Senior Research Associate

Luther Cressman's 1938-1940 excavations at the Paisley Caves in south central Oregon discovered exciting evidence suggesting that people may have lived there as early as the Late Pleistocene, some 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.  However, it was not until recent developments in and results of archaeological and paleogenetic investigations at the Paisley Caves, bringing the audience the most up-to-date information about the evidence for the association of humans and Pleistocene animals in Oregon's high desert country more than 14,000 years ago.  Dating of camel and horse bones, artifacts, twigs, and dried human feces containing Native American DNA between 12,900 and 14,500 years ago indicates that people lived in the caves and may have hunted camels, horses, and other animals at the end of the Pleistocene.  This colorful slide show takes the audience through the scientific processes employed in proving the case for pre-Clovis human occupations at the world famous Paisley Caves.