Folsom site

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>> WE'RE HERE WITH DR. BRUCE HUCKELL, PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO. DR. HUCKELL BRINGS US A DETECTIVE STORY, OR A HUNTER-GATHERER PALEOECOLOGY FROM THE NORTH AMERICAN PALEO-INDIAN PERIOD. PAINT ME A PICTURE 11000 YEARS AGO OF THE GIGANTIC NORTH AMERICAN ICE SHEETS MELTING. >> IT'S A TIME OF GREAT CHANGE. THE CLIMATE HAS BEEN WARMING AND THE GLACIERS RETREATING SINCE ABOUT 18000 YEARS AGO. AND AROUND ABOUT 11000 YEARS AGO, THERE IS A REALLY RAPID SHIFT BACK INTO VERY COLD TEMPERATURES, SO THIS WARMING IS HALTED FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT A THOUSAND YEARS. THE EFFECTS THAT WE WOULD SEE DOWN HERE IN NEW MEXICO MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN HORRIBLY DRAMATIC, BUT MOST LIKELY WE WOULD HAVE SEEN A MORE GRASS RICH ENVIRONMENT. >> MORE WATER, FOR SURE. >> MORE WATER, FOR SURE, AND A LOT OF THESE LITTLE THINGS THAT WE CALL PLAYAS, OR DRY LAKES, THAT ARE JUST OUT ON THE WEST MESA WOULD HAVE HELD WATER. SO IT WAS A TIME WHEN THERE WERE A LOT OF BISON ON THE LANDSCAPE AND OTHER TYPICAL PLAINS ANIMALS, PROBABLY PRONGHORN, AND PEOPLE. >> SO, WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE THAT WERE MOVING INTO THE CONTINENT IN THIS AREA AS IT WAS STILL CHANGING? >> THE FOLKS THAT WERE HERE BETWEEN AROUND ABOUT 10900 AND 10200 YEARS AGO ARE A GROUP WE CALL THE FOLSOM. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY CALLED THEMSELVES, OF COURSE. THEY LEFT NO WRITTEN RECORD. BUT WE CALL THEM FOLSOM BECAUSE THEIR DISTINCTIVE SPEAR POINTS WERE FIRST RECOVERED FROM A SITE WHERE THEY HAD KILLED A NUMBER OF BISON UP BY THE LITTLE TINY TOWN OF FOLSOM, EAST OF RATON. SO THESE FOLKS WERE HIGHLY NOMADIC HUNTER-GATHERERS WHO RANGED OVER MUCH OF WHAT IS TODAY NEW MEXICO, AND PROBABLY SOUTHERN COLORADO, PERHAPS ALL THE WAY DOWN SOUTH TOWARDS CHIHUAHUA. >> WHAT DO YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE FOLSOM PEOPLE? >> THEY WERE AROUND FOR PROBABLY UPWARDS OF 700 YEARS. SO THEIR LIFESTYLE, THEIR ADAPTATION, IF YOU WILL, TO THIS SET OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WAS ONE THAT WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL. YOU KNOW, TODAY WE TALK ABOUT SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES, AND THIS WAS PROBABLY A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A LIFESTYLE THAT WAS QUITE SUSTAINABLE, PROVIDED THAT YOU WERE WILLING TO MOVE FREQUENTLY, COVER A LOT OF GROUND. YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT EVER OCCUPYING WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER TO BE A PERMANENT VILLAGE, BUT JUST CAMP AFTER CAMP AFTER CAMP. THE OTHER THING THAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT THEM IS THAT THEY MADE SOME OF THE MOST STUNNING SPEAR POINTS THAT WE SEE IN ALL OF NORTH AMERICAN PREHISTORY. THEY'RE OFTEN OUT OF VERY BEAUTIFUL STONE. THEY'RE MOST OF THE TIME VERY BEAUTIFULLY WORKED, WHAT WE WOULD PERHAPS INTERPRET AS ESTHETICS, WHERE THEY ARE GOING AFTER RAW MATERIALS THAT ARE AMONG THE MOST