that Europeans couldn’t have come to America from Asia because it was too long a trip, while a voyage from Europe to Florida via the Atlantic was much easier. He is referring to Dennis Stanford’s Solutrean claim, but he is collapsing time periods into an illiterate jumble, for the Solutrean migration allegedly occurred around 20,000 BCE, not 6000 BCE—there is a huge difference. And worse: 6000 BCE is not earlier than the Clovis culture of 10,500 BCE, itself no longer considered the first in America thanks to the pre-Clovis site of Monte Verde. Wolter’s own claims refute the conclusions he draws from them in service of inventing reasons to claim Europeans were America’s founding population.

Gut says she “heard” (from the documentary from 2003) that unpublished DNA studies of the bog people revealed European DNA, and Wolter calls this secondhand information “explosive.” “This is something we have to get to the bottom of.” Gut is wrong on two counts: The DNA findings were in fact published, and scholars tried to replicate them and failed, leading to the conclusion that the DNA results were the result of contamination and error.

After the first break we get an unusually vague on-screen recap as Wolter travels across Florida to the Windover Archaeological Site in Titusville, Florida. Wolter then reasserts that “some experts” are challenging whether Asians really beat Europeans to America.

At Windover Pond (or Bog), Wolter talks with Rachel Wentz, a bio-archaeologist who discusses the history of excavations at the well-preserved bog site. She talks about the population’s lifestyle and their many causes of death. They apparently had a hard life and suffered many diseases and broken bones. Wentz thought when she filmed this episode in October that she was working on a serious documentary for the History Channel, and she hoped it would be a boon to efforts to protect the site. I wonder what she will think of this episode. She tells Wolter than the DNA results on the Windover site had nothing to do with Europe but were instead North American, with ancestral origins in Asia.

Wentz leads Wolter to Dennis Stanford’s ideas, and he says he “has to go check it out,” even though he misunderstands the idea. He falsely asserts that “someone at the Smithsonian” is investigating a “European origin for Native Americans,” which is not at all what Stanford proposed; his idea had the Solutreans dying out or intermarrying with Paleoindians, contributing a small amount of DNA to modern Native populations, which are, of course, ancestrally Asian. This small but significant misunderstanding serves to make a great bit of propaganda, even though it undercuts earlier claims in the Grand Canyon episode of a Smithsonian conspiracy to hide the true white history of early America.

So far we’ve had Wolter suggest that (a) Europeans beat Asians to America and are the true founding population and (b) Native Americans might actually be Europeans in disguise.

This is going well.

After the break, the on-screen recap tells us that “America’s first people” are “possibly European” and that “Smithsonian research is underway.” Wolter then again misstates that the Clovis people were the first to come to America.

Wolter is back in Washington, D.C., heading to the Smithsonian—“the last place I’d expect”—the very seat of the conspiracy he thinks is working against him. He wrongly asserts that the Smithsonian is “not known for challenging the status quo,” quite a shock considering that the Smithsonian has published all manner of material challenging the status quo. Wolter meets with Dennis Stanford, who tells Wolter that his anti-Smithsonian conspiracy theories are a load of steaming bullshit, but in nicer words.

Stanford describes his Solutrean theory to Wolter, who really is obsessed with whatever it was that his teachers did to him in the 1960s or 1970s. “That’s not what I was taught in school” he says again and again. I have trouble with this because a lot has changed since the 1960s. Back then, people thought cigarettes were healthy.

Stanford shows Wolter the French flint Solutrean laurel leaf knife found in Virginia, and Wolter seems unfazed by the fact that the Smithsonian did not try to suppress this finding. Stanford is much less circumspect in this episode and he seems, frankly, like he’s become a single-minded crank. I have never heard him speak so bluntly, or with so little regard for the evidence against his ideas. He asserts that the Windover DNA is European, even though it is not according to everyone with expertise (Stanford is not a DNA expert), and he asserts that the Windover people were the “descendants” of the Solutreans!

But Wolter seems to see the Clovis people as having made their own tools, so what exactly did the Solutreans contribute? Stanford’s whole theory was that the Clovis people were the Solutreans, but Wolter wants them to be teams on opposite coasts.

Stanford shows Wolter the carving of the mammoth found in Florida, and Stanford calls it a mastodon, which seems like it would actually weaken his case since mastodons are native to the Americas and therefore could only have been viewed here in America. Consequently, this would seems to be evidence that the carving was in fact Paleoindian and not Solutrean, but Stanford seems to think it proves that the Solutreans came to America and recorded an encounter with a mastodon based on his belief that the art style is European.

Wolter again repeats that “I was taught” about the Bering Strait hypothesis. He really hates his old school, and I can’t imagine why he is incapable of realizing that the world has changed since the 1960s or 1970s, and one might like to see what current ideas are rather than basing one’s entire anti-academic conspiracy on a 50-year-old high school textbook. “This changes the paradigm in a huge way!” he shouts with glee at the thought of finally finding the ancient white people he’s spent two seasons searching for. America Unearthed does not even pretend to evaluate the Solutrean hypothesis critically, or seriously.

After the break, Wolter returns to Florida. He emphasizes that “no one is downplaying the incredibly rich Native American culture,” but that Europeans probably got here first. I’m confused, though, why Wolter seems unaware of Monte Verde, the oldest confirmed sites in the Americas, and one that is one the west coast—all the way in South America!

James Kennedy tells Wolter about the bone he found bearing the mammoth or mastodon carving, and Kennedy emphasizes the skepticism of archaeologists but doesn’t quite see that conducting tests is how the authenticity of an artifact is determined. As soon as evidence in favor of its authenticity emerged, archaeologists accepted the Vero mammoth. That’s how the process works. The Vero site helped establish that humans were in the Americas during the Ice Age when it was first found back in 1915.

Wolter meets with Gene Rodenberry, a historian of nearly no relation to the Star Trek creator (they’re related about eight generations back), and Rodenberry discusses the history of the Vero site and how the Vero mastodon carving fits into the Ice Age history of the site. Rodenberry, however, asserts that Europeans might have been here, and he agrees with Wolter that the loss of the 1915 fossil finds could have been done on purpose to suppress the truth—the “truth” that THE GODDAM SMITHSONIAN SHOWED HIM IN PERSON. So which is it? Is there a U.S. government conspiracy to suppress the truth, or is Dennis Stanford actually right? Both can’t be true, though the correct option—neither is true—can be.

After the final break, the screen tells us that the search continues for Europeans in America. Wolter wanders around looking for fossils in the hopes of turning up proof that Europeans were the first Americans. He does not find this proof, but he manages to find a mastodon tooth mere minutes after the cameraman had already found the tooth and set it up for the shoot. I’m guessing it was scouted ahead of time; otherwise, the camera couldn’t have been there.

So, Wolter (a) completely ignores pre-Clovis sites associated with Paleoindians, such as Monte Verde; (b) accepts DNA evidence that the people who worked on the DNA studies agree was the result of contamination; and (c) asserts a continuity of European colonization of America from 20,000 BCE to 6,000 BCE that somehow filled the continent from Canada to Florida while leaving behind one mastodon carving and one flint blade. Fourteen thousand years, and that’s it? “The evidence is mounting to the point where it’s impossible to deny!” Wolter says.

Kennedy says he has another carving and this one is more spectacular. On a piece of bone, we see a stick figure holding a spear along with a fish. The stick figure doesn’t resemble European cave art, so there’s that. Wolter is thrilled, though obviously the piece needs to be tested before it can be accepted as a genuine artifact. I couldn’t really get a good look at the figure, but it just doesn’t seem to resemble Paleolithic art, which did not typically use the modern stick figure style. But that will be for experts to decide.

Wolter concludes by saying that now that he has found that Europeans came to America first, it is not really important that they beat the Asians here, as long as their story gets told.
How magnanimous.

I will give America Unearthed this much credit: Because this episode is based on the ideas of Dennis Stanford, it is much more logical than most—not that this says too much—and tends to rely on more solid evidence, even if it never bothered to do even cursory research into the basis for the claims it promotes, or raised more than token hints that there are strong objections to most of the claims. America Unearthed is a show about personalities, so it doesn’t matter, really, whether the evidence is logical or rigorous since the criteria for acceptance are whether Scott Wolter and thus the audience thinks that the advocate is a nice guy or part of the conspiracy to suppress the truth. Thus it becomes possible to believe Dennis Stanford even while simultaneously believing in a conspiracy by his employer to suppress the “truth” he’s appearing on national television to proclaim.

The Solutrean hypothesis is not impossible, but surely even a cheap cable documentary can offer a stronger case for it than this.
150 Comments
Mandalore
2/8/2014 02:35:48 pm

Perhaps it would help to differentiate between observable science and historical science. Because those are totally different things and likely would make all of this completely comprehensible. Right?

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Derrick
2/8/2014 02:46:39 pm

Someone been watching the Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate.

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Coridan Miller
2/8/2014 02:38:11 pm

Well, in my time of schooling (88-02) they got around it by just skimming over it in a day so they could focus on the explorers. We heard about the bering strait crosssing but nothing about Clovis or any other migration theories.

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CHV
2/8/2014 02:38:36 pm

I also could not understand why SW became so excited by the mastodon carving considering that it was a species native to America.

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Jack
11/2/2014 11:17:13 am

From the reconstructions I've seen of mammoths and mastodons <i>and</i>, and the graphics shown in the program, the carving looked more like a mammoth with its sloping backside.

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Mark
2/8/2014 03:07:56 pm

Jason,
Can you share your thoughts on why Kennedy held out showing very few people his second carving, and felt that Wolter should be permitted to see it? Also did Kennedy get any money from his first artifact? I see that the Smithsonian made him a replica of his find, but I was wondering if he sold the original to them. My only thought is that perhaps he was holding out on selling his second piece because he is looking for a higher price. This is all speculation but if you could please look into this it would be great. Usually the guests on this show just about always need a disclaimer that the show never provides, but later learned by your reviews. In your review, it appears besides a lady who watched the 2003 documentary, all guests seemed to be "credible"

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Only Human
2/8/2014 03:21:46 pm

Personally, I think the Scott Wolter and America Unearthed thing has been done to death already and think it's time to let this go and move onto something new.

What about The new shows Myth Hunters or Curse Of Oak Island? They are presenting some strange and fringe theory ideas.

It was great reading for a while but isn't everybody burnt out on talking about Wolter and AU by now??? I mean what is left to say about him and his shows at this point?

