TAC features pre-Clovis site in Virginia

[L. Coyote]

TAC features pre-Clovis site in Virginia
Monday, October 13, 2008
From: "RPettigrew....
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Friends and colleagues: The site of Cactus Hill in Virginia is exciting not only for what it may reveal about the earliest Americans, but also in the way it illustrates the scientific methods of archaeologists. These two subjects are covered by a matched pair of new videos that are the latest features on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel (http://www.archaeologychannel.org). Evidence about pre-Clovis human occupation is the subject of Ice Age Discoveries: New Evidence, while the scientific methods being employed are displayed by Ice Age Discoveries: The Investigators.

Synopsis of New Evidence: Recent excavations at a number of sites, including Cactus Hill located along the Nottoway River in southwest Virginia, have provided new evidence and raised new questions about when people ventured into the Americas. For many years, archaeologists thought that people arrived approximately 11,500 years ago. However, stone artifacts, charcoal, and soil, plant and animal remains suggest human habitation at Cactus Hill at least 18,000 years ago, when much of the continent was under ice.

Synopsis of The Investigators: How are archaeologists solving history’s mysteries? What are archaeologists finding, how do they do their work using the scientific method, and what is the latest evidence about the people who lived here and knew this land before us? This program focuses on the archaeologists -- the "investigators" -- and how they are solving history's mysteries. Archaeologists are like history detectives; they look for clues to the way people lived in the past. In this program, learn how archaeologists use science and “lines of evidence” to piece history together.

This and other programs are available on TAC for your use and enjoyment. We urge you to support this public service by participating in our Membership (http://www.archaeologychannel.org/member.html) and Underwriting (http://www.archaeologychannel.org/sponsor.shtml) programs. Only with your help can we continue and enhance our nonprofit public-education and visitor-supported programming. We also welcome new content partners as we reach out to the world community.

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Richard M. Pettigrew, Ph.D., RPA
President and Executive Director
Archaeological Legacy Institute
http://www.archaeologychannel.org