News and Notes

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA--NORTH ALABAMA SOCIETY

banner image: Moundville, Alabama

9.11.12

AIA TALKS: First Floridians 15 November 2012



Thursday, November 15
“The Invisible Sex: Some Thoughts on the Role of Women in Prehistory”
12:45 PM, Wilson Hall 168

Since the discoveries of stone artifacts associated with the remains of extinct fauna in mid 19th century France, a variety of often negative stereotypes have persisted about the roles of women in the past. A fundamental failure to recognize and evaluate evidence contradictory to these stereotypes in addition to the stressing of stone tools and the hunting of megafauna by mature males has created a faulty interpretation of life in this period. If mentioned at all, women as well as the old and the young of both sexes are characterized solely as minor players. Careful assessment of the available information from both the Old and the New World indicates that the andro-litho-centric view of the past with its “men in furs sticking sharp spears into large animals” image is fatally flawed. In this talk, evidence for a very different behavioral scenario is presented.

“The First Floridians: Early Humans on the Submerged Gulf Coast of Florida”
7:30 PM, Chan Auditorium

In his second talk Dr. Adovasio will discuss the geo-archaeological exploration of the inner-continental shelf in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico where a tremendous amount of side-scan sonar and sub bottom profile data, including nearly 2000 targets of interest, has been generated. Highlights of the 2008-2009 field seasons include the documentation of two lengthy paleo river systems. These sites are replete with Paleo-Indian sites and it is assumed that the paleo-channel is, likewise, flanked by early occupations. The results of this research will substantially enhance our understanding of the utilization of coastal environments in the late Pleistocene and, more broadly, the early colonization of the New World