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VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 MAY-JUNE 2017

Inside - Challenging the tenets of mainstream scientific a g e n d a s - P A G E 2

Thoughts on early Cerutti Mastodon Site special issue man (Re: Cerutti Site) PROS, CONS, AND UNPUBLISHED FACTS Virginia Steen-McIntyre We received many P A G E 3 passionate referrals to the latest masto- The mastodon as food don announcement in in ancient Mexico— the journal Nature . Revisiting PCN #6, Most readers imme- July-Aug 2010: diately recognized Virginia Steen-McIntyre where they knew this P A G E 4 site from—Pleistocene Coalition News (cited in The “new” New 11 articles the past seven World (Cerutti Mas- years) even though the todon section from name change in honor of The First American long-time California con- (2007)—Updated tract paleontologist, Rich- Chris Hardaker ard Cerutti—colleague of PC founding mem- PAGE 7 ber, California archae- Member news and ologist Chris Hardaker— was confusing to some. other information Both PCN readers and Ken Johnston, Vir- mainstream readers Figure from Cerutti (Caltrans) Mastodon Site’s ginia Steen-McIntyre , 1995 “Final Report” as it appeared in PC found- have commented on the John Feliks ing member Virginia Steen-McIntyre’s exposé, non-citation of relevant sources in the Nature P A G E 8 PCN #3, Jan-Feb 2010 . PCN #3 was the first announcement w/figures of the site since its report. In this issue we The Pleistocene discovery “18 years” prior (same issue as provide some strong version of a multi- our exposé of Ardi in the journal Science ). opinions on Cerutti Mas- use tool Virginia and colleagues agreed not to todon publications ranging discuss the site until the excavators made the from excitement whatever Tom Baldwin “exciting discovery” public; it never happened. the shortcomings and P A G E 1 0 Of the nine, some are ill, and three are deceased; Hardaker’s psychology that’s what a 25-yr suppression can do. Later, in behind suppression to The levee breaks PCN #7 (Sept-Oct 2010), founding member Chris documenting the presence Calico Early Man Site Hardaker gave his first of many insider lessons David Campbell of PC between the sup- on how honest paleontologists such as Richard Cerutti Mastodon Site pression and publication of PAGE 12 Cerutti and archaeologists both are cattle-prodded by the American anthropology community: “First the site. We see the CM • Oral tradition and American research is a high-voltage high-stakes publication as success in • beyond arena where the ruling paradigmers can exact our founding mission to nasty epithets against challengers, blasting their help bring suppressed Ray Urbaniak credibility to kingdom come. ...Don’t expect any information to the public. P A G E 1 4 changed attitudes. Not about Calico, not Valse- quillo, not National City/Caltrans (California, 300k. The mastodon as food in ancient Mexico Cerutti Mastodon See Steen-McIntyre 2010)...It took the main- By Virginia Steen-McIntyre, PhD , “Parallel Timeline”— stream experts a full twenty years to go look at a The story you have site in Chile… Twenty years!” Volcanic ash specialist; PCN article reprint; Full article on p. 3 [“Thoughts on early man” article p. 2 ] not heard, Pts 1-2 John Feliks “A total of the bones of extinct animals, cles with abun- P A G E 2 0 fifteen arti- primarily mastodon.…[dated] dant evidence Neighboring sites: facts and greater than 280,000 years.” ignored by flakes of predisposed Cerutti benefits by –VSM on the El Horno Mastodon Site, indisputably and competitive not distancing Calico Mexico. PCN #6, July-August 2010. human work- researchers John Feliks manship were recovered , On page 3 we continue our skipping normal citations while eleven in direct association with reprints of selected PCN arti- promoting individual sites.