Jason, I kinda wish that you'll give us something knew to debunk and debate.

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Only Human
2/8/2014 03:23:32 pm

...ugh....*NEW*.....

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Mark
2/8/2014 03:28:39 pm

only human,
Yes, in a way I agree, but I do learn a lot more by this blog, then just sticking tomthe "facts" that the show present. However, I agree about oak island. The last episode was amazing and the idea about codes in Shakespeare writings about oak island was incredible! It's already been leaked some by last weeks preview that the brothers pulled out from the swamp something valuable , both monetary form and sentimental. I am eagerly anticipating that epidose tomorrow, although disappointed that it is the season finale. Hopefullynthe series continues.

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Kaoteek
2/9/2014 03:05:22 am

Eh. I get what you're saying (and to an extant, I'm suffering from Wolter burn-out, too), but both shows you've been mentioning wouldn't make for very compelling reads.

Military Channel's Myth Hunters is an interesting watch, but that's because the producers have chosen a very adventure-oriented narrative : they present the myth, they retrace the steps & claims of the adventurer-of-the-week... and in the end, they often end up debunking those claims, & going back to the scientific/historic consensus. In and of itself, Myth Hunters is quite straight-forward, and doesn't really try to validate the myths they're presenting, so, aside from short corrections here or there, I doubt Jason would have plenty of material to write.

Same goes for Curse of Oak Island : once you've debunked (or at least explained) the fundamentals of Oak Island, as Jason has done in the past, there's not much more to say about the show, which is mostly guys digging. There's only so much you can say about the island, its modern legends & what people supposedly find there in every episode, before you end up quickly repeating yourself, imo.

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Maek
2/8/2014 03:31:20 pm

I apologize for the numerous typos, sometimes iPads and I don't get along

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cory
2/8/2014 03:52:36 pm

Some of your info seems like it's copied and pasted straight from Wikipedia. ..

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A.D.
2/8/2014 08:13:08 pm

You are just pissed at the facts being presented.Too bad.

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KIF
2/8/2014 10:14:38 pm

Can you repeat which facts

Prone
2/9/2014 03:18:53 am

You know, that might have something to do with the fact that despite all the flak it gets, Wikipedia actually does a pretty good job.
I'm guessing that Jason wasn't relying on the online encyclopedia, but the same sources which are cited in Wikipedia articles.

That was something important I learned from school. Don't use Wikipedia as a source of information, use WIkipedia's sources.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 03:25:03 am

I don't copy and paste from Wikipedia, but Wikipedia uses the same scientific studies and media accounts that I drawn my information from, so of course there will be similarities.

Alien Master
2/9/2014 09:30:31 am

Oh ok....so now we are using Wikipedia as a scientific source of information. Why dont you go out do some actual work yourself instead of sitting behind your computer.

Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:11:31 am

By the way, pick one alias and stick with it. Further attempts to spam the blog will be deleted.

Only Me
2/8/2014 03:57:52 pm

If it's not really important who came here first, as long as their story is told, then why expend so much effort to supplant the Native American narrative with Eurocentric fairy tales?

Only Human, if history has taught us anything, some ideas, no matter how unfounded or fantastic, will truly die. In the past they were confined to books, which few could afford to own in vast quantities. With the birth of the Internet, they have, like the legendary phoenix, risen anew from the fires possessing the minds of individuals who believe they are among the few "in the know". There will always be people who accept what they see, read or hear at face value.

Ironically, the truth is supposed to set us free, but it's seen as the enemy by those who choose to remain chained to a lie. As long as these ideas persist, there will always be a need for someone to stand up and say, "These ideas are woo and here's why".

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Martin R
2/8/2014 04:35:32 pm

For a brief moment, when Rachel Wentz told SW that the DNA from the bog people was not European, I thought, OK, maybe we'll have something serious happening. Then, it was like he didn't hear a word. It reminded of an old Albert Brooks' routine about radio DJs hearing what they want:

"Your fly's open."
"It is a nice day isn't it."

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 12:28:31 am

164 bodies were found in a bog/pond environment.
An ancient European Haploid group came up on a
DNA test. Bone and tissue samples existed, also
the contents of stomachs. Its a community, perhaps
having ancestors from an early Beringa wave. They
are ethnically more Asian than European and are
Native Americans. Life is said to be difficult. They
are twice or three times the age of Ireland's bog people.

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 12:58:47 am

The Inuit + the Laplanders lived in a similar environment.
The great ice sheets would have had Virginia + France being
like the Arctic Circle at 25,000 B.C --- When we look at SW
and Dennis Stanford in front of the arrowhead + spear head
collection, think of the habitat zone!!!! Florida's bog bodies
are later & correspond to the Neolithic, not the Paleolithic.
26,000 BC is near the height of the Ice Age, and the southern
most extent of the ice. The US/Canadian border in the west
is near the system dump of earth the melt caused. The big
sheets in the east covered New England. The currents cause
up-wellings of nutrients near the sheets in the Atlantic, hence
fish and seals. Dennis Stanford did not think there is a vast
number of "immigrant"s then, but there are the artifacts. Even
if its a thousand to one ratio if you look at Beringia, if in both places travel is in both directions, this makes it possible for
ideas to spread faster than people peopling if villages are a
"hen and chicken" pattern. DS is logical. SW never looked at
the full question, before. The Florida community is isolated.

J.A.D
2/9/2014 01:28:31 am

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/americas-bog-people.html

Dennis Stanford did talk of similar Solutrean looking
artifacts even being found in Florida, which suggests
a trading network existed from Virginia to Florida at
25,000 B,C at the very least. This gets to the "mammoth"
scrimshaw like carving on piece of big bone that was
found by a guy at a dig site, who is not a "pro" with degree.
Lets assume the ancestors of the Lenape has a self
governing system like the Iroquois and their confederation.
There could have been a well established social network
up and down the coast of people who were aware that
Europe and the Solutreans were across the great water.

J.A.D
2/9/2014 01:47:37 am

The ethnicity of the lil stick figure is difficult to determine,
The fish is a fish, that is an easier statement to make.
Loosely put, the culture that made the artifacts Dennis
Stanford shows to SW could be early ancestors of the
later Ice Age peoples on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA.

Just Sayin'
2/8/2014 05:58:25 pm

It's seems funny to me that a certified geologist needs to be shown how to hunt for and identify fossils by an amateur fossil hunter. Just sayin'......

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Only Human
2/8/2014 06:04:38 pm

Yeah, I understand what everybody is trying to say....

I just feel as if what made this site so cool is becoming lost with all this SW and the AU reviews and criticism. I really hate to say this but I'm almost starting to think that Jason is becoming so intensely focused on SW and AU that it's possibly, for whatever reason, becoming a personal mission to destroy his credibility and the that of the show. I don't want to think and didn't use to, but I'm not so sure anymore.

I just would like to see something totally new with the topics and the blogs and not seeing freakin Scott Wolter and America Unearthed. He's been discredited, debunked and decommissioned at this point!

Mark, I'm with you! I'm totally excited to see the last episode of Curse Of Oak Island. The theory is incredibly far out and far reaching but certainly is interesting.

Only Me, I know....I know....your right....sigh.....

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Only Me
2/8/2014 06:20:32 pm

If it helps, I thought I was wrong once...but it turned out, I was mistaken. =3

Don't lose hope. There are still PLENTY of nutty "theories" out and about. Sometimes, it's like that old saying about trying to herd cats!

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Only Human
2/8/2014 06:43:16 pm

I have only 2 cats....so I know what your implying all too well....;)

Jason Colavito link
2/8/2014 10:34:28 pm

I write at least 7 blog posts a week, of which (with a few exceptions) at least 5 are on other topics, usually 6, meaning anywhere from 71% to 86% of material is on other topics, most of which virtually no one reads and then blames me for being all about Scott Wolter. For better or worse Scott Wolter is the most important fringe figure of the moment, just as Ancient Aliens was before him, and therefore warrants coverage. More than 3/4 of new visitors to this website come because they are looking for information on what they saw on America Unearthed. I'm not going to ignore that, and you're free to read the 5 posts a week on other topics.

When my blog discussed mostly Ancient Aliens from 2010-2012, no one batted an eyelash. I still dutifully review Ancient Aliens each week, and I have yet to receive a complaint that I am "obsessed" even though I've done it consistently for three years (more than three seasons' worth of episodes) without missing an episode.

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Only Me
2/9/2014 04:56:34 am

Speaking of topics, I've been meaning to say thank you for the Tweet feature on your page. I like the heads up on some of the things you find that don't necessarily make it into the headlines of the blog.

When you reported Brian Foerster's DNA efforts on the Pacas skull, and how he involved Melba Ketchum, I was hoping you'd say something about it. You didn't disappoint! Can we safely expect future blog postings to come from what you get on Twitter?

Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:15:41 am

Glad you like the tweet box. Yes, I do intend to write about some of the things I tweet about.

Joseph Craven
2/8/2014 06:20:56 pm

Hmm... "Clovis First" was still being taught as fact with no mention of alternatives in my high school history class in 1994.

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Coridan Miller link
2/8/2014 09:38:53 pm

The one thing AU has right is the opening where it says the history taught to us in schools is wrong. Not because historians have it wrong, but because of the problems with politicized public education. James Loewen, a history professor with a lot of experience in the backroom politics of textbook publishing wrote a book on it called "Lies My Teacher Told Me" which I highly recommend reading (even if Jason has pointed out a few tidbits of fringe history that got mentioned in there).

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Joseph Craven
2/9/2014 07:09:35 pm

In my case it seemed to be a question of disinterest. The sum total of information on the subject in high school took the form of an hour from an old video while the teacher took a nap (he snored). In contrast, he spent at least three days discussing bigfoot, and my Mythology, Humanities, and Science Fiction (!) teachers each spent several days teaching their classes on the subject of ancient Matriarchies that were... and I wish I was exaggerating... perfect socialist utopias.

Amanda
2/10/2014 03:39:02 am

I was in school in the 1970s, and I never learned that the Higgs Boson existed, or that there was a top quark! It's almost as if science keeps changing with every new discovery. ;)

"Lies my teacher told me" is a great book. I do feel sympathy for teachers though. History is one discipline that is so complex and interconnected, that it's hard to break a piece off and teach it without acknowledging something infinitely larger. We were taught in 3rd grade that the "cause" of WWI was the assassination of Ferdinand. Is that true? In a manner of speaking, yes, but obviously it was more complicated than just that. But what do you really want a 3rd grader to take home from the lesson?

