First people in the Americas came by sea, ancient tools unearthed by Idaho river suggest
Science Magazine Originally Posted: August 30, 2019 About 16,000 years ago, on the banks of a river in western Idaho, people kindled fires, shaped stone blades and spearpoints, and butchered large mammals. All were routine activities in prehistory, but their legacy today is anything but. The charcoal and bone left at that ancient site, now called Cooper’s Ferry, are some 16,000 years old—the oldest radiocarbon-dated record of human presence in North America, according to work reported this week in Science. The findings do more than add a few centuries to the timeline of people in the Americas. They also shore up a new picture of how humans first arrived, by showing that people lived at Cooper’s Ferry more than 1 millennium before melting glaciers opened an [...]
People transformed the world through land use by 3,000 years ago
Eureka Alert Originally Posted: August 29, 2019 DALLAS (SMU) - Humans started making an impact on the global ecosystem through intensive farming much earlier than previously estimated, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Evidence of the earliest domesticated plants and animals dates back to around 10,000 years ago. But findings from a team of more than 250 archeologists, including two from SMU (Southern Methodist University), show that by 3,000 years ago our ancestors had dramatically changed the world to grow food. "Our study shows in detail the progression from the origins of agriculture to its spread around the world," said SMU anthropologist Mark D. McCoy. "It turns out that earth science models are probably too conservative, and intensive reshaping of the environment [...]
Save the date: Sept 4, Fred Wendorf Distinguished Lecture in Archaeology
Event date: 9/4/2019, Time: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (CT) Contact: Tiffany Powell The Department of Anthropology and the Boshell Family Foundation are pleased to present Dr. Stephen E. Nash, Director of Anthropology and Senior Curator of Archaeology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. His talk,Stories, Souls, and Silhouettes: A Fantastic Journey through Southwestern Archaeology, discusses the rich tapestry of Southwestern Archaeology. In this lavishly illustrated and humorous lecture, Dr. Nash will take you on a historically-grounded and fascinating journey through the history of Southwestern (and by extension North American) archaeology. All the while, he will keep a firm anthropological eye on what it means to be an archaeologist and student today. Colorful personalities, challenging and changing socioeconomic and political contexts, occasionally bizarre behavior, [...]
Listen: David J. Meltzer, Anthropology, discusses his work on the Meateater podcast
The Meateater Originally Posted: July 23, 2019 Steven Rinella talks to David J. Meltzer and Janis Putelis. Subjects discussed: Understanding radio carbon dates; crossing the Bering Land Bridge; who were the first Americans?; the early human aversion to incest; ecotones, or where a bunch of good shit comes together; glyptodons and 3-ton ground sloths; a big extinction on one fine Tuesday; Rambo; the tidy appeal of the blitzkreig hypothesis; Clovis points; cross examining. Listen
Three Dedman College students receive prestigious fellowships and awards
Dedman College News Originally Posted: June 24, 2019 Congratulations to three accomplished Dedman College students. Megan Brown and Megan Latoya are 2019-2020 Fulbright Fellowship winners and Siddhakshi Solanki won the highly competitive Boren and Gillman Scholarships. According to an SMU press release, Brown and Latoya, both Ph.D. candidates in the Department of Anthropology, “are two of over 2,100 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research, and teach abroad for the 2019-2020 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.” Megan Brown will be going to Monteverde, Costa Rica and Megan Latoya will be going to Recife, Brazil. [...]
Virtual Reality Brings Cervical Cancer Surgery Training to Physicians
Watch "Surgeons in developing countries can more easily get training on the procedure, potentially saving women’s lives," said Dr. Eric G. Bing, who co-authored a study on the simulation and is a global health professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Watch SMU’s Lifesaving VR video to learn more.
DNA From 31,000-Year-Old Human Teeth Reveals New Ethnic Group Living in Siberia During Last Ice Age
SMU Research Originally Posted: June 6, 2019 An international team of researchers, including SMU anthropologist David J. Meltzer, discovered a new group of ancient Siberians. The research was published June 5, 2019 as a story in Nature Two children’s milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in north eastern Siberia have revealed a previously unknown group of people lived there during the last Ice Age. The finding was part of a wider study, which also discovered 10,000 year-old human remains in another site in Siberia are genetically related to Native Americans – the first time such close genetic links have been discovered outside of the US. The international team of scientists, led by Professor Eske Willerslev who holds positions at St John’s College, University [...]
Congratulations to all the Hilltop Excellence Awards Winners
Dedman College News Originally Posted: April 18, 2019 On Monday, April 15, SMU celebrated students and faculty that have made significant contributions to the University at the Hilltop Excellence Awards. Congratulations to all the award winners! Below is a list of winners, * are Dedman College faculty and students. The Dr. James E. Caswell Award : Rani Vestal. Emmie V. Baine Legacy Award : *Andrea Salt. A. Kenneth Pye Outstanding Greek Leader Award : *Jackson Hughes, N'dea Fleming, *Melissa Kraft, and *Ashley Mai. The Extra Mile Award : Ira Greenberg, *Ross Sloan, and Megan Murphy. The Sheri Mooney Memorial Recognition : Eliana Yellin, *Smythe Mullikin, and Tejumola Longe. The Outstanding Faculty/Staff Volunteer Award : Kathy Hubbard of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership. Outstanding Senior Woman [...]
SMU wants to bring North Texas’ historic artifacts back home
Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: March 18, 2019 Unearthing artifacts that lead to a better understanding of our past is not just an Indiana Jonesexercise in exotic foreign lands. It is a research endeavor that begins decades later in the basements and attics of some of our most distinguished institutions of higher learning. North Texas is rich with archaeological treasures currently moldering in repurposed wooden crates and file boxes. When discovered, categorized and properly cataloged, they reveal important insights about the history of our region. But, like the treasures in many archaeological collection facilities across the United States, the artifacts and records require ongoing, curatorial care to bring their untapped research potential to light. With the exception of sage members of the Texas archaeology community, few [...]