Underwater archeology reveals clues about Ice Age humans
Summary
Reporter Reed Frasier and underwater archaeologist Dr. Jesse Halligan explore submerged landscapes in Lake Erie and Florida to uncover human history from the last ice age. They discuss how rising sea levels drowned vast areas of land, preserving organic artifacts like mastodon digested material at the Page-Ladson site. This discovery challenges the Clovis First theory by providing evidence of humans in the Americas dating back 14,550 years, predating previous estimates.
Topics discussed
Sponsors: Brooklyn Solarworks, Audible, and Progressive
Intro: Underwater archaeology in Lake Erie
Reed Frasier: The expedition and boat conditions
Using sonar to locate ancient riverbeds
Climate change and the impermanence of shorelines
Sponsors: Planet Visionaries and Heising Simons Foundation
Dr. Jesse Halligan: The scale of drowned land
Ice Age Florida: Fauna and geography
Page-Ladson site: Mastodon digestate and preservation
Challenging the Clovis First paradigm
Why wet environments preserve organic materials
The challenges of underwater excavation methods
Dr. Halligan's background and path to the field
Outro: Cephalopod Week and credits
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