“The First Americans” Lecture with Dr. Eugene Boesch

Join us for our first installment in 2015 of NVM’s History Lecture Series at The D&H Canal Visitor’s Center, 58 Hoag Road, Cuddebackville, NY. featuring Dr. Eugene Boesch.

This lecture covers the latest discoveries overturning long-held ideas about the identity of the “First Americans.” Light refreshments will be served.

Despite decades of digging into the origins of humans in North America, archeologists are still uncovering new evidence that overturns old ideas. It’s long been believed that prehistoric Eurasians, who migrated to North America between 15,000 and 16,000 years ago over a land bridge crossing the Bering Strait, were the first “Paleo-indians.” However, finds by archeologists over the past two decades offer evidence that Paleo-indians were in the Americas as far back as 50,000 years ago. Scientists also surmised that the Eurasian migrants caused the extinction of large ice age mammals in North America. But there’s evidence that a natural disaster caused these animals to die out and may have led to the demise of the Paleo-indian culture.

Eugene Boesch has undertaken archaeological investigations in the Hudson Valley area for over 30 years. He received a Ph.D. and other graduate degrees from New York University. Dr. Boesch’s work has primarily focused on Pre-Contact period cultures and adaptations in the Eastern Woodlands of North America and on early Euro-American settlement in the Hudson Valley region.

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