Center for the Study of the First Americans

Center for the Study of the First Americans Our mission is to pursue research, train students, promote scientific dialogue, and stimulate public Texas A&M Department of Anthropology

Colleagues and friends will be gathering at Paleoamerican Odyssey October 14-17, 2026, from 106 universities, 45 archaeo...
09/09/2026

Colleagues and friends will be gathering at Paleoamerican Odyssey October 14-17, 2026, from 106 universities, 45 archaeological consulting firms, 18 museums, 20 archaeological societies, 25 government agencies, and 27 centers, institutes, and foundations from the United States, and 12 other nations to explore all aspects of the first Indigenous people to enter the Americas as the end of the last Ice Age.

Register today! It will be another fifteen years before the next conference.

Register at: https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe!

Poster Symposium Spotlight!Organizer: Adam M. Burke• Early Holocene Exploration and Landscape Adaptation: A Case Study o...
08/19/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight!
Organizer: Adam M. Burke

• Early Holocene Exploration and Landscape Adaptation: A Case Study of Two Nimíipuu Camp Sites in the Bitterroot Mountains, USA
 Jordan J. Thompson, John C. Blong, Rachel A. Horowitz, Roger Amerman

• Incorporating Petrographic Chert Provenance into Existing Models of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Landscape Use in Florida
 Adam M. Burke

• Salty Sediments: Microstratigraphy and Site Formation at Quebrada Jaguay 280
 Sarah Meinekat, Emily B. P. Milton, Daniela Osorio, Susan Mentzer, Chris Miller, Peter Leach, Dan Sandweiss, Kurt Rademaker

• Submerged Ancient Landform Investigations and Analyses from the Private Sector
 Neil N. Puckett

• Understanding Historical Relationships among Early Paleoindian Technologies: A Preliminary Investigation of Stemmed and Fluted Technological Relationship
 Ashley Medlin

• Western Stemmed Tradition Settlement and Mobility Strategies in the Harney Basin, Oregon: W**d Lake Ditch and Beyond
 Jordan Pratt
• Wets Virginia, Mountain Bog-Ma: Reevaluating Paleoenvironmental Proxy Records at Cranberry Glades
 Marion M. Coe

• Late Quaternary Alluvial Stratigraphy, Paleosols, and Paleoenvironment of the North Sulphur River, Texas
 Joshua L. Keene, Karl W. Kibler, Ken Lawrence, Ashley Eyeington

• The Archaeology of High-Altitude Lake Systems in Colombia
 Carlos Reina, Carlos del Cairo, Juan David Sarmiento Rodríguez, Jesús Alberto Aldana Mendoza, Juliana Quintero, Héctor Vargas, Maria Jose Gonzalez Severiche, Morgan Smith

• Bone, Antler, and Ivory Technologies in Siberia and Beringia: Implications for North American Paleo Traditions
 Joshua J. Lynch

• The Agnew Cache: Clovis Wedge-Shaped Blade Core Technology at the Hogeye Site, Central Texas
 Caitlin Doherty, Michael R. Waters, Brad O. Agnew

Join us in Santa Fe! REGISTER TODAY!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium SpotlightLate Pleistocene Animals and their Extinction• Bye Bye, Birdie: An Investigation into the Taxo...
08/17/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight

Late Pleistocene Animals and their Extinction

• Bye Bye, Birdie: An Investigation into the Taxonomy of Extinct North American Birds of Prey
o Hannah Von Suskil, Kristine Korzow

• Genetic Insights into Pleistocene Felids: Ancient DNA Recovery from Smilodon Fatalis
o Sathira Deegala, Kristine Korzow, Michael Waters

• America’s Founding Fossils: Graphical and Tactile Explorations of the Founding Fathers’ Obsession with Pleistocene Megafauna
o Bernard K. Means

• Potential Causes for Differing Equid Population Dynamics in North America, Beringia, and Eurasia
o Larkin R. C. Chapman

• Stable Isotope Evidence for Ecophysiological Stress during Late Pleistocene Megafaunal Decline in Eastern Beringia
o Audra Darcy, Corrin Laposki, Gideon Hartman

Come see these posters and more! Join us in Santa Fe! Register today!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium Spotlight!Investigating Paleoamerican Use of Now-Submerged Caves in Quintana Roo, MexicoOrganizers: Dom...
08/14/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight!