COLORFUL, THE ONES THAT ARE PERHAPS MOST STRIKING. AND IT MAY BE JUST AN EXPRESSION OF WHAT THEY SAW AS BEAUTY, IT MAY BE AN EXPRESSION OF RESPECT FOR THE ANIMAL THAT THEY'RE HUNTING. AS A MEMBER OF A SMALL HIGHLY NOMADIC GROUP, YOU HAVE TO DEPEND A LOT ON YOUR RELATIONS. SO WHEN TIMES GET TOUGH, OR MAYBE JUST WHEN -- YOU KNOW, THE ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR WHEN ALL OF THE SMALL GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY FOR MOST OF THE YEAR COME TOGETHER, THAT WOULD BE A TIME WHEN YOU COULD BUILD AND CEMENT RELATIONS WITH OTHER SMALL GROUPS, AND THAT MIGHT INCLUDE THE TRADING OF RAW MATERIAL, EXCHANGE OF MATES, BUILDING THOSE KINDS OF SOCIAL AND, TO A DEGREE, ECONOMIC TIES THAT WOULD HELP YOU BE A SUCCESSFUL HUNTER-GATHERER. >> YOU'RE PROBABLY BETTER TO HAVE A MORE ARTISTIC BEAUTIFUL ARROWHEAD TO TRADE WITH, IF THAT WAS AMONG THE THINGS YOU TRADED. >> EXACTLY. I THINK IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A LITTLE MORE DESIRABLE TO HAVE YOU AS A TRADING PARTNER IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT HAS THAT KIND OF IMPACT. >> TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FIRST FOLSOM DISCOVERY. YOU SAID THAT WAS ACTUALLY NORTHEAST? >> YES. IT'S FAR NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO, THE LITTLE TOWN OF FOLSOM. IN 1908, THERE WAS A CATASTROPHIC FLOOD THAT CREATED A HUGE RUNOFF EVENT, AND AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN COWBOY BY THE NAME OF GEORGE McJUNKIT WAS OUT RIDING HIS HORSE, AND McJUNKIT HAD GROWN UP IN TEXAS, AND HE KNEW WHAT BISON AND BISON BONES LOOKED LIKE. AND STICKING OUT OF ONE OF THESE ARROYOS, OFF JUST A LITTLE BIT TO THE WEST OF FOLSOM, WAS THIS WHOLE ARRAY OF BONES. AND HE PULLED SOME OF THEM OUT, SHOWED THEM AROUND, AND IN HIS ESTIMATION THEY WERE BISON BONES. AND IN ADDITION TO FINDING THESE BONES, THEY ALSO GOT SOME SKULLS. THE SKULLS WERE THOSE OF WHAT WAS AGREED TO BE AN EXTINCT SPECIES OF BISON, CALLED BISON ANTIQUUS. AND AT THAT POINT IN TIME, WELL BEFORE ANY CARBON-DATING, IT WAS GENERALLY AGREED THAT THAT WAS THE SAME SPECIES, AND IT WAS PROBABLY EXTINCT BY AROUND 10000 YEARS AGO. IN EXCAVATING THIS, THEY STARTED FINDING THESE BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SPEAR POINTS, WHICH BECAME KNOWN AS FOLSOM POINTS. THE SITE, ITSELF, IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE ACROSS ALL OF NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY BECAUSE PRIOR TO THAT TIME, THERE WAS A HUGE DEBATE ABOUT HOW LONG PEOPLE HAD BEEN HERE, AND A LOT OF THE PREVAILING OPINION WAS THAT PEOPLE HAD NOT GOTTEN INTO THE NEW WORLD MUCH BEFORE MAYBE 6000 YEARS AGO. AND YET, HERE AT FOLSOM YOU HAVE THESE SPEAR POINTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH AN EXTINCT SPECIES OF BISON. SO ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU KNOW, YOUR WORLD GETS KIND OF TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN AND YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE PEOPLE IN HERE AT THE END OF LAST ICE AGE. >> SO YOU FIND AN