Les Davis: Search for the First Montanans

Description

Les Davis was a pioneer of Montana archaeology and curator of Paleo-Indian archaeology at the Museum of the Rockies. From his early days excavating the Lindsay Mammoth to finding evidence of 11,000-year-old family hearth complexes in the mountains of Montana, Davis was the most prolific Montana archaeologist of the twentieth century. A half-hour film will be shown at each session, followed by a Montana archaeology discussion.

Course Takeaways

The program's objective is to reveal the history of Montana archaeology and discuss old and new evidence of the peopling of the Americas. The famous "ice-free corridor" that developed 13,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age funneled Paleo-Indians into Montana as they migrated south into the Americas. For the last half of the twentieth century, the Clovis people were considered the first to populate the Americas. More recent evidence shows that much older cultures came to America before the ice-free corridor opened.

Scholarship

Apply for a needs-based scholarship to take this offering.

Meet the Instructor