You can't teach history cumulatively, over the years, like you can math. So it's repeated: the same topics, over and over again, with presumably more sophisticated expectations at each grade level. And you simply can't cover the entirety of world history in 10 months, no matter how many times you repeat it over the years.

A good teacher (and I had quite a few of those) will explain what he or she is presenting is accurate as far as we understand it now, but with any science, social or other, that understanding may change given new information.

The Other J.
2/12/2014 07:28:08 am

Yeah, depending on the school district, the state, and whoever's in power, the materials available for teachers to present can be extremely limited. I don't live there any more, but I grew up in Wisconsin, and in the 1990's and early 2000's there were many, many debates about the redistricting of areas in and around Milwaukee. It basically led to segregated schooling, with all the poorer and minority kids zones into failing city schools, and all the wealthier kids going to public school palaces on the edge of town.

The one thing that struck me the most was that when George. W. Bush was in office, a few years into his presidency, the city schools' history textbooks stopped with the beginning of Bush's father's term in office. So they were well over a decade out of date. There's a lot of information that can be missed in that time, including changes to information that was once thought to be the case (like Clovis).

An Over-Educated Grunt
2/9/2014 12:48:26 pm

To put that in perspective, my high-school history textbook said that World War 2 was a regional conflict fought in the Korean Peninsula between 1948 and 1952. No, really.

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Brian
2/8/2014 06:36:14 pm

I too have lost a little interest in this site as all the attention seems to be on Scott Wolter and his tv show almost all the time anymore. Do we really need a review of every show now? Do we really need updates about things he says or claims? I don't think that Jason is intentionally trying to come off that way however I do see why Wolter and his believers are starting to think that he is making it personal by doing all the updates and now reviewing his books and education and things he says on other sites and stuff. It kinda does seem like he is cyberstalking him. And, yes, I saw the bickering back and forth on the other blog with Rev Phil which is really not Jason's style. I was surprised by that a little. It's kinda whatever at this point, border lining boring now. So, yes, SW is old news now and it's like beating a dead horse.

Let it go, Jason! I second something new! Your talent and knowledge is becoming wasted on SW and his show!

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George Kelley link
2/8/2014 10:47:30 pm

This argument that shining a light on this kind of lying and distortion of reality is a waste of time is amusing. I heard it yesterday in another venue. When the HISTORY CHANNEL promotes a distortion of history I value someone writing about the facts. Especially when the proposal has a racist tinge to it. If you don't like seeing this abortion of a history show being demolished with facts, don't click on it.

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Brian
2/9/2014 09:26:33 am

Amusing? Why? Because we see this "lying and distortion of history" all the time throughout history? And why should we keep "shining" a light on it? And proposing any idea or theory does not mean that it's racist. And who said anything about not liking the "seeing the abortion of a history show being demolished with facts, don't click on it" ?
I merely said that this AU review and discussion has been done to death.

John
2/9/2014 06:07:05 pm

I watch America Unearthed every week, and enjoy visiting this site afterwards to get a detailed evaluation of things presented on the show. Though the show is simplistic in its presentation, and I do watch it critically, at the same time I always try to have an open mind and find myself fascinated by certain things that sound convincing. When I read Jason's evaluations it opens me up to another perspective that I find enlightening. This is why I think the weekly evaluation of each episode is important.

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Amanda
2/10/2014 03:02:03 am

John, most of the people I talk to about the show (including my husband) do the same thing. THIS is an extremely informative site, and I've never failed to learn something new, even from the Ancient Aliens reviews.

I'm a big fan of TomandLorenzo.com too -- but I don't read ALL their posts. Usually I just read the ones relating to Project Runway. That's the beauty of a blog. You pick and choose the topics you want to read.

A.D.
2/8/2014 08:12:17 pm

One mistake,Haplogroup U has never been found in ancient america.Native American haplogroups are Y DNA Q-M3,C3b, and mtDNA Haplogroups A (A2), B (B2), C (C1b,C1c,C1d,C4c) ,D (D1,D2,D4h3) and X (X2a) and M(though this one was reassigned to the other four).Haplogroup X has been found in the Adena Hopewell cultures along with the other four.This shows continuity.
I forgot the name of the study but the author is Deborah Bolnick.
I would be cautious as you will find lots of mormons trying to prove "hebrews" built the mound cultures all over the net using haplogroup x.You will find mormon propaganda documentaries where they take advantage of scientist and twist their words in these docs like they did with Dr.Lorenz.

A Preliminary Analysis of the DNA and Diet of the
Extinct Beothuk: A Systematic Approach to
Ancient Human DNA Kuch et al 2007

"We have used a systematic protocol for
extracting, quantitating, sexing and validating ancient
human mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of one male and
one female Beothuk, a Native American population from
Newfoundland, which became extinct *180 years ago.
They carried mtDNA haplotypes, which fall within haplogroups
X and C, consistent with Northeastern Native
populations today. In addition we have sexed the male
using a novel-sexing assay and confirmed the authenticity
of his Y chromosome with the presence of the Native
American specific Y-QM3 single nucleotide polymorphism
(SNP). This is the first ancient nuclear SNP typed from
a Native population in the Americas. In addition, using
the same teeth we conducted a stable isotopes analysis
of collagen and dentine to show that both individuals
relied on marine sources (fresh and salt water fish, seals)
with no hierarchy seen between them, and that their
water sources were pooled or stored water. Both mtDNA
sequence data and Y SNP data hint at possible gene flow
or a common ancestral population for both the Beothuk
and the current day Mikmaq, but more importantly the
data do not lend credence to the proposed idea that the
Beothuk (specifically, Nonosabasut) were of admixed (European-
Native American) descent."

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A.D.
2/8/2014 08:34:30 pm

It's also noteworthy that the Windover Bog remains clearly have the typical shovel shaped incisors found in native american and asian populations

Talon Cusp From Two Archaic Period Cemeteries
in North America: Implications for Comparative
Evolutionary Morphology Stojanowski et al 2011

Spirit Cave Man also had shovel shaped incisors as recorded by Turner et al 1998.

DETERMINATION OF CULTURAL AFFILIATION
OF ANCIENT HUMAN REMAINSFROM
SPIRIT CAVE, NEVADA (2000)

"With the exception of the third molars, Spirit Cave Man's teeth are severely worn, limiting the information available.Dental discrete trait observations on Spirit Cave Man were recorded by Edgar (1996),Goodman (1999) and Turner (1998)."

The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World.Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences, No. 27.
Jablonski, N.G., ed. 2002; see chapter 6, by Christy Turner, "Teeth, needles, dogs, and Siberia: Bioarchaeological evidence for the colonization of the New World."

From anthropologist Peter N. Jones book: Respect for the Ancestors: American Indian Cultural Affiliation in the American West


"Furthermore, this is also the conclusion reached by specialist looking at the gross dental morphology of the Spirit Cave Mummy. As Goodman and Martin (1999) noted for the Spirit Cave individual,

"The presence of severe shoveling on the lateral incisors and the shoveling on a canine strongly suggest affiliation with contemporary Native Americans" (p.10), who exhibit a mixture of Sundadont and Sinodont dental characteristics."

"Edgar, Goodman and Turner noted the presence of incisor shoveling; Turner and Goodman, incisor winging and an interruption groove; Turner observed a shovel shape canine and enamel extensions on molars; and, no Carabelli's trait was noted by any observer."

"To summarize ,therefore , dental morphology indicates that the Americas were colonized by individuals whose genetic ancestry was with the evolving Late Pleistocene Northeast Asia population that culturally adapted to the Arctic and Subarctic frontier north of China and Southeastern Siberia around 30.000 ybp (Amerika,1985;Shields,1996;Shi¬elds & Jones,1996;Turner II,1985,1994)

Furthermore, the dental evidence indicates that Early Holocene skeletal remains found in the Plateau and Great Basin such as Kennewick Man and Spirit Cave Mummy are American Indian, and not related to any other population based on dental traits. A similar conclusion can be reached, as will be discussed next, concerning the skeletal morphology data"


"Turner records an overall "impression-Sinodont" (1998:1) for Spirit Cave dentition. Sinodont, a term originated by Turner, specifies a subdivision of the Mongoloid dental complex which generally includes the populations of China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Northeast Asia and North and South America (Indian & Eskimo) (Scott & Turner 1997:270-271)."

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Robert Denton
11/8/2014 01:33:03 am

Thanks for posting that A.D.. It's my understanding as well that neither morphological nor genetic analysis of any human remains from the Americas (pre-European contact) have shown evidence of other than Native American or Asian types.

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Seeker
2/8/2014 09:01:14 pm

I may speak for many people who read Jason’s blog because we’re fascinated by the topics raised by AU—yet disappointed by the unfulfilled promise of the show. I want both sides of the theories, artifacts, etc. discussed on the AU—but after every episode, I’m left with more questions than answers and I appreciate and look forward to the detailed information in Jason’s background and recaps.

Jason has reported more than once AU is one of the most popular topics on his blog so it makes sense that he spends a good amount of his time and energy on it. If someone doesn't want to read every review or blog about AU, the solution for this is pretty obvious.

Regarding the focus on SW, the host’s credentials are fair game if he sells his expertise as part of why the audience should believe information presented on his show. If there’s a concern about what Jason has reported about SW being unfair or untrue, that’s one thing. If not, knocking Jason for pointing out issues with SW’s expertise could be an attempt to distract from the valid issues he’s raising.

There are plenty of experts who could take the same material in AU and do a much better job with it—perhaps H2 will get the hint and try it again. It's great people have this space to share how they feel, what they think and to learn from one another. Maybe someone from H2 is paying attention.

Some people are actually watching this show and taking it at face value so the work Jason’s doing is very valuable. Keep it up, Jason!

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Jason Colavito link
2/8/2014 10:49:16 pm

Site traffic for America Unearthed reviews is roughly double that of non-AU blog posts, on average. The single most popular keyword leading people to my website from search engines is "Scott Wolter," and 18 out the top 25 are related to topics seen on America Unearthed. For the first time ever this week, Ancient Aliens fell off the list, though Giorgio Tsoukalos remains.

As for the absolute low point: Tens of thousands of people read my AU reviews, but my two posts on Lovecraft last week averaged just 700 readers. The Garden of Eden at the North Pole post crapped out at just 651 readers.

