The Western Hemisphere. General term for the Americas following their discovery by Europeans, thus setting them in contradistinction to the Old World of Africa, Europe, and Asia.
The fact that Southeast Alaska Native elders approve of the experiment - just as they earlier endorsed requests to examine the human remains - contrasts sharply with the protests and pitched legal battles Indian leaders in Washington state waged over the fate of "Kennewick Man," the 9,000-year-old Columbia River skeleton.
Tlingit elder Rosita Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute - the Southeast Alaska Native non-profit group that's helping stage the study - partially credits the institute's Council of Traditional Scholars.
"When this 10,300-year-old person was found on Prince of Wales, the way it was interpreted was that we had one of our ancestors offering himself to give us knowledge," Worl said. "They were also saying that if our culture is going to survive and flourish, then we have to be receptive to science."
Scientists used to think migrating groups simply walked across the 1,000-mile wide Bering Land Bridge and bided their time around present-day Fairbanks - at least until about 12,000 years ago, when the glaciers that blocked the centre of the continent finally began to melt, opening an ice-free corridor south.
But that long-accepted migration theory has grown problematic of late, as scientists keep discovering evidence of earlier Americans living south of Alaska - including humans in Monte Verde, Chile, 12,500 years ago, and on an island off California 13,000 years ago, and inside a coastal Oregon cave 14,300 years ago.
They could have got there, some scientists believe, simply by paddling the coast.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
'Lost World' by Tom Koppel goes into alot of detail about 'On Your Knees Cave' and other sites in the area.
The coolest part i got out of it was the discovery that when the weight of the glaciers was removed, the Earth's crust, which had been depressed by the ice, rebounded it hit a peak then subsided a little. This caused some sites that were high and dry to give older dates than others that were underwater.
This is more geology than archeology, but I think they say the area around the Great Lakes in NA is still raising about half an inch per year from the depressed level it had when being under the ice.
You guys are right on. This process is called isostatic rebound. I fact, the northern part of the UK is still rising, causing the southern part to submerge. While this movement is barely noticeable now, it was pretty dramatic at the end of the last glaciation.
Rivers changed course, rainfall patterns changed, and some lakes dried up. It had a lot of impact on human activity.
But that long-accepted migration theory has grown problematic of late, as scientists keep discovering evidence of earlier Americans living south of Alaska - including humans in Monte Verde, Chile, 12,500 years ago, and on an island off California 13,000 years ago, and inside a coastal Oregon cave 14,300 years ago.
"Monte Verde, Chile, 12,500 years ago"?
Afaik Monte Verde was dated at 14,400 years BP!
Beagle wrote:You guys are right on. This process is called isostatic rebound. I fact, the northern part of the UK is still rising, causing the southern part to submerge. While this movement is barely noticeable now, it was pretty dramatic at the end of the last glaciation.
Imagine the depression that the 3 miles thick ice sheet causes on Antarctica! I've seen calculated geological assessments that project that Antarctica's ground surface will rise around 1,200' – yes, that's twelve hundred feet! – should the ice pack melt away.
To that, RS, i can only say WOW!!!! Even if their calculations are off by 50% a 600 ft rebound seems enormous. Imagine if the rebound occurs in mere centuries instead of millenia!
Imagine the depression that the 3 miles thick ice sheet causes on Antarctica! I've seen calculated geological assessments that project that Antarctica's ground surface will rise around 1,200' – yes, that's twelve hundred feet! – should the ice pack melt away.
A 3 mile thick ice cover will create a 1 mile thick depression if ratios hold true between Antarctica and other similar glaciated areas.
About 50% of crustal displacement recovery occurs during the first 2,000 years so the first thousand years after the melt would see an initial rise of about 1.5 feet per year or 150 feet per century (49 meters) with a logarithmic slowing over time. The Hudson Bay shoreline has raised about 1,000 feet since the LGM and still has another 1,000 feet to go.
