Abstracts of Talks:
First Speaker – Robert Lassen’s presentation is titled “History and Archaeology at Folsom, New Mexico, and Its Lasting Effects on Our Understanding of the Initial Peopling of the Americas.” Essentially, he will begin with the controversy surrounding the peopling of the Americas in the start of the 20th century, and discusses how the Folsom discovery in 1928 resolved that issue (along with Blackwater Draw further refining our understanding). Then he will cover the emergence of the Clovis first model, followed by summaries of various archaeological sites that illustrate how the Clovis first model is no longer valid. Lassen will conclude by bringing it back to the original controversy surrounding the Folsom discovery and discuss that despite all we’ve learned, the basic arguments haven’t changed all that much.
Second Speaker – Sergio Ayala’s talk and power point presentation will be on the study Ayala and students did on all the various quarry blanks, etc. on a property in Gillespie County.
Bios of Speakers
Robert Lassen is currently a post-doctoral researcher working for the Gault School of Archaeological Research in its headquarters at Texas State University. He has a PhD in anthropology from the University of Tennessee, as well as an MA from Texas A&M and a BA from Southwestern University in Georgetown. Lassen has been interested in archaeology since grade school and participated in the Fort Bend County and Houston Archaeological Societies when in high school. Although his current work centers on academic research, he also worked for Hicks and Company doing CRM archaeology in 2006-2007. His interests revolve around lithic technology with focus on Paleoindian technology and has also been educating himself in Central Texas Archaic lithics as well.
Sergio Ayala is a Central Texas native and received his Bachelors of Science in archaeology from Texas State University. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Exeter, UK, under Dr. Bruce Bradley. Sergio balances his graduate study with his work as a project archaeologist for The Gault School of Archaeological
Research at Texas State University, where he focuses heavily on experimental archaeology and lithic analysis. His research has developed new insights into technological behaviors of the Calf-Creek Horizon, and he is spearheading additional research that explores wider technological patterns and traits within highly specialized lithic industries in North American prehistory.