The public has spoken.

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J.A.D
2/8/2014 11:35:47 pm

William F. Warren and his Polar Express theories weren't
"sexy" enuff! So only 700 people know I really loused up
one of Jason's Lovecraft threads. This blog format by the
amount of words it allows and the lack of an edit function
enshrines stupid mistakes. Its easier to do fast quips here
but something at a Ph.D paper level is like what SW just
did to poor Dennis Stanford. Had Scott Wolter approached
the problem as an ancient Sea Empire having a two-way
trade route in the Atlantic, Plato ceases to be a fringe historian.

Walt
2/9/2014 09:54:21 am

Getting 651 people to read about the Garden of Eden at the North Pole is actually good. I come from a world of social media managers where people would be thrilled to get 651 people to read anything. Small companies actually pay cash just to try to eventually get 10 comments to a blog post. There's a science to growing an online community without looking like you're trying to grow a community.

You've managed to grow a community organically, yet another IT buzzword. So, I think you should be pretty happy getting 651 to read about a topic of that nature.

You might want to consider polling if weebly supports it. You could use that data in a few different ways. You'd have more than page views to gauge reader interest. You could find out the answers to some questions you raise about what viewers of fringe shows really think. Even if you don't use the information provided for decision-making, it still can be fun for readers. Just don't use popups.

Alien Master
2/9/2014 11:09:44 am

I disagree. The public has spoken because your the one speaking. And clearly you just admitted that without America unearthed that nobody really cares about anything else you talk about. That being the case, you lose interest in the site, interest in your books and lost revenue.
So I guess you should be thanking Wolter!! LOL!!

Gary
2/9/2014 12:54:37 pm

Based on the several negative and disingenuous remarks being posted, Wolter is sending you a bit of traffic himself.

RLewis
2/10/2014 06:27:04 am

Two points:
1) Which AU review has received the most views (just curious).
2) Glad to see AA searches are declining. Maybe it's a sign the TV show has finally run it's course. After this season, have you thought about discontinuing your reviews (assuming they toss out yet another "new" season with the same recycled tripe and still-dead talking heads)? If so, would you pick up something new (to review)?

Jason Colavito link
2/10/2014 06:35:04 am

So far this season my review of S02E09 "Mystery of the Serpents" had the most views within 24 hours of posting. I don't have more specific details for long-term aggregates of page views.

Yes, I have thought about dropping Ancient Aliens in favor of something new, but so far I haven't found a regular series that would provide enough material to make weekly reviews interesting enough to read.

RLewis
2/10/2014 06:59:31 am

Don't worry, I'm quite confident that H2 will replace it was some other shlocky show to review.
Plus, there's always Honey Boo Boo.

CFC
2/9/2014 12:00:22 am

I agree. Keep it up Jason.

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Martin R
2/9/2014 09:12:47 am

One can see America Unearthed as the Gateway into this blog, which I appreciate. Without SW, I would not have known about or read, for example, Jason's fine "Faking History." I refuse to call it a trickle down, though.

Clint Knapp
2/9/2014 09:17:06 am

I may be one of the few people who actually reads (and for the most part enjoys) every new post- regardless of the topic. I don't agree with the obsession hypothesis some like to put forward because I read enough to know it's not there.

AU reviews do tend to be longer than most other posts. I will grant that much and perhaps some people are getting the idea Jason's obsessed with the show and Scott Wolter from that extra length. However, that extra length is almost entirely background information regarding the claims themselves, containing little if any reference to AU or Scott Wolter. It is, in fact, the Background section of these reviews I read more carefully and with more enjoyment than the show review itself.

By and large, the show tends to cram a lot of fringe speculation into a single episode. Naturally the background is going to be longer and more involved to address all of these claims.

Who cares about Scott Wolter? He's a hack leaning on a four-year geology degree and a magic known-only-to-him dating method to make claims about his scientific superiority. He's essentially a less-focused form of Robert Shoch- and I don't see anyone jumping to Shoch's defense when Jason mentions his radical re-dating of the Great Sphinx in AA reviews.

If there is obsession with AU and Wolter, it's in the comment threads and the people contributing to those. I'm assuming when Jason mentions hits per article he means unique ones- because I know I myself often leave the day's article in a browser tab all day and refresh it periodically to see what else has been added. On AU days, the comments multiply like rabbits. On AA or Lovecraft days they can stall out in the mid teens and might gain one or two more the next day before petering out entirely.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 09:24:08 am

Yes, those are unique hits I referenced.

You also seem to have caught on that I use the wider readership for America Unearthed reviews to cram in an extra blog post, labeled "Background," where I essentially talk about whatever I like on the subjects AU plans to cover. It's a sneaky way of getting visitors to actually read the type of writing I do regularly by appending a relatively brief show review to a longer article on a similar theme. Marketing!

Clint Knapp
2/9/2014 10:04:35 am

It's really the best part of these articles, and I only hope more people are paying attention to the genuine information contained therein than the comment threads seem to indicate.

Walt
2/9/2014 10:13:38 am

"...leave the day's article in a browser tab all day and refresh it periodically to see what else has been added."

I do that as well, especially when I'm waiting to see a train wreck in the comments. But, refreshing a page to get updates should've gone out with the 1990s. Weebly, or Jason, should be using AJAX so the entire page with all comments doesn't have to be sent over the wire on every page reload. That's particularly important for mobile sites.

Matt Mc
2/10/2014 04:26:52 am

I do not think Wolter is a "hack" at all. I think his approach is very calculated and crafted following the lead of those who followed before. He has set up a system that allows him to make a claim and if people dispute it they are either arm chair critics with nothing better to do or they are part of the conspiracy to cover up the truth. He and Committee film craft the show in a manner that makes its claims through repetition and distortions all deliberate and in their minds impervious to criticism .

Of course none of the content matter to anyone production wise except maybe Wolter as the only goal is to make money for them. Wolter however is using the show to amp up his book sales, paid appearances ect. And ultimately that is the true goal here to make money.

I believe Wolter and Committee films are very much aware that they are not being "truthful" in the presentation. The approach is to stylized for them not to be. Just as I believe that Wolter created his own blog because of sites like Jason's and perhaps that is his biggest failing. His own ego forces him to defend claims he makes, claims he himself might not even believe (I do think he truly believes that KRS is authentic). I believe that his blog will be actually what discredits him, for example his demonstration that he has no clue as to what peer review is (even though I think that is out of ignorance than anything else). He simply cannot stand having people disagree with him and that will be what hurts him the most.

Anyway I don't see anything "hack" about the show or Wolter. I think he is and was someone who is very good at his given profession in geology and was drawn into the fringe world through his work on the KRS and he liked the attention and realized that he could make money of it. While I can say it might not be the most ethical thing to change directions many hosts and other people have gone down the same path and judgements aside he simply took advantage of what thrown in his path.

Robert K. Denton Jr., CPG, LPSS
11/8/2014 01:55:41 am

Good points Seeker. I know what has angered me about SW is that he has stolen nearly all of his ideas and premises from others. One of his main sources has been the late Barry Fell, who unlike SW actually earned a real PhD, and taught at Harvard. I was privileged to have met Barry when I was just a young intern at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Mass, where Barry worked. Barry's work on ancient American inscriptions was his avocation (he was an invertebrate paleontologist professionally), and his books are still the most widely respected on the topic. I may have missed it somehow, but I have yet to hear SW credit Barry with anything in any of the shows that I have watched.

SW is an amazing fraud. He has no pedigree whatsoever. SW has actually made sure that any biography of himself on Wikipedia has been removed or gutted. Now bear in mind, there is no "requirement" that someone practicing the earth sciences or archaeology has to have a degree; many professional geologists gained their certification by experience. But you must have the equivalent of 30 credit hours in the discipline to qualify for goelogical certification. SW has not even earned certification, nor has he tried, apparently.

Similarly, in the field of vertebrate paleontology, there have been many folks who have never earned a formal degree, but by virtue of their working with experts in the field, their discoveries, and their ability to report their findings in a professional manner, they have been accepted as a peer in the discipline. For example, Louis Leakey never received a formal degree, but no one would ever question his credentials as one of the foremost paleoanthropologists of the 20th century. Similarly, Jack Horner never earned a formal degree, but by virtue if his work, he was granted an honorary PhD by the University of Montana, and continues to teach there and serve as the director of the Museum of the Rockies.

SW is an empty suit, and an insult to those of us who have actually earned our credentials by virtue of our work and/or our discoveries.

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Sacqueboutier
2/8/2014 10:29:23 pm

Theme for this episode: "I get to ride an airboat AND go kayaking.....both in the same episode!!!!!"

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A.D.
2/8/2014 10:47:52 pm

more stuff on "lost tribe of giants" which is so much a big part of the fringe

Ancient Giants who ruled America

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbHpQK9uvw4


Skeptoid did a good one on the fake red haired giants

The Red Haired Giants of Lovelock Cave

skeptoid.com/episodes/4390

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Michael Haynes
2/9/2014 01:18:24 am

I have to admit that this was the episode of America Unearthed that left me more curious about its topic than cynical. The point that I took away from this is that there are still gaps of many thousands of years in the history of Paleo-America that need to be explored and filled in. Unfortunately, many of the potential sites (particularly in Florida) that could help this are underwater because of the rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age. There's also the possibility of European artifacts ending up in America due to them being included in ballast for colonial-era ships. I know that America Unearthed has a specific agenda for itself, but I actually thought this was a small step in the right direction.

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The Other J.
2/12/2014 07:42:59 am

Concurred. Also, the Ainu people are fascinating. I've only looked into them a little bit, but they're a different enough and isolated enough population in Japan to point to an earlier, much different world that we would have a hard time recognizing. Same with the mummified people who once occupied the Tarim Basin.

That old unknown world seems far richer and more interconnected than we realize, and just shuffling it all off to "European" seems to miss the point and reduce what that world was like to what some people want it to be like (a reflection of themselves). For all we really know, if you went back 22,000 years ago to, say, the Pyrenees, the populations there might be as just as different and removed as the Ainu people in Japan today are.