Investigating Paleoamerican Use of Now-Submerged Caves in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Organizers: Dominique Rissolo, James Chatters

• Paleoamerican Ochre Mines in the Submerged Caves of the Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico
o Silvina Vigliani, Samuel Meacham, Eduard G. Reinhardt, Brandi MacDonald, James C. Chatters, Dominique Rissolo, Roberto Junco

• Evidence for Systematic Water Collection by Paleoamericans of the Northern Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico
o James C. Chatters, Alberto Nava Blank, Alejandro Alvarez, Samuel S. Meacham, Dominique Rissolo, Helena Barba Meinecke

• A Light in the Darkness: Woods Exploited for Torches by Paleoamericans of the Yucatan
o Kathy Puseman, Julien Fortin, James C. Chatters

• Automating Photogrammetry-GIS Integration for Spatially Linked 3D Documentation of Submerged Paleoamerican Cave Sites in Quintana Roo, Mexico
o Julien Fortin, Samuel Meacham, Andreas Rosland, Wetherbee Dorshow, Loren Clark, Dominique Rissolo, James C. Chatters

• Simulating Human and Megafauna Access in the Now-Submerged Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Caves of Quintana Roo, Mexico
o Loren Clark, Julien Fortin, Dominique Rissolo, Scott McAvoy, Silvina Vigliani

• Recent Advances in Visual Analytics and Virtual Taphonomy of Submerged Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Human and Faunal Deposits in the Submerged Caves of the Yucatan Peninsula
o Dominique Rissolo, James C. Chatters, Alberto Nava-Blank, Blaine W. Schubert, Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales, Vid Petrovic, Keila Bredehoeft, Scott McAvoy, Helena Barba Meinecke, Falko Kuester

• Artifact Recovery and Sampling in a Deep, Lightless, Underwater Setting: Methods Devised by the Hoyo Negro and Yucatan Prehistory Projects
o Alberto Nava Blank, Alejandro Alvarez, Roberto Chavez, Julien Fortin, James C. Chatters

Join us in Santa Fe! Register now!
https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium SpotlightPaleoindian Settlement on the Margins: The Smith Mountain Paleoindian Complex in VirginiaOrgan...
08/12/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight
Paleoindian Settlement on the Margins: The Smith Mountain Paleoindian Complex in Virginia

Organizers: Joseph A.M. Gingerich, William A. Childress

• An Unfamiliar Dalton Microlithic Tool Assemblage near the End of its Appalachian Lithic Source Tether at Smith Mountain Gap, VA
o William A. Childress, Jeanette Cole

• Comparative Study of Early Narrow Lanceolate and Stemmed Points/Bifaces in the Eastern U.S. as Manifested at Smith Mountain Gap, Virginia
o William A. Childress, Joseph A.M. Gingerich

• A High Strain Zone Microcrystalline Lithic Material Used for Tools by Paleoamericans at Smith Mountain Gap, Virginia
o William A. Childress, William Henika, Christopher Bailey

• A High-Resolution Younger Dryas Boundary Datum in Stratified Paleoamerican Deposits at Smith Mountain Lake (44PY152), Virginia
o Christopher R. Moore, Joseph A.M. Gingerich, William A. Childress, Malcolm A. LeCompte, Allen West, Mohammed Baalousha, Michael Bizimis, Terry A. Ferguson, Siddhartha Mitra, Chad S. Lane, Theodore R. Them II, M. Scott Harris, Victor Adedeji, Kurt A. Langworthy, Mahbub Alam, Paul A. Schroeder, Aaron Thompson, Jordan Jeffreys, Marc J. Defant

• The Cultural Succession of the Paleoindian-Early Archaic Period at Smith Mountain
o William A. Childress, Joseph A.M. Gingerich, Michael Johnson, Jeanette Cole

• Lithic Sourcing and Trends in Mobility within the Smith Mountain Paleoindian Complex
o Joseph A.M. Gingerich, William A. Childress, Mathew Boulanger, Yvonne French

• Stratigraphy and Radiocarbon Dating of the Smith Mountain Paleoindian Complex
o Joseph A.M. Gingerich, Daniel Wagner, William A. Childress

Register today to see these posters and more in Santa Fe at the Paleoamerican Odyssey Conference!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium SpotlightInvestigation of Late Pleistocene Sites and Environments of Central and South America• Early P...
08/10/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight
Investigation of Late Pleistocene Sites and Environments of Central and South America

• Early Paleoindian Biface Production Analysis Using Three Distinct Debitage Assemblages at August Pine Ridge, Belize
o Victoria C. Pagano, Jon C. Lohse, Abigail Antinossi, Mike McBride