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 2

Thoughts on early man

By Virginia Steen-McIntyre, PhD Volcanic ash specialist

Most of you will have heard No. Steve knew about “Then, being of the Cerutti/Caltrans Hueyatlaco and the other mastodon site in southern older sites down by the so many California by now. Steve Valsequillo Reservoir, years later Holen and his group reported state of Puebla, Mexico. with no on it in a Nature Sites two to three times Letter recently. as old as Cerutti/Caltrans change February 14 2010: Dated at ca 130k. and first reported in Quater- in the An excellent article nary Research in 1981. My [Caltrans] article is there site’s that covers several Steve and I corresponded [in the Jan-Feb 2010 PCN status bases. An official from 2008 through January newsletter.]. A colleague e- we re- breakthrough that 2013 regarding early man in mailed me only after I had demolishes the old the New World, including the printed finished the piece that you Clovis First mental Valsequillo sites and Cerutti/ had been quietly working on the arti- barrier for good. Caltrans. Then he wrote he the Caltrans material for over cle in Reported worldwide. was leaving the Denver mu- a year. I had forgotten. Note seum, husband Dave died that I did not include the au- our Sort of a bitter- suddenly, and I fell and thors' names and affiliation. Jan-Feb sweet time for me. We re- broke my arm and ended up Ditto for that piece in the last ported on the site way back in 2017 issue, in a nursing home.. Haven’t issue, on Solorzano’s classic the Jan-Feb 2010 issue of this PCN #45, as heard from him since.. H. erectus skull fragment from newsletter, PCN #3, In their the Guadalajara area. No Revisiting own words: Caltrans Site . For the record, I’ve copied sense embarrassing folk. As I PCN#3 Then, being so many years below parts of early emails wrote my friend, we are pres- later with no change in the sent to Steve Holen when we (Jan-Feb ently tumbling over a major site’s status we reprinted the were corresponding: 2010), “In paradigm cliff, and ALL of us article in our Jan-Feb 2017 have said or done dumb their own issue, PCN #45, as Revisiting December 31, 2009: things before our thinking was words,” PCN #3 (Jan-Feb 2010), “In I've been re-reading the changed! [So true! VSM 5/17] with addi- their own words,” with addi- Caltrans open-file report tional fig- tional figure , just before their that includes information public announcement. It was VIRGINIA S TEEN -MCINTYRE , PhD, is ure , just for a mastodon butcher- then called the Caltrans site. ing site in the San Diego a volcanic ash specialist; found- ing member of the Pleistocene before area (1995), age roughly Why the bitter taste? No men- Coalition; and copy editor, au- their public tion of Hueyatlaco, even as an 300,000 years U-series on thor, and scientific consultant announce- acknowledged controversial tusk, C14 dates infinite). for Pleistocene Coalition News . site. Hueyatlaco is officially Bones had been moved She began her lifelong associa- ment.” tion with the Hueyatlaco early ignored, again. They start off around and modified, associ- man site in Mexico in 1966. Her in their abstract listing the ated with a few large cobbles and stone flakes in a fine- story of suppression—now well- criteria proposed early sites known in the science commu- grained stream matrix (had are required to meet for ac- nity—was first brought to public ceptance: “(1) archaeological to have been brought in.) attention in Michael Cremo’s and evidence is found in a clearly According to a note attached Richard Thompson’s classic defined and undisturbed geo- to the report by our mur- tome, Forbidden Archeology , which was followed by a central logic context; (2) age is deter- dered colleague, the late appearance in the NBC special, mined by reliable radiometric Charles Repenning, the stone flakes could be fit to- Mysterious Origins of Man in dating; (3) multiple lines of 1996, hosted by Charlton Heston. gether to form small boul- evidence from interdisciplinary The program was aired twice on studies provide consistent ders. They were using the NBC with mainstream scientists results; (4) unquestionable bipolar flaking technique, attempting to block it. artefacts are found in primary placing a boulder on an anvil and bashing the opposite end All of Virginia’s articles in PCN context.” Hueyatlaco has met can be accessed directly at the with another cobble to shat- all of them. Then they write, following link: “The CM site is, to our knowl- ter it into a bunch of flakes, http:// edge, the oldest in situ , well- then finding “expedient flakes” to use as tools. www.pleistocenecoalition.com/ documented archaeological #virginia_steen_mcintyre site in North America...” > Cont. on page 12

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 3

Revisiting PCN #6 (July-August 2010) In their own words ... The mastodon as food in ancient Mexico By Virginia Steen-McIntyre, PhD Volcanic ash specialist

Did paleofamilies enjoy than 280,000 years. 2 References an occasional mastodon Evidence from the 70s 1. Irwin- bar-b-cue in ancient Mex- Williams, C., ico? Evidence In 1978, Professor Juan 1962, Pre- “A total says yes; estab- Armenta Camacho reported liminary 3 Report on the of fif- lishment says no. on his Tetela 1 specimen, Investigations an intricately carved frag- teen Evidence from in the Region ment of mastodon pelvis of the Valse- arti- the 60s that included a clear repre- quillo Reser- voir, Report facts In her 1962 report sentation of a double- on Archaeo- to INAH (Instituto tusked mastodon, probably logical Inves- and Nacionál de Antro- Ryncotherium tlascalae, tigations in flakes pología e Historia), 1 whose remains have been the Region of archaeologist Cyn- discovered in the area Fig.1. Modified mas- the Valse- of indis- todon bone with a quillo Reser- thia Irwin-Williams (Fig. 2 ). It was collected voir, Puebla, putably devotes eight pages in 1959 a short distance groove, dated (Puebla), human to the El Horno site, north of what was later to 280,000 years old. 1962 . Report north shore of the Valsequillo become the Hueyatlaco submitted to workman- the Departamento de Prehistoria, Reservoir, State of Puebla, site, and from the same sedi- Instituto Nacionál de Antropología e ship were Mexico. Edge-retouched unifa- mentary unit (Valsequillo Historia [INAH], 36 pp. cial stone tools were found gravels). The upper artifact- recovered, 2. Szabo, B.J., H.E. Malde, and C. there, in close association with bearing levels at Hueyatlaco Irwin-Williams, 1969, Dilemma eleven in the remains of a butchered have been dated by the ura- Posed by Uranium-Series Dates on direct asso- mastodon. Some of the bones nium-series methods at ap- Archaeologically Significant Bones had been modified ( Fig. 1 ). proximately 250,000 years. 2 from Valsequillo, Puebla, Mexico