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Titus pullo
2/9/2014 01:24:21 am

I wa confused as I thought the solutrean theory was they created the Clovis culture. It wasn't an off the rails episode like Egyptian caves but I still fell asleep with about 15 minutes to go. I do think the various migrations of modern behavioral man are really still not well known. But the little evidence we have on Europeans and central asian mixes makes it more likely that the first Americans came from Asia with a more diverse genetic makeup. And besides isn't Europe part of Asia anyway? Seems like too many people are looking at this with ethnochovenism and not focused on understanding where we all came from. Whose to say, maybe modern behavior humans started in the Americas and folloewed the horse to Asia...ha ha

I give the episode a 7 based on the AE scale....

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Andrew Churchill
2/9/2014 01:37:23 am

I think we must be very careful about summarily dismissing the Solutrean hypothesis and even more careful about relegating Dr. Dennis Stanford to the status of a lone crank. Dennis Stanford may hold an unorthodox view about the early peopling of the Americas, but his position and his credentials are not in dispute and Dr. Bruce Bradley, who also supports this hypothesis, has impeccable academic credentials.

http://anthropology.si.edu/staff/Stanford/Stanford.html

http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/bradley/biography/ (his PhD was from the University of Cambridge no less)

The fact is that there is some evidence to support the Solutrean hypothesis. There is as yet not a large amount, but it does exist and it is possible. This is by the far the most credible episode of AU yet (damning with very faint praise!) and cannot be ignored simply because Wolters is the presenter.

Incidentally Kennewick man is absolutely not Native American; the latest DNA results have yet to be published, but early indications are that he may have been Polynesian as Jason indicates, although a European connection cannot yet be completely ruled out until the final results are published this year.

http://www.burkemuseum.org/kennewickman/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2216392/Kennewick-Man-likely-Polynesian-definitely-Native-American-scientist-says.html

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 01:40:20 am

I'm not dismissing him as a crank; all I said was that this is the first time I've heard him talk about his theory without any of the usual caution or qualifiers, and it frankly sounded bizarre to me: nearly 15,000 years of European occupation with no physical evidence beyond a couple of blades, acceptance of faulty DNA results, etc.

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WellGwhiz
2/9/2014 06:36:55 am

Seeing style transfer mostly, not DNA transfer. White people way back then brown, anyway?

A.D.
2/9/2014 02:36:55 am

Do you have any proof of your claims as his dna wasn't able to be tested because of its age.David Glenn Smith wanted to take a tooth sample and slice it but wanted to wait until the technology advanced.

When his dna is ever sequenced he will have the typical Native American haplogroups and all the racist will have to shut their lying mouths for good.All that is left is the media spinning it in some way which is a staple tactic of the fringe.Or no media coverage whatsoever.

Doug Oswley has an agenda and is anti-native.

Burke archaeologist challenges Smithsonian over Kennewick Man

A Burke Museum archaeologist is raising the alarm over the Smithsonian's science. Their mistake? No peer review.

http://crosscut.com/2012/11/02/science/111236/kennewick-man-critique/

The Question of Kennewick Man: re-writing colonization by Chris Kortright

http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/Chris_Kortright__The_Question_of_Kennewick_Man__re-writing_colonization.html#toc1

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/25/long-legal-and-moral-battle-over-kennewick-man-149008



"The Recovery and First Analysis of an Early Holocene Human Skeleton from Kennewick, Washington", American Antiquity, Vol. 65, No. 2 (Apr., 2000), pp. 291-316

"Cranial characteristics, femoral morphology and stature together led me, in the forensic venue, to suggest an affiliation with modem Euroamericans. Once the skeleton's age was known, however, I referred to the remains as 'Caucasoid-like' (Preston 1997). I did not state, nor did I intend to imply, once the skeleton's age became known, that he was a member of some European group (Chatters 1998).

"His physical features, teeth, and skeletal measurements show him to be an outlier relative to modern human populations, but place him closer to Pacific Islanders and Ainu than to Late Prehistoric Amerinds or any other modern group. Despite his uniqueness relative to modern peoples, he is not significantly different from other Paleoamerican males in most characteristics"


I have provided tons ,I can add more, sources before on the comment sections of Jason's blog that proves paleoindian remains from North and South America are Native American and NOT "europeans" or "africans".

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A.D.
2/9/2014 02:54:46 am

I have always been wary of Owsley's claims and one review of his book really hit home about his run around tactics

Lots of Questionable "Facts",

By Dixie

This review is from: No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America's Oldest Skeletons (Hardcover)

"I just finished reading No Bone Unturned. The book began to lose credibility when the author (Chapter 11) did not realize and apparently, no one told him that "diamond-plaiting" is a type of weave NOT plaiting with actual diamonds in it.

"The sight of diamonds from over ten thousand years ago gripped everyone."
"This is very interesting, Owsley said, taking the final look at the Spirit Cave man before Dansie covered him back up in his diamond-studded matting." (Sorry, I just laugh every time I read that!)

Then the part that seemed to show manipulation of the facts to prove a theory. (Chapter 27) Sharon Long a reconstruction artist with a degree in anthropology made a mold of the Spirit Cave Mummy. Owsley contacted her to schedule a time to develop details that would make a virtual-reality bust of the mummy. Owsley mentioned the images seen in textbooks.........

"But that look isn't the look," said Owsley, explaining that the Ainu, despite being an Asian population, are very different from the so-called Mongoloid peoples like Japanese's and Chinese and Koreans. They have wavy hair, very hairy full beards. They have more of a Caucasian type of appearance."

Owsley wanted an Ainu and he got an Ainu. He went on in the book to tell Long where and how much clay to apply or remove in order to make the cast look like he wanted it to look not how she the supposed expert wanted to do it. Then he has the gall to say.......

"That's the look, Owsley said, admiring Long's talent. "You have captured him."

(Sooo........ That should say how accurate those wonderful artist renditions from skull casts are.)

In Chapter 27 the author listed several old skeletal remains that according to Owsley did not have any affinity to modern Native Americans (and by now the reader has learned Owsley is a god and beyond reproach.) One of the remains was,

"Minnesota Woman, an 8775 year old adult woman discovered in Pelican Rapids Minnesota, in 1931 during a highway construction project. Owsley & Jantz examined it, confirming no affinity to modern Native Americans. DNA testing was also performed. Regardless, the Sioux tribes of South Dakota reburied it on October 2, 1999."

I could find neither Minnesota Woman nor her DNA results online. I cannot help but believe the DNA was shown to be Native American if a test was actually done and if any viable DNA was extracted. My reason for thinking this is if it had proven NOT to be Native American Owsley would have made absolutely certain that it did not go back to the Sioux! In addition, the DNA results would have been blasted all over the place to prove Owsley theory. If I am correct, the author (with Owsley blessings?) allowed an inference that the DNA was NOT Native American when in fact, it was, or no determination was made.

No one even Owsley is above "fudging" data and creating "facts" to fit personal beliefs. Just being in the public eye does not make one infallible. If this book taught me anything, never think that just because someone is a big name they would not twist things to make themselves and their theories look better than they are."


It looks like there really isn't much science involved in these reconstructions.Chatters was influenced by Star Trek so he got Patrick Stewart and Owsley wanted an Ainu so he got an Ainu.lol


Chatter's reconstruction

http://www.tootntownsusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Kennewick_Man.jpg

Owsley's 2012 reconstruction

Mystery solved: Who the 'Kennewick Man' really was

http://www.kplu.org/post/mystery-solved-who-kennewick-man-really-was

Either way we can still find Native Americans who fit the bill for the reconstructions.Including Luzia the Lagoa Santo Paleoindian skull from Brazil

http://www.old-picture.com/indians/Shoalwater-Indian-Man.htm

http://www.old-picture.com/indians/pictures/Old-Eskimo-Man.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2447g2d.jpg

Three Eagles.Nez Perce

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=52002

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Andrew Churchill
2/9/2014 04:13:48 am

So A.D. (although I suspect A.C.E. may be closer to the mark, no?) your argument consists almost entirely of impugning Dr. Owsley as a racist bigot and disputing his findings based on studies created prior to his 2005 examination of the bones and the publication of his findings in 2014?

With all due respect I also think you obtained most of your links from my initial link at the Burke Museum;

http://www.burkemuseum.org/kennewickman/furtherreading

Have you read all of these? That is a perfectly valid question, as many of them from different authors actually agree with 'anti-native racist bigot' Owsley.

A.D.
2/9/2014 05:33:23 am

I did read it and the burke site has been edited.There was a good section about race and kennewick man with quotes from various anthropologist.I wish they didn't change that section it was good.Oh well.The lines of evidence that shows a continuity from ancient and modern native americans goes all around the sub fields of anthropology:linguistics,genetics,dental,skeletal,archaeological,etc.I don't have time to post everything here but the conclusive lines of evidence proves the seniority of natives to the western hemisphere.

Walter Neves hanged on to his "luzia was a negroid/melansesian" theory until his theory was challenge by his peers in his field and proven wrong with genetics The same will happen to Owsley.

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 01:59:54 am

If the first big human wave over Beringia or to the south of it
is Sea People from Polynesia, and this is happening as
Australia is about to be peopled, i feel this half explains the
ethnic and DNA make-up of the people who reached the
tip of South America, to whit... Patagonia. Fishing + camping
after going by sea over several hundred miles has Alaska
and Patagonia reached in the lifetime of a small tribal group.
The 1950s land bridge idea assumes everyone likes to walk.

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 02:26:06 am

Polynesians could have been here 200,000 years ago...


http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2014/02/more-on-useless-mitochondrial-dna-clock.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2014/01/an-early-peopling-of-america-part-i.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2014/01/an-early-peopling-of-america-part-ii.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2013/07/denisovans-neandertals-and-peopling-of.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/patagonian-natives-part-1.html

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com/2009/09/patagonian-natives-part-ii.html

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RLewis
2/9/2014 02:30:12 am

For what it's worth, I was taught that early Americans followed migrating land animals across a relatively short LAND bridge. This seems more plausible than crossing several thousands of miles of ICE. I understand they could (feasibly) hunt seals along the way, but they would also need (I would think) furry animals for clothing (or organic material for weaving) - which don't seem likely to be abundant on an ice sheet.
Regardless, if they did come to America 20,000 years ago, while interesting, does not (IMHO) change America History significantly.

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An Over-Educated Grunt
2/9/2014 12:56:03 pm

This ties to one of the things that bugged me about the Solutrean hypothesis, especially in the graphical forms that AU showed. What I would have done, so far as possible, is use the "proper" landmass and ice masses on the maps, as would have been found in the supposed migration period, but that's only information delivery, not the information itself.

