Science and the Search for the First Americans Robert
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The (Un)Settling of America: Science and the Search for the First Americans Robert Vernon Davis Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science and Technology Studies Ellsworth R. Fuhrman Ann F. Laberge Peter L. Schmitthenner Matthew R. Goodrum October 17, 2011 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: science, myth, first Americans, archaeology, anthropology Copyright © 2011 Robert Vernon Davis The (Un)Settling of America: Science and the Search for the First Americans Robert Vernon Davis ABSTRACT The practice of science in the search for the First Americans is a flawed endeavor. Not only is science constrained by the shifting centers of cultural power external to science, but also by the institutions, elites, and cognitive values internal to science. Substantive disagreement over a cultural past is a reflection of unstabilized power relationships in the present. Although science traditionally is believed to speak truth to governmental power, federal law dictates that American Indian traditions hold an epistemological status equal to the methods of science when determining the cultural affiliation of, and access to, pre-European human remains. Consequently, discovery and examination of the most important First American artifacts occur only as a product of a negotiation between scientists and the very groups that frequently oppose them. This is a case study of the practice of science in its search for the First Americans in this unstable environment. This dissertation deconstructs: (1) the conflicts between the methods of science and the traditional beliefs of modern American Indians; (2) the power struggles for primacy of place internal to the sciences themselves; and (3) the interactions with external authorities such as government agencies, the press, universities, and museums. It is an examination into how the issues have been defined and how differences in cultural myths, scientific theories, research methodologies and public policy remain unsettled in modern America. It is an investigation of the blurred boundaries between science and myth as well as between fact and theory that ultimately weaken the credibility of science as a cultural mechanism for interpreting the natural world. Finally, this dissertation concludes that the absence of a firm American cultural ground upon which to place an epistemological fulcrum has greatly contributed not only to the First American identity search remaining unresolved, but also to the instability of the very science which is conducting the search. Dedication To my late father who never graduated from high school, but taught me the importance of education and, especially, hard work. Author‘s Acknowledgements For their continuing patience, guidance, and support, I thank my committee— Skip Fuhrman, Ann Laberge, Peter Schmitthenner, and Matthew Goodrum. iii Table of Contents I. Introduction 1 II. First American Theories, Myths and Evidence 17 Chapter 1: American Indian Myths 19 Chapter 2: Euro-American Theories 31 Chapter 3: Clovis-First 62 Chapter 4: Pre-Clovis: Monte Verde and Meadowcroft 79 Chapter 5: Case Studies: Atlantis and Chinese Bestiary 94 III. First American Science 110 Chapter 6: Anthropology and Archaeology 112 Chapter 7: Bioanthropology 125 Chapter 8: The Other Sciences: Genetics, Linguistics, and Physics 145 Chapter 9: Laboratories 171 Chapter 10: Museums 182 IV. Communities 194 Chapter 11: Identity and Heritage Preservation 196 Chapter 12: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 214 Chapter 13: Case Studies: Kennewick Man and Tarim Basin 233 V. Conclusions 255 Bibliography 272 iv List of Figures Figure 1 Water Beetle plaque-Smithsonian Institution 26 Figure 2 Earth Medicine plaque-Smithsonian Institution 27 Figure 3 Ka‘apor tribe plaques-Smithsonian Institution 28 Figure 4 Pamunkey tribe plaque-Smithsonian Institution 29 Figure 5 Contact plaque-Smithsonian Institution 30 Figure 6 Map of possible migration routes to New World 34 Figure 7 Map of coastal boundaries during last ice age 50 Figure 8 Clovis stone tools 63 Figure 9 Map of Blackwater Draw, NM area 64 Figure 10 Blackwater Draw, NM-National Historical Landmark plaque 65 Figure 11 1933 Clovis expedition party 66 Figure 12 Blackwater Draw, NM excavation site 67 Figure 13 1960s Isequilla‘s Pit at Blackwater Draw, NM excavation site 74 Figure 14 2010 Isequilla‘s Pit at Blackwater Draw, NM excavation site 75 Figure 15 Map of Monte Verde, Chile area 81 Figure 16 Human footprint at Monte Verde, Chile excavation site 85 Figure 17 Meadowcroft Rockshelter, PA-Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission plaque 91 Figure 18 Meadowcroft Rockshelter, PA-National Historical Landmark plaque 92 Figure 19 Meadowcroft Rockshelter, PA excavation site 93 Figure 20 Ignatius Donnelly Map of possible Atlantis location 98 Figure 21 Ignatius Donnelly Mycenae and Central American arches 99 Figure 22 Ignatius Donnelly Egyptian and Central American skulls 100 Figure 23 Ancient Chinese map of area surrounding China 108 Figure 24 Ancient human remains found in North America 127 Figure 25 John Wells Foster comparison of skulls 131 Figure 26 John Wells Foster primitive skull 132 Figure 27 Nebraska primate tooth 141 Figure 28 February 19, 1925 New York Times, Nebraska tooth 142 Figure 29 World map of mtDNA and NRY DNA distribution 151 Figure 30 Comparison of Asia-New World migration chronologies 154 Figure 31 Joseph Greenberg‘s distribution of New World languages 160 Figure 32 University of Georgia isotope analysis price list 169 Figure 33 Clovis Gravel Pit, 1933 172 Figure 34 Map of Western Hemisphere excavation sites 180 Figure 35 Meadowcroft Rockshelter, PA excavation site 183 Figure 36 Blackwater Draw, NM excavation site 185 Figure 37 Blackwater Draw, NM Museum 186 Figure 38 Hall of Human Origins plaque-Smithsonian Institution 188 Figure 39 The Americas exhibit-Smithsonian Institution 191 Figure 40 Human migration exhibit-Smithsonian Institution 192 Figure 41 Paul Chaat Smith exhibit plaque-Smithsonian Institution 216 v List of Figures (continued) Figure 42 Pamunkey Tribe exhibit plaque-Smithsonian Institution 229 Figure 43 Kennewick man skull 234 Figure 44 Map of location of Kennewick man skull discovery 236 Figure 45 Patrick Stewart and reconstructed Kennewick man 245 Figure 46 Chief Black Hawk and son-John Jarvis painting 246 Figure 47 Map of Tarim Basin mummies excavation site 250 Figure 48 Beauty of Xiaohe 251 (Fair Use determinations are attached for Figures 6-9, 11, 13, 15-16, 20-34, and 43-48. Figures 1-5, 10, 12, 14, 17-19, and 35-42 were pictures taken by the author at publicly accessible museums and excavation sites.) vi List of Tables Table 1 Ignatius Donnelly comparison of languages 101 Table 2 Ignatius Donnelly comparison of alphabets 102 Table 3 Conversion of radio-carbon to chronological years 164 Table 4 Smithsonian Institution Visitors in 2010 189 (Fair Use determinations are attached for Tables 1-4.) vii Section I. Introduction Overview Substantive disagreement over a cultural past is a reflection of unstabilized power relationships in the present. This dissertation is a case study of the practice of science in this unstable environment as it has been employed in the search for the First Americans. It is not an attempt to determine the validity of any specific theory or material artifact; rather, it is an investigation into the practice of science as it relates to a search to explain a particular human existence. It is concerned with how personal, organizational, and cultural power has been manifested through scientific concepts, government policy, American Indian tribes, the public, and the scientists themselves in the search for the First Americans. It is an examination into how the issues have been constructed and, finally, the manner in which (as well as degree to which) differences in cultural myths, scientific theories, research methodologies and public policy remain unsettled in modern America. As this examination of the search for the First Americans shows, perceptions of the past can be as unstable as any projections of the future. Compounding the challenges faced by scientists, modern Native Americans have used the U. S. political system to gain a voice in defining the history of America‘s indigenous peoples. As a direct result, in 1990 the U.S. Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requiring that American Indian folklore and oral traditions be granted equal epistemological status with science in regard to the disposition of American Indian funereal artifacts and human remains. 1 There is an inverse, and perhaps even a perverse, symmetry in the relationships created in the search for the First Americans. As anthropologist Randall McGuire has termed it, ―the descendants of the conquerors study the ancestors of the conquered.‖1 Moreover, the broader scientific community within which First American science must function is increasingly perceived as being suspect. In President Obama‘s 2008 inaugural address, he stated that ―we will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology‘s wonders.‖ 2 What is science‘s rightful place in American society, and specifically in the search for the First Americans, how did it get dislodged from being there? Can the federal government on the one hand ―restore‖ science to some privileged position, but also enforce the provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation