Discovering Ancient North America II Lecture 2: North American Archaeology UCSC Winter 2007 Lecture 2: North American Archaeology UCSC Winter 2007

Early Exploration and Contact For thousands of years peoples of the two hemispheres developed in virtual isolation of each other. How did earliest contact and early images and imaginings by Europeans about the Native Americans impact the development of NA Archaeology? For thousands of years peoples of the two hemispheres developed in virtual isolation of each other. How did earliest contact and early images and imaginings by Europeans about the Native Americans impact the development of NA Archaeology?

The Norse Viking Expansion

Norse in Greenland Eirik (the Red) Thordvalson AD 986 Settlements along SW tip of Greenland Brattahlid, Greenland Eirik the Red’s Farmstead

Norse in North America Leif Eiriksson-- reached shores of NA--ca. A.D Oral Tradition--Norse Sagas Archaeology--L’Anse aux Meadows, New Foundland Sod walled houses, Norse artifacts

“Skraelings” 16th century image of Inuit from Forbisher expedition to Canada First European description of Native Americans Norse artifacts found on Inuit sites in W. Greenland, Canadian Archipelago, High Arctic Norse abandon Greenland ca “Little Ice Age”

Basque Whaling Stations Reconstruction of Basque whaling station in Labrador Red Bay, Labrador-- evidence of 16th century Basque whaling station Saddle Island--whaler’s cemetery with 60 graves and 140 skeletons Under water archaeology -- sunken galleon and smaller whaling boats Started as early as 14th c.?

Columbian Consequences beginning of major European colonial expansion Fundamentally changed European World View Native Americans suffered cultural and biological genocide, political domination and economic dependency Christopher Columbus, 1519

Early Speculation on Identity and Origins of Native Americans Papal Bull (1567)--NA are human and have souls Joannes Fredricus Lumnius (1567)-- “Lost Tribes of Israel” Jose de Acosta (1589)-- overland migration from Asia 16th century images of Indians by John White

The Myth of the Moundbuilders Earthworks in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys attributed to “Lost Race of Moundbuilders” of probable European origin

Why a Lost Race of Moundbuilders? Indians no longer building mounds Emerging Nationalism Racist Attitudes Economic and Political Motives

Moundbuilders and Archaeology Thomas Jefferson (1797) Notes on Virginia Squier and Davis (1848) Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Cyrus Thomas (1894) 12th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnography

Search for First Americans Enthusiasts search for “Ice Age” humans in America (1880s-1890s) W.H. Holmes and A. Hrdlicka debunked claims; favored “short chronology” Alex Hrdlicka of the Smithsonian Institution

Folsom Find ( ) George McJunkin (1908) J.D. Figgins (Denver MNH) (1926) Projectile points (in situ) with extinct Bison bones (Bison bison antiquus) Proved conclusively that Native Americans had been in Americas since end of Ice Age (ca. 10,000 BP) Reconstruction of Folsom Find