The fact remains, an Atlantic crossing would require whoever made it to move on foot through subarctic and arctic conditions. Assuming they made ten miles a day and beelined from Old World to new, you're still talking six, seven months on the ice supporting their entire population, which means that said population has to have enough food to live off of for that entire journey. It is incredibly unlikely. It is not impossible, but the simpler explanation is the Siberian crossing, which only requires a week or two on the world's biggest low-water crossing. Extraordinary claims and extraordinary evidence and all that.

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WellGwhiz
2/10/2014 04:56:15 am

Why not by foot and small boat along edge of ice? Not the Atlantic crossing! Why not both, above, instead of one or the other? Siberian crossing, edge of ice crossing, more to, :Pacific crossings, Coming from everywhere!

Dchoda
2/9/2014 04:35:38 am

Sorry but you can' t tell me these professional archeologists didn't know what show they were on. It's called self promotion or please someone listen to me.

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Mark E.
2/9/2014 06:27:18 am

15 minutes of fame?

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james link
2/9/2014 04:39:22 am

One thing is the outline they made of the figure is completely wrong and backwards the only thing that is correct is from the head up to the spear the body looks nothing like what is on the show. The prob is they are only going by the pics taken while they were here. One other thing, one of the people that have seen this bone and agree that it is genuine is Dr.Paul Bahn. If you don't know who he is look him up he is a British archeologist that spent some time here at my home with me. I may be wrong but I think he is a bit more qualified than you Jason at least in this field.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 04:53:33 am

Do you have a better photograph showing the actual carving so we can see it? You can email it to me, and I will gladly post it for everyone to see.

As I said above, I could not begin to evaluate it because I didn't get a good look at it, and the show's superimposed outline looked nothing like Paleolithic art. I'm no expert, and as I said, we need to wait for expert opinions.

If you are in fact the James Kennedy from the show, as you said you were (your IP address seems to verify this), you don't have to come here with anger and hostility and sniping at me. I deleted the comments in which you accused me of being jealous of you for violating my comments policy. I didn't accuse you of anything, and I and my readers would very much like to see the true carving on what is quite probably a very important piece of Paleoindian art.

If you can respond in a civilized way without name calling, most of us would very much like to hear what you have to say about your artifacts.

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Karl Frazier
2/17/2014 05:59:08 pm

Colavito: "If you can respond in a civilized way without name calling..."

Gosh! I have to say that "name calling" seems to be the technique of choice on this site as demonstrated by you Colavito. To wit:

"He's a hack leaning on a four-year geology degree and a magic known-only-to-him dating method to make claims about his scientific superiority. He's essentially a less-focused form of Robert Shoch..."

Or was that not "name-calling" -?

Tara Jordan link
2/9/2014 09:33:55 am

James.
Could you send me a couple of high resolution pictures of the artifacts?.
Thanks

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RLewis
2/19/2014 08:10:54 am

Since I did not hear any more about this, I assume you (or Jason) never received a response(?)

Jason Colavito link
2/19/2014 12:36:43 pm

I for one never heard from him again.

james link
2/9/2014 04:53:01 am

regardless of where the people came from I still have the oldest artworks in the Western Hemisphere. They are minimum age of thirteen thousand years old because that is when the megafauna here went extinct but new scientific studies are showing that there possibly around 25 thousand years old keep on hating people, jealousy is a natural feeling. Its just restrained by maturity.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 04:54:46 am

What, exactly, do you think people here hate you for? Just because I and many others disagree with the Solutrean hypothesis, it is hardly a personal attack on you.

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Bunker S
2/9/2014 11:03:15 am

Whatever! Your whole site and everyone here are nothing but personal attacks. You and your followers claim to merely review America Unearthed and refute the theories with facts but you go way beyond that. You all eventually resort to snarky, sarcastic and even insulting personal attacks. If you claim to be just reviewing the episodes and refuting the theories with your facts than why do you have to follow around Wolter on the internet like a puppy dog and put up a new post every god forsaken time he makes a comment somewhere else, does an interview somewhere else or even when he takes a dump?? You don't care for his background, his methods, his education, his theories and probably even his hair style. We got it already! Let it go already! Move on to something else! You need to add more to your hobby than just Wolter and his tv show!

Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:10:14 am

I did wonder when you'd show up. This is your first and only warning. Further comments that violate my comments policy of 1/24/14 will be summarily deleted without notice.

Mark
2/9/2014 03:42:48 pm

Mr. Kennedy,
Did the Smithsonian purchase your artifact, or did you donate it? Also what made you want to show Wolter your second artifact? You said hardly anyone has seen it, just wanted to know what made you share your discovery?

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Rev. Phil Gotsch
2/9/2014 04:55:56 am

Jason --

I do appreciate your generous concession (above) that North American archaeologists eventually finally were "forced" (your choice of term !!!) to concede that the cherished long-held "Clovis First" dogma was wrong, after all ...

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 08:52:12 am

more than a century ago, Clovis was revolutionary in that
Bishop Ussher was assumed to be correct, and its taken
easily a half century to get beyond the self imposed barrier
that assumes anything Pre-Clovis is a fraud or a mistake.
Piltdown Man ruled greatly for almost 50 years in tyme!!!!!
I still think Louis Leakey is correct about the Calico, CAL
flints from 200,000 years ago. Dennis Stanford's merrie
Solutreans are sight unseen. We must go by the artifacts.
He did vouch for the age of the bone that had the carving.
James Kennedy does have an extremely old piece of art.
There may be petroglyphs on this continent that are older
but stone often is difficult to date. Someone was once here!

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 09:02:18 am

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/25/137549198/florida-fossil-hunter-gets-credit-for-big-find

found this NPR link... about the "mammoth/mastodon" bone
having been tested, and basically being authentic. if the "fish
and spear fisherman" bone holds up under testing and is of
a similar age, this is like saying WOW and W'OW because it
looks like each of them is the find of a lifetime! All SW found
is a big tooth when he looked, and even then that was cool?

Tim
2/9/2014 06:36:43 am

The idea of the show was interesting, but the delivery is the annoying part of these shows. Instead of leaving an open ended question leaving us to wonder how people migrated and intermixed in the distant past...he commands that his beliefs are correct beyond a reasonable doubt. Haha someone mentioned the military channel, I have started watching the military channel for more interesting history driven shows myself. This show could have such potential (with real research, a better host, scientific evidence that is peer reviewed). Just frustrating how shock value is the sole means to getting ratings on all channels now days.

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Tara Jordan link
2/9/2014 09:07:29 am

Denis Stanford`s theory on Epipaleolithic nomadics & even Upper Paleolithic`s walking their way from France to North America across the ice,is quite exotic in itself, but it doesn't explain anything.
In order to survive in extreme cold conditions, you need a constant supply of calories & fats (fat insulation helps retain body heat,& the ability for bodies to reduce heat loss and to increase internal heat production).There is also the most vital element for surviving under extremely cold environment,fire,& you need wood or dried materials to make fire.Prolonged exposure to freezing or cold temperatures may cause serious health problems such as trench foot,frostbite,hypothermia & death.Unless these people carried along a substantial amount of wood,I don't see how they could have survived.On the ice cap,they didn't have access to moss,dried grasses or other dried vegetation,not even dried animal dung, as primary or secondary sources for fire.

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J.A.D
2/9/2014 09:17:54 am

they went by hide + skin boats

think arctic conditions bordering

on almost antarctic, intensely cold.

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Only Me
2/9/2014 09:28:55 am

Even if they had such boats, you still have the problems outlined by Tara. Their boats would have allowed them to hug the "coast" of the glacial ice, but you still have to have shelter, sufficient food and fire. I don't see how they could manage two of the three, unless you're suggesting they carried collapsible shelters and lots of combustible material in their fleet.

Tara Jordan link
2/9/2014 09:29:12 am

If you study the indigenous cultures who live on (quasi) arctic environments,you understand that they can rely on Spring & Summer conditions(when the ice/snow melt) to collect wood,moss,dried grasses,dried vegetation,dried animal dung.During Spring & Summer,the temperature is good enough to produce oils from vegetable & animals.Under freezing conditions you cannot reproduce the same process.

J.A.D
2/9/2014 09:48:59 am

I admit in 1912 Scott's people ended up eating their sled-dogs
when loosing their dash to the South Pole, if the domestication
of dogs from wolves happens after 15,000 B.C we then do not
see sleds as an option in 25,000 B.C --- The flexibility of going
on and off the sheet ice or having a fast sea route and tons of
supllies makes the trip possible. Since the ice each summer
breaks away and goes out to sea, you cannot have permanent
depos, you need to plan ahead & travel in stages. it is possible.

J.A.D
2/9/2014 10:09:01 am

Curiously enough, for Dennis Stanford's Solutrean Hypothesis
to work, whether we are talking about a one-way voyage from
Virginia to Spain, or from France to where the Georges Bank is
now, you need the sea goers to go up on sheet ice at mid-trip
and needful of huskies in a dog team to get them further along
when on the icy shore near to their destination, walking is too
slow and long. Most storms are like the PERFECT STORM, the
seas are like those the Titanic was inside on April 14th, namely
icebergs to the horizon. Its cold, its sometimes glass smooth
or dreadfully choppy. Its not impossible. An impromptu trip
with no planning is almost lethal, one starves or dehydrates if
one does not freeze. It would be easier for Homo Erectus to
walk slowly in by an earlier Beringia landbrisge, yes indeedy!!!

Tara Jordan link
2/9/2014 10:38:41 am

Sailing from France to North America is not an easy task,especially for Upper Paleolithic or Epipaleolithic individuals,who used to have a forager life style.It is not an initiative which can be undertaken by individuals who don't have serious prior experiences in planning, constructing,navigating,mapping,& the technical abilities/requirements for storing,preserving food,fresh water & supplies.As far as I am aware,we have yet to discover an Upper Paleolithic or Epipaleolithic "navigation culture" (like the Polynesians).

Rev. Phil Gotsch
2/9/2014 10:01:39 am

Interestingly, people adapted in our day to the FAR north do BEST during coldest winter months of plenty of ice … The ice is the highway system for them for, allowing easiest travel, and the seals that are a source of food and leather and oil for lamps, are easier to locate and kill at the breathing holes ...

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Walt
2/9/2014 09:33:51 am

I actually enjoyed this episode, and I also enjoyed this blog. Hope I'm allowed to do both.

This episode was almost science, but none of it was Wolter's. He checked out a couple fossils and bones, but no rock artifacts. Most of the show was SW asking questions and even listening to the answers. He didn't even hide evidence that contradicted the theory.

For some reason, I came out of the show thinking the Solutrean Theory is even less likely than I already did, which doesn't speak well for Stanford. I'm left wanting to know why he apparently rejects the DNA findings of the other experts.

Reply
J.A.D
2/9/2014 10:26:40 am

worse, his ancient Solutreans may have had twice or three
times the amount of Neanderthal DNA than Otzi the Ice Man
has! There are no bones to test, only artifacts! he is older, the
training he had is before the DNA revolution in Anthropology.
i think there has to be a community with a high amount of
Neanderthal DNA that shows there is inter-species mating.
If the Solutreans 30,000 years ago are very Neanderthal...

http://news.discovery.com/human/evolution/neanderthal-skeleton-provides-evidence-of-interbreeding-with-humans-130327.htm

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Karl Frazier
2/17/2014 06:04:44 pm

"worse, his ancient Solutreans may have had twice or three
times the amount of Neanderthal DNA than Otzi the Ice Man
has!"

Um...and exactly how much Neanderthal (sic) DNA does Otzi the Ice Man (allegedly) have -?

J.A.D
2/9/2014 09:37:08 am

Tara... I'm assuming the Inuit, Laplanders and Reindeer
Herders of Siberia of the past know how to deal with the
cold when on land, and could ride out bitter storms and
blizzards by hunkering down. I also assume a longer trip demands an ongoing Vitamin C source. In Europe, our EMH
ancestors, some with Neanderthal blood in their veins did
step into the ecosystem niches of the Neanderthals, its not
that their bodies were totally adapted to a Siberian winter, its
more that they could take advantage of a summer tundra by
being flexible in their migrations. They did have small ships
and boats, initially, to go from the increasing heat of the vast
Sahara to the bitter cold zone near the great Ice Sheets in say
three to five generations without any advice from the locals
would have been quite a fete! the Neanderthals had to have
communicated with the early arrivals out of Africa on an equal
plane. To figure out all the techniques of living inside a stark
landscape in 3 to 5 generations is one heck of an achievement.
it makes more sense that Europe's ancestors got a 500,000
year lore handed to them by the last Neanderthals who had
few EMH ancestors. Otzi has 5% Neanderthal DNA in him!!!
I think a Solutrean might have had 10% to 25% Neanderthal
DNA in them if only due to the age they lived in! We do not
have the bones from a Solutrean to test. If they were all half
or one quarter Neanderthal, that might explain much. Look at
where they are on the map, today we see Basques there!!!!
We have spent 15 to 20 thousand years mutating over or
loosing Neanderthal DNA if we are European. IMOHO totally!

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Tara Jordan link
2/9/2014 10:01:38 am

I appreciate your feedback,but I am not qualified to argue about genetics,this is not my discipline.

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Cal
2/9/2014 10:57:40 am

I liked Jason's comment about product placement. That was one of the first things I noticed. Mr. Wolter has gotten himself a new wardrobe provider. It looks like someone in corporate America has noticed Mr. Wolter and the buzz he is creating. Too bad it is one of my favorite sportswear companies.
Do you think we should start a boycott on Columbia Sportswear? Tongue firmly in cheek.
Go on about your business people, nothing to see here.

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Cal
2/9/2014 11:01:15 am

Oh, and Jason, I know why they chose Mr. Wolter's show over yours.
It was the cargo shorts and backpack, you didn't have a gimmick... other than the ability to be rational.
Keep up the good work, you be on TV someday.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:07:14 am

And what TV show would that be? I've never pitched one and have never had any interest in having one. I became disenchanted with the process of making TV back in college and devoted my efforts to writing thereafter.

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GIllian Murphy
2/9/2014 11:26:10 am

That is not entirely true. You were posed a question about a tv show before about a year ago during an interview on and you responded that you had some sort of idea or concept for a show similar to Mysteries At The Museum, I believe, but you claimed to have walked away from the idea when the producers wanted you to lie about everything.

Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:32:34 am

Close but no cigar. Destination America approached me out of the blue about a TV show. It was not my idea, nor have I ever pitched a TV series to anyone. I thought it would be an interesting idea, but it never got past the opening rounds of discussion because they didn't like that I didn't want to lie. Although I considered doing the series, I really didn't have any excitement about travel and filming since I really hate traveling. But the money would have been great for a few months' work.

RLewis
2/10/2014 01:20:18 am

I still think you're missing an opportunity. You could send out your "Argonauts" to explore fringe sites/ideas. Then you could communicate to them via video a la Brad Meltzer's DECODED (although not as cheesy). Since you wont have to travel you can stay in your lair/dungeon/mom's basement :)

Prone
2/10/2014 03:27:12 pm

RLewis, I like that idea. "Jason's Argonauts" could be like a historical Charlie's Angels.

Rev. Phil Gotsch
2/10/2014 03:35:02 pm

LOL … and it could be written in the style of H. P, Lovecraft …

"As Jason watched the latest episode of 'America Unearthed,' his lips parted in a knowing smile, revealing sharp fangs dripping saliva …"

Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:17:23 am

Just to let everyone know: A single individual, well known to this blog, has been posting multiple hostile comments under a variety of aliases in violation of my comments policy. I have begun deleting these. Please do not respond to any further extremely hostile comments as I will be deleting them as they are posted.

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Bunker S
2/9/2014 12:56:48 pm

Yes, ok, sure. First, I have done nothing to threaten anyone nor have I been any more hostile then some of your other followers. Yet, last year when it was clearly pointed out that one of your followers, also well known to this site for being arrogant and insulting took a stab at my sexuality in a homophobic way by calling me a "buttboy" and being "butthurt" you did NOTHING! You said nothing, gave no speech about your forum rules, no warning nor did you even delete the post. Yet you do it to me. So I guess as long as your a follower you can say what you want. Now you put up a disclaimer telling everyone not to respond. Your obviously afraid I'll turn your followers off to you if you feel you need to delete my posts and use a lame excuse like forum violations. So go ahead and do it and be a hypocrite. Truth hurts!

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 01:05:02 pm

My previous policy had been to leave commenters to their own devices. This did not work. I instituted a new policy on January 24, 2014, as posted on this blog on that date. It is in force as of that date.

BillUSA
2/9/2014 03:08:37 pm

Judging from your posts, I find no reason to be concerned about the prospect of YOU turning me off to this website.

Cal
2/9/2014 11:31:49 am

Didn't you mention that you did an audition tape for a series called Ancient America. Then said that about 8 to 13 episodes would conflict with AU.
Yes I just went back and reread it. Should I cut and paste.
Anyway, nothing but love for you.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:35:45 am

And I posted that audition tape on YouTube, so I'm not hiding it. Again, it wasn't my idea. Destination America pitched the show to me, not the other way around. I thought it might be a good way to make money, but I've never actively pursued a TV series, nor have I ever pitched one to anyone. I really hate travel, and I couldn't imagine doing it for months at a time. It would have been a problem had the series gone forward.

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Cal
2/9/2014 11:42:39 am

This is from your blog on Stonehenge in America, and it sounds like you wanted a show. Read the last sentence.

I told the story in an audition tape I made for the Discovery Channel family of networks last year, for a proposed series that would have investigated alternative claims about ancient American history. Sound familiar? To be titled Ancient America, the program never made it out of preproduction; only now with a more or less complete set of America Unearthed episode descriptions posted on H2’s website do I see why: The two programs would have shared 8 out 13 episode topics in common. (The Discovery program would have added some aliens in, too.) I had no way of knowing when America Unearthed began, but Scott Wolter’s show apparently cost me one of my own.
Anyhoo, once again, nothing but love.

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Jason Colavito link
2/9/2014 11:54:22 am

I have at various points in my life tried many different things, but what I am willing to do versus what I have a passion or even a deep and abiding interest for are different things. Would I seriously turn down the chance to have a national TV show, so long as it met my standards and would help deliver messages I feel are important? No. But was it ever my passion? No. Did I ever actively pursue one? No.

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Karl Frazier
2/17/2014 06:02:50 pm

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

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Amanda
2/18/2014 12:41:01 am

Why is it automatically assumed that anyone with an educated opinion wants their own television show?

Not all television critics want to be actors or "reality show" stars. Not all book critics want to be writers. Not all the people who cook want to own a restaurant. Not all voters want to run for Congress. It's really not that hard to understand.

Karl Frazier
2/18/2014 12:17:29 pm

Amanda: "Why is it automatically assumed that anyone with an educated opinion wants their own television show?"

I don't see any assumptions along those lines; rather, as several other posters pointed out with direct quotes from Colavito, he said as much several times. Whether he was initially approached by a network (as he protests) or not, and in contradiction to his claim that "I've never ....had any interest in having one" by his own admission, he did respond, he did provide an audition tape, he did participate in "rounds of discussion" and he did lament that he was not going to get a show of his own along with "the money would have been great".

No assumptions necessary.

Jason Colavito link
2/18/2014 12:23:38 pm

I'm not protesting anything, Karl. I've never actively pursued a TV show, though as you note I responded to Destination America's query. I also once tried out for a gig as a movie critic back in college. Does that mean that I also secretly have a suppressed desire to criticize cinema?

BillUSA
2/9/2014 02:55:29 pm

While I was reading this article, the thought occurred to me that the basis of the racist belief that Europeans preceded the American Indians may lie in the guilt many of us feel regarding the hostile takeover of the land. If the Europeans were here first that gets "us" off the hook even if reclaiming the land still resulted in the suppression of the Indians - something I'm sure gives SW his jollies. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be a United States citizen, but that aspect of our history has always bothered me and it was just a passing thought - however little.

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Clint Knapp
2/9/2014 03:17:07 pm

Jason's done a pretty good job illustrating just this point in several other blog entries. Many of the earliest forms of these myths predate the western expansion and appear to have been created to set up the justification, while others come later as a sort of retconning of history to try and explain away the wholesale slaughter of the native people.

The saddest part of it all is that even with documentary evidence to disprove these theories and a complete lack of physical evidence to support them- except where specific hoaxes have been created retroactively- these ideas continue to be perpetuated through the fringe circles and even on national television.

Some people, it seems, just can't accept any sort of technological ability- even as simple as creating dirt mounds- could have arisen after thousands of years of native habitation.

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Only Me
2/9/2014 04:04:54 pm

You know what's truly ironic about your last paragraph, Clint? The natives were incapable of stacking rocks and piling dirt, BUT...they could travel and survive a trek of thousands of miles across a glacial shelf from Europe to North America. The sheer logistics involved is staggering.

I think the Solutrean Hypothesis is the new AAT; no matter how much lack of evidence to support it, it's proposers will constantly redraft it to answer any challenges.

Clint Knapp
2/9/2014 04:30:56 pm

Hah! Quite so. I'd love to know how it was done, too. Did they carry a massive store of food on sleds, somehow knowing how much they'd need to make the crossing? Did they just happen to invent deep-sea ice fishing along the way, or discover seals to eat? (Were there even seals in the north Atlantic glacial shelf at the time?) Potable water?

I understand the desire to say "well, this sort of looks like that, so they're the same", but a theory has to go further than that before it's remotely viable.

Rev. Phil Gotsch
2/10/2014 03:34:25 am

Clint …

Did the wanderers coming across Beringia need to carry massive amounts of food on sleds … ???

Only Me
2/10/2014 05:31:49 am

Phil, that's why the Asiatic migration across Beringia makes more sense. Herd animals, from bison to mammoths, made the same migration. As hunter-gatherers, the people simply followed the herds. If the animals could sustain themselves, it's a given the people could.

Now, think about traveling across a glacial shelf. No shelter, no material for fires, no herds. Even ice fishing or seal hunting requires time spent in one place to gather enough provisions for a group. But now, what about that lack of shelter or fire? What about fresh water? Even with boats, I don't think anyone expects simple boats made of hides and wood/bone are durable enough to withstand long periods of time on the ocean.

The glacial crossing may not be impossible, but highly unlikely. I don't see why it's so hard to envision people migrating to North America from Asia, and then branching out in every direction once they got here. That is the most easily supported scenario.

WellGwhiz
2/10/2014 06:48:23 am

Rev. Phil has the good answer. Seals made good for everything, like how buffalo made good for everything. But fat for heat, instead of dung. "We don't need no stinkin' wood!"

And, Migrations from every direction, not one. Try to stop humans, like rats.

Cal
2/9/2014 06:55:07 pm

Then how do we explain away the African slaves were treated? What kind of fringe history would explain away that guilt?
Just saying.

Reply
Jens
2/9/2014 08:40:31 pm

Someone needs to review Curse of oak island.
Some wild claims on there.

Reply
Mr J
2/10/2014 02:21:24 am

Wow, a good episode from AU really???

Reply
Arthur K
2/11/2014 02:48:43 pm

Even though I like these shows I do find an odd disturbing pattern. There is too much recapping and repeating of what is theorizing. I wonder if the template for this show and others is based on on low attention span audience? Too much filler that eats 10 to 15 minutes of life, I swear that red line went from Europe to America 5 times.
Too funny: the guy at the end of Scott's show looked like if Russell Crowe and Shaggy had a baby.

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Michael Harris
2/12/2014 05:51:25 pm

If this show ever decided to do some research and stop with the Mormon/White revisionist garbage they may learn something. From my Alma mater recently:

http://news.wsu.edu/2014/02/12/ancient-childs-genome-sheds-light-on-colonization/#.UvxqbfldWSo

I've worked with some of these researchers and they would laugh at this garbage on America Unearthed.

Reply
Cory
2/12/2014 11:45:10 pm

Some of the oldest cave art in the world is in the area that the soultrean inhabited. Even though there is speculation of the dating, the most recent reports have them dated to around 32,000 to 30,000 bp years old. So even though they technically predate the soultrean culture, people were still living in that area during a very cold period. The models of the ice sheets may not match up with 17,000 year ago model, so how about pushing that date back 10,000 years or so and then analyze. It is a far stretch that people walked that far in those extreme conditions, but the Inuit people did a fairly decent job of it.

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Rev. Phil Gotsch
2/13/2014 02:07:24 am

We also must remember … Good things can arrive in small packages …

There is apparently no reasonable doubt that the Western Hemisphere was peopled via probably several waves of migration from Siberia across Beringia …

But … Cultural contact and influence from Europe into North America certainly COULD have taken place by way of a fairly small single brave band of explorer/refugee/immigrants, yes … ??? Not every migration need be a MASS migration …

Let's be OPEN minded ...

Reply
Karl Frazier
2/17/2014 05:59:37 pm

For starters, the America Unearthed episode made me cringe with its illogical leaps, i.e. that the mastodon (or mammoth, whichever) carving is somehow proof of Solutreans in America. Personally, I think the theory (that there were Solutreans here during the paleolithic along with people from Asia) is credible -note: I did NOT say "proven"- but Scott Wolter's handling of the subject certainly didn't make the case and gives plenty of ammunition for the non-believers (of Solutrean in America).

That said, Jason Colavito's blog here is just more of the smirking elitist B.S. we see from the left all the time. Colavito can't seem to make HIS case against Solutrean migrants without vilifying anyone who believes or even simply considers the theory as not only stupid but (wait for it) RACISTS.

That's right: according to Colavito anyone who considers the possibility that the Clovis people did NOT develop their culture autonomously here in America (because it certainly does not exist in their supposed pre-ancestral Asia) but might have gained it in part or wholly from European Solutreans must be motivated by racist white supremacy. To wit: Colavito practically pees his pants with joy at being able to report that "But while the Solutrean hypothesis is a scientific one, relying on facts and evidence, it spawned several extreme reactions from white nationalists who seized upon it as a replacement for the Mound Builder myth. As I discussed elsewhere, white supremacists have added the Solutrean claim to a series of controversies about supposedly European (read: white) visitors to America. The most important of these claims was Kennewick Man, the skeleton of an individual from about 7500 BCE (long after the Paleoindian period) found in 1996. When archaeologist James Chatters declared the skull shape Caucasoid, fringe groups, including white supremacists, read this as confirmation that this was a white person." and his accusation against the British producers (I suppose he means WHITE British producers since not all British are white, you know; or maybe he doesn't know that -?) that "This kind of genuinely interesting information, though, isn’t enough for television. When the Learning Channel (now the schlock channel TLC) broadcast a documentary on The Secrets of the Bog People: Windover in 2003, the show’s British producers weren’t satisfied to look at the fascinating culture of Windover Bog, one of the best-preserved Native American sites in history. Instead, they wanted something “sexy” and for them “sexy” meant European (read: white)."

These are just two examples of several where Colavito rants and rails against anyone who thinks that there might have been someone here in America other than the Asians and their descendants. Personally, I think Colavito's angst over what he sees as white racism is itself revealing about his own personal biases and prejudices. In other words, one could dismiss or challenge the Solutrean Connection Theory without dragging the Aryan Nation into the fray. After all: I think most of us have seen the "Afro-Centric" images of the Last Supper and other images of Jesus Christ where he sports an Afro hair-do. I've yet to see thousands of words dedicated to a scathing, sarcastic, excoriation of Afro-centric history revisionism as indicative of everyone who doesn't think Jesus Christ looked like a middle-easterner. I have, however, frequently seen smirking condemnations of "the Aryan Jesus" by people of Colavito's persuasion.

Now that I got THAT out of the way...

A few other criticisms of Colavito's claims here are based on more strictly academic observations.

Colavito: "Kennedy says he has another carving and this one is more spectacular. On a piece of bone, we see a stick figure holding a spear along with a fish. The stick figure doesn’t resemble European cave art, so there’s that. Wolter is thrilled, though obviously the piece needs to be tested before it can be accepted as a genuine artifact. I couldn’t really get a good look at the figure, but it just doesn’t seem to resemble Paleolithic art, which did not typically use the modern stick figure style. But that will be for experts to decide."

Response: Colavito's lamentation that he "couldn't really get a good look at the figure" is curious given the capabilities offered by modern technology; to wit: the "pause" feature on most remotes. I am able to see the drawing in question rather well using the fore-mentioned technique (along with the "record" button)...but maybe I'm just ultra tech-savvy. ;-)

Seriously, Colavito's disclaimer on the topic of the second Kennedy piece smacks of avoidance. To wit; there's no reason not to be able to see the drawings well enough to do a comparison study with other paleolithic art. Wouldn't prove that it's Solutrean, or Clovis, or even authentic....but claiming that he just can't see them well enough...well....

In m

Reply
Karl Frazier
2/17/2014 06:12:56 pm

In my opinion, the images on the "second Kennedy piece" are well within the range of known paleolithic art, which is not restricted to the walls of caves. I invite anyone to compare the "second Kennedy piece" to images of paleolithic art from Europe (and elsewhere).

I can refute other areas of Colavito but we'll see how well my inaugural posts are received here. Frankly, I expect I'll be subjected to the same sort of double-standard he showed Kennedy when he visited and was admonished to abstain from responding WITH name-calling TO name-calling by Colavito.

LOL

Reply
Karl Frazier
2/18/2014 01:52:06 am

JUST ME: "Even with boats, I don't think anyone suspects simple boats made of hide and wood/bone are durable enough to withstand long periods of time on the ocean."

I suggest you research the Umiak of the Inuits and I think you'll realize your supposition is fallacious. There's a great article at NATURAL HISTORY MAG website titled "Last of the Umiaks" that explains in detail how these boats made of wood and skin worked great in arctic waters for whale and walrus hunting.

Reply
Karl Frazier
2/18/2014 01:59:05 am

The article on umiaks also addresses two of JUST ME's points of contention concerning shelter (for ice shelf hunters) and a source of combustible fuel.

Reply
Lindsey
5/28/2014 01:11:40 pm

As a student of Archaeology, it upset me to see the way Stanford was speaking about the Solutrean hypothesis, as though it has already been proven by evidence and is 100% accepted in the community. As recently as the Metin Eren article on Solutrean and Clovis technology, published in 2013, the hypothesis is still rejected by much of the archaeological community because there is not enough evidence to support it, both archaeological and non. The first thing I did when I heard him making all of these claims was jump on the computer and e-mail one of my archaeology professors who even verified that it is all distorted information. The "Solutrean" biface that Stanford found in VA, for example, is actually made from local materials. It is kind of disgusting to me that an archaeologist (especially one at the Smithsonian of all places!) would make claims like that with no hard evidence to back his assertions. It's nice to know that there are people like you out there, Jason, making sure that viewers hear the facts and the truth of the situation. Thank you!

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