ARTIFACT. HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY IT AS BEING OF THE FOLSOM PERIOD? >> THE MOST DISTINCTIVE THING ARE THE SPEAR POINTS. THEY'RE CALLED FLUTED POINTS IN THE SENSE THAT ON BOTH SIDES, THEY HAVE ONE LARGE FLAKE THAT IS STRUCK AT THE BASE AND DRIVEN UP TOWARDS THE TIP, AND IT CREATES THIS GROOVE. >> WOW. >> FLUTING SHOWS UP NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD, BUT IN NORTH AMERICA. >> OH, INTERESTING. >> AND IT HAS ITS ORIGINS WITH A GROUP THAT WE CALL CLOVIS, AND THEY ARE PROBABLY THE ANCESTORS OF FOLSOM. FOLSOM FOLKS TAKE AND REFINE THIS FLUTING TECHNIQUE TO THE DEGREE THAT VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE SURFACE IS A SCAR FROM THAT FLUTE. >> REALLY, IT'S AN ART FORM. >> THEY'RE VERY DISTINCTIVE. THEY'RE VERY DISTINCTIVE AND VERY DEMANDING TO MAKE, AND WE ONLY SEE THOSE POINTS FROM THE SITES OF THE FOLSOM CULTURE, WHICH AS I SAID JUST DATES TO THIS NARROW TIME PERIOD. >> A LITTLE SLICE OF TIME. >> AND AFTER THAT, IT'S GONE. WE DON'T SEE IT AGAIN. >> TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE RECENT DISCOVERIES, SOME THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE FOLSOM. >> THAT GUARANTEES THAT FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGISTS WILL HAVE EMPLOYMENT. >> ALWAYS GOOD. >> WE HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT EXACTLY WHO THESE PEOPLE WERE, HOW THEY WENT ABOUT MAKING A LIVING, AND WHERE THEY WENT, WHERE WITHIN NORTH AMERICA THEY OCCUR. WE FOUND FOLSOM POINTS FROM SOUTHERN CANADA ALL THE WAY DOWN INTO NORTHERN MEXICO, AND FROM ESSENTIALLY THE ROCKIES EASTWARD, AS FAR EAST AS SOUTHWESTERN IOWA. SO THE SITES I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT ARE JUST OUT WEST OF ALBUQUERQUE HERE HAVE PROVIDED US WITH SOME NEW INSIGHTS. THESE ARE THE FIRST SITES WITHIN THIS REGION TO BE ABLE TO SAY, OKAY, YES, WE DO HAVE THE REMAINS OF BISON, NOT HORRIBLY WELL PRESERVED, BUT IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE FOLSOM ARTIFACTS. THE SITES OUT HERE ARE SITTING AROUND THE VERY SMALL DRY LAKES, PLAYAS, BUT THEY'RE IN SAND DEPOSITS. AND SO WE'RE NEVER HAVING TO EXCAVATE MUCH DEEPER THAN ABOUT LIKE THIS. >> OH, WOW. >> BUT THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF IT IS THAT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SEDIMENT IS ACCUMULATING SO VERY SLOWLY, YOU DON'T GET THE GOOD PRESERVATION. SO ALL WE HAVE LEFT OF THE BISON ARE PRIMARILY PIECES OF THE TOOTH ENAMEL AND LITTLE BITS AND SPLINTERS OF BONES THAT WE CAN SAY ARE LARGE MAMMALS. SO THE SITES THAT WE'VE BEEN INVESTIGATING OUT WEST OF HERE ARE DOMINATED BY RAW MATERIALS THAT COME FROM DISTANCES OF ANYWHERE FROM ABOUT 75 TO 200-KILOMETERS AWAY. SO WE SEE OBSIDIAN FROM UP IN THE VALLE GRANDE, WE SEE WHAT IS CALLED PEDERNAL CHERT FROM UP IN THE NORTHERN END OF THE JEMEZ, WE SEE WHAT'S CALLED CHUSKA CHERT, AND THAT COMES FROM THE CHUSKA MOUNTAINS THAT ARE OUT ON THE ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER, AND WE SEE A MATERIAL CALLED CHINA CHERT. ALL OF THESE RAW MATERIAL SOURCES ARE TO THE WEST AND THE NORTH. IT'S PRETTY CLEAR THAT THEY'RE MOVING SOUTH. BUT WHERE DO THEY GO FROM HERE? WE'RE STILL DEBATING HOW PEOPLE GET INTO NORTH AMERICA. THE TRADITIONAL MODEL HAS CLOVIS, OR THE ANCESTORS OF CLOVIS, COMING DOWN BETWEEN THE LAURENTIDE AND THE CORDILLERAN ICE SHEETS. IN OTHER WORDS, UP IN NORTHERN CANADA. AS THE MELTING BEGINS AT 18000 YEARS AGO, THE CORDILLERAN RETREATS WESTWARD, THE LAURENTIDE ICE SHEET RETREATS EASTWARD, AND THEY OPEN A CORRIDOR BETWEEN THEM. SO THE TRADITIONAL MODEL HAS PEOPLE COMING ACROSS BERINGIA AND THEN DOWN THIS SO-CALLED ICE-FREE CORRIDOR. ONCE THEY GET SOUTH OF THE ICE SHEETS, THEY APPEAR TO SPREAD. >> HOW DOES FOLSOM CULTURE RELATE TO SOME OF THE SOUTHWEST, THE NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES, THE RECENT ONES OF THE SOUTHWEST? >> WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S 10000 PLUS YEARS OLDER THAN CONTEMPORARY SOUTHWESTERN GROUPS, IT'S REALLY HARD TO ESTABLISH LINKS. FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, WE TEND TO RELY ON THINGS LIKE SIMILARITIES IN POTTERY, OR IN ARCHITECTURE, OR IN SOME TOOLS. WITH FOLSOM, YOU HAVE NO POTTERY, YOU HAVE NO ARCHITECTURE. YOU HAVE STONE TOOLS, BUT THEY'RE STONE TOOLS THAT ARE DESIGNED FOR AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE AND SET OF WEAPONS. SO IT'S REALLY HARD TO SAY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THIS CLEAR LINE. >> RIGHT. >> HAVING SAID THAT, WE SUSPECT THAT THERE IS AT LEAST EVERY GOOD CHANCE THAT FOLSOM FOLKS HAVE DESCENDANTS IN OUR CONTEMPORARY CULTURES IN THE SOUTHWEST. IT MAY BE JUST A VERY, VERY SMALL SORT OF INPUT, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NATIVE AMERICANS, A LOT OF THEIR TRADITIONAL STORIES TALK ABOUT HOW THINGS WERE IN TIMES PAST BEFORE THEY REACHED THE AREAS WHERE THEY LIVE TODAY, AND SOME OF THESE GROUPS TALK ABOUT A LIFESTYLE WHERE THEY'RE SUBSISTING ON WILD GAME, WILD PLANTS, AND ALWAYS MOVING. >> WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WOULD HAVE TO DISCOVER TO REALLY, REALLY KNOW WHO THE FOLSOM PEOPLE WERE? >> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD BE GREAT WOULD BE TO BE ABLE TO FIND SITES THAT HAVE JUST SUPERB PRESERVATION. A FOLSOM OCCUPATION IN A DRY CAVE. THESE PEOPLE COULD HAVE BEEN SUPERB HIDE WORKERS, HIDE PAINTERS. SO WE REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT THESE PEOPLE LOOK LIKE >> SO DNA EVIDENCE THAT YOU HAVE ANYWHERE? >> NO DNA EVIDENCE THAT WE CAN BRING TO BEAR FROM FOLSOM. I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THE PEOPLE LOOKED LIKE, BECAUSE ULTIMATELY IT'S PEOPLE AND THEIR BEHAVIOR THAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN AS ANTHROPOLOGISTS. >> WELL, MAYBE THERE'S ANOTHER MR. McJUNKIT OUT THERE READY TO MAKE A FIND WHEN HE'S RIDING ON HORSEBACK, OR DOING SOME DIGGING, AND MAYBE WE'LL FIND THAT REALLY PRESERVED SITE THAT WILL OFFER SOME MORE CLUES. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, IT IS A GREAT MYSTERY, AND I THANK YOU FOR SHARING IT TODAY. >> MY PLEASURE, AUGUSTA. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. >> YOU BET.