• The Occupation of the Evergreen Forest in West Patagonia Extends into the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary
o César Augusto Méndez Melgar, Amalia Nuevo-Delaunay, Pablo Marcelo Fernández, Omar Reyes, Antonio Maldonado

• Camelid Genomes from the Pleistocene to the Present: Investigating Early Human–Camelid Interactions at Cuncaicha and Panaulauca
o Sarah Noe, Kurt Rademaker, Katherine M. Moore, Jo Osborn, Emily B. P. Milton, Lars Fehren-Schmitz

• Investigating the Taphonomy of Giant Ground Sloths from Santa Elina: Insights for Human-Megafauna Interactions in Pleistocene of Brazil
o Thaís R. Pansani, Briana Pobiner, Gabriela Farfan, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Julie Aufort, Hermínio I. de Araújo-Júnior, Michael Gallagher, Sebastian Schöder, Águeda Vialou, Mírian L. A. F. Pacheco

• Genes, Tools, Ice, and Tides: How Building Permeable Landscapes Shaped the Human Occupation of Fuego-Patagonia
o Marta Alfonso-Durruty, Christina M. Balentine, Flavia Morello, Manuel San Roman, Miguel Vilar, Nicole Misarti, Deborah A. Bolnick

• Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Wetlands in Pampa del Tamarugal: Megafauna and Early Human Occupation in the Atacama Desert
o Mario A. Rivera, Orlando Acosta Lancellotti

• Reassessing Lajeado dos Fósseis: New Evidence for Early Human Occupation and Megafauna Interaction in Southern Brazil
o Giulia Marciani, Marcos César Pereira Santos, Fernanda Schneider, Jones Fiegenbaum, Italo Marques de Castro, Diego Dias Pavei, Antoine Lourdeau, Mirian Carbonera, Daniel Loponte, Stefano Benazzi, Neli Teresinha Garlace Machado

• LGM Occupation of Central Argentina Loessic Plains and Deserts (18-28 ky BP)
o Marcelo Javier Toledo

Register today to see these posters and more in Santa Fe at the Paleoamerican Odyssey Conference!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium Spotlight!Recent Developments in the Paleoamerican Archaeology of Northeastern North AmericaOrganizers:...
08/07/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight!

Recent Developments in the Paleoamerican Archaeology of Northeastern North America

Organizers: Nathaniel R. Kitchel, Heather M. Rockwell

• Implications of Fluted Point Use-Life at the Bull Brook Site, Ipswich, Massachusetts
o Richard A. Boisvert, Jennifer C. Ort

• Recent Palaeoindian Research in New Brunswick, Canada
o Joshua Cummings, Trevor Dow, Kenneth Holyoke, Gabriel Hrynick

• An Update on Paleoindian Period Site 38.99, Kennebec County, Maine
o Stuart A. Eldridge, Jaime M. Donta

• Old Dates and Nice Flakes: Recent CRM Discoveries in the Uplands of New England
o Erin Flynn

• Collections Evidence for Paleoindian Pursuits in Connecticut’s Quinnipiac River Valley
o Anthony Gambardella

• Planes and Plains – The Auburn Airport (Michaud) Paleoindian Site Cluster, Maine
o Gemma Hudgell, Arthur Spiess

• The Doyle Locality: A Recently Identified Paleoamerican Stone Tool Manufacturing Workshop in the Munsungun Lake Formation, Piscataquis County, Maine
o Heather Rockwell, Nathaniel Kitchel

• What Lies Beneath: Ground Penetrating Radar and Vibracore Survey of the Inundated Liebman Site, an Early Paleoindian Site in Lebanon, Connecticut
o David E. Leslie, Cassie Aimetti, Zachary L. F. Singer, Andy Fallon

• Microscopic Usewear Analysis on Ice Age Stone Tools in the New York Region
o Thomas J. Loebel, Jonathan C. Lothrop, Susan Winchell-Sweeney, Alexandra DeCarlo

• Results of Protein Residue Analysis on Ice Age Stone Tools in the New York Region
o Jonathan C. Lothrop, John Fagan, Cam Walker, Alexandra DeCarlo, Susan Winchell-Sweeney

• Along the River’s Edge: Current Research at the Little Toad Site, Avon, Connecticut
o Stephanie Scialo, Sarah P. Sportman, David E. Leslie

• Illuminating Ice Age Fauna Exploitation in Maryland: Protein Residue Analysis of 75 Paleoindian Stone Tools from Maryland
o Zachary Singer, Cam Walker, John Fagan, Craig Ilgenfritz, Kenneth Andrasko, Thomas McLaughlin, Stephanie Soder, Matthew McKnight

• Allen’s Meadow: A Paleoindian Camp in the Norwalk River Valley, Wilton, Connecticut
o Ernest A. Wiegand

Register today to see these posters and more in Santa Fe at the Paleoamerican Odyssey Conference!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium Spotlight!Contributions to the Early Prehistory of the Great Basin and Far Western North America• Young...
08/05/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight!

Contributions to the Early Prehistory of the Great Basin and Far Western North America

• Younger Dryas-Age Human Footprints at the Trackway Sites, Great Salt Lake Desert, Utah
o Daron Duke, D. Craig Young

• A Terminal Pleistocene Puppy? Virtual Analysis of a Juvenile Canid from Cooper’s Ferry, Idaho
o Kirsten Paulson

• Technological Variation between Western Stemmed Tradition and Cascade Tradition Projectile Point Technologies in the Northern Great Basin
o Shelby G. Saper

• The Lithic Assemblage of an Early Holocene Campsite in the Northern Great Basin
o Aiden J. Hlebechuk

• Late Paleoindian Projectile Points from CRM Surveys in Nevada: Summary of Results from Over 40 Years Ago
o Steven R. James

• Challenging Old Paradigms: Pre-Clovis in the Northwestern Great Basin
o Wm. Jerry Jerrems, Alberto Conti

• The Conveyance of Paleoindian Toolstone to Pluvial Lake Mojave, California
o Alexandra Jonassen

• Establishment of the Western Stemmed Tradition in the Southwestern Great Basin
o Jeanne Day Binning

• Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Crescent Projectile Points from the Western United States
o Mike Lenzi

• A Fluted Obsidian Biface from Santa Barbara County, California
o Jasmine Kidwell, Barry A. Price, Marc Linder, Scott Engblom, Alex Nyers, Jennifer Thatcher, Michael Rondeau, Jon M. Erlandson

• Evaluating Radiocarbon Reliability and Crescent Chronology in Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Far Western North America
o Natalie M. Marud, Geoffrey Smith

• How Likely are We to be Underestimating Paleoindian Populations? Landscape Taphonomy and Dates-as-Data in the Bonneville Basin
o Daniel A. Contreras, Brian F. Codding

• In Search of the Pleistocene Willamette Valley
o Andrew R. Pauly, Loren G. Davis

• The Terminal Pleistocene-Early Holocene Single-Piece Shell Fishhook Assemblage from Isla Cedros, Baja California, México
o Matthew R. Des Lauriers, Antonio Porcayo-Michelini, Loren G. Davis, Alex Nyers

• Hooked on History: Modern Experimentation on Prehistoric Single Piece Shell Fishhook Effectiveness
o Dylan Sparkman, Matthew Des Lauriers, Antonio Porcayo-Michelini

• Building a Case for Very Early Human Presence on the Outer Northwest Coast: Weaving Multiple Contextual Threads at Laxnuganaks/‘Ngwünaks (Moore Islands), British Columbia, Canada
o Bryn Letham, Jacob Earnshaw, Spencer Greening, Ian Sellers, Duncan McLaren, Eric Letham, Rasha Elendari, Brendan Eshom, Daryl Fedje, Christopher F.G. Hebda, Nick Waber

Join us in Santa Fe!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

Poster Symposium SpotlightThe Evolving Record of the Desert SouthwestOrganizers: David Kilby, Christopher Merriman Buil...
08/03/2026

Poster Symposium Spotlight

The Evolving Record of the Desert Southwest

Organizers: David Kilby, Christopher Merriman

 Building a Legacy: The Contributions of Blackwater Draw to the Clovis Phenomenon
o Brendon P. Asher

 The Terminal Paleoindian Allen Complex in New Mexico: Investigations at LA 184760, a Paleoindian Bison Kill Along the Shores of Paleolake Otero in White Sands National Park
o Joseph M. Birkmann, Christopher W. Merriman, Dave Rachal

 The Genevieve Lykes Duncan Site: A Deeply Buried Clovis Campsite in the Big Bend Region of Southwest Texas
o Erika Blecha, Rolfe Mandel, Bryon Schroeder

 Gypsum Overlook: An Early Holocene Occupation in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico
o Matthew Cuba, Brian Andrews, Andrew R. Boehm, Joel Butler, Michael Diehl, Vance T. Holliday, Jason Windingstad, David J. Meltzer

 Paleo-Lake Trinity, South-Central New Mexico: Late Quaternary Geochronology and Paleoindian Geoarchaeology
o Vance T. Holliday, Jason Windingstad, Christopher W. Merriman

 The Geographic Distribution of Alibates Agatized Dolomite in the Clovis and Folsom Records
o Alistair Henderson

 The Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Occupation of Spring Valley, White Pine County, Nevada
o Jesica Huddleston, Loren Huddleston, Christopher W. Merriman

 Evidence for Paleoindian Bison Jumps at Bonfire Shelter, Texas
o David Kilby, Ashley Eyeington, Marcus Hamilton, Charles Koenig, James Ramsey, Christopher Ringstaff

 Ongoing Analysis of Younger Dryas and Bølling-Allerød Paleoamerican Occupations of Eagle Cave, Texas
o Charles W. Koenig, J. David Kilby, Charles D. Frederick, Madeline E. Mackie, Christopher W. Ringstaff, J. Kevin Hanselka, Lorena Becerra-Valdivia

 The Nature of the Clovis Occupation at the Mockingbird Gap Site, Socorro County, New Mexico
o Christopher W. Merriman, Briggs Buchanan, Marcus J. Hamilton, David Kilby

 Reconstructing Paleoindian Landscapes: Geoarchaeology and Geophysical Survey in the Jornada del Mu**to, New Mexico
o Gwen Olivier, Matthew M. Mele

 The Blue Canyon Site, A Clovis Quarry and Camp in Central New Mexico
o Nadine Navarro, Bruce B. Huckell, Christopher W. Merriman, Joseph M. Birkmann, M. Steven Shackley

 What Can Gypsum Blisters Tell Us about Early Archaic Environments? Evidence from Gomolak Overlook, Tularosa Basin, New Mexico
o Dave Rachal, Matthew Cuba, Brad Beacham

 Paleoindian Occupation of the Estancia Basin: Understanding Land Use against the Landscape Change of the Pleistocene Holocene Transition
o William Reitze

 A GIS-Based Examination of Paleoindian Land-Use in the Upper Buttermilk Creek Valley, Bell and Williamson Counties, Texas
o Christopher W. Ringstaff, Stefanie L. Mills

 Beyond the Kill Site: Surface Evidence of a Clovis Camp at El Fin del Mundo Site
o Ismael Sánchez-Morales, Guadalupe Sánchez, Vance T. Holliday

 Las Tortugas Clovis Site, Sonora
o Guadalupe Sánchez Miranda, Kayla B. Worthey, Ben Wilder, Jonathan Mabry

 Lime Ridge: Nearly 50 Years Later
o Meghann M. Vance

 Piedmont Flood Histories Preserved in Dune-Dammed Playas Shed Additional Light on Post-Clovis Abandonment of the Sonoran Desert
o Jason D. Windingstad

 Evidence for Pre-Clovis Occupation at the San Esteban Rockshelter in the Big Bend Region of Southwest Texas
o Rolfe D. Mandel, Bryon Schroeder, Erika S. Blecha, Susan M. Mentzer, Justin A. Holcomb

 The Clovis Assemblage in the Nielsen Brothers’ Legacy Collection from the St. John’s, Arizona Region
o Matthew J. Rowe, Christoffer Nielsen, Butch Nielsen, Frederick Nielsen, Devany Hernandez, Eileen Anderson, Elizabeth Frias, Ethan McPherson, Gabe Lykins, Kathleen Hennelly, Sydney Allen

 Fossil Prints in 3D: Traces Preserved in Time
o David Bustos, Matthew R. Bennett, Sally C. Reynolds, Edward A. Jolie, Thomas M. Urban, Danial Odess

 Humans Experienced Abrupt Environmental Changes at White Sands during the Last Glacial Maximum
o Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Jessica E. Tierney, Jeffrey S. Honke, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, David Bustos, Thomas M. Urban, Daniel Odess, Edward A. Jolie, Alison J. Smith, Abigail J. Hunt, Patrick J. Martinez, Vincent L. Santucci, Sally C. Reynolds, Matthew R. Bennett

 Dawson and Beyond: Situating the Paleoamerican Experience on the Northern Colorado Plateau
o Tim Riley

 Archaeomagnetic Assessment of the Form and Function of Fire Cracked Rock Features and Heating Histories of Burned Rock from Texas
o Mark D. Harvey, Shelby A. Jones

 An Analysis of the Confidence of Previously Identified Paleoindian Affiliated Sites in Northwestern New Mexico
o Cody Walton, Erik Simpons, Kim Adams, Chris Lowry, Danielle Schneider, Mark Williams

Register today to join us in Santa Fe!

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/conference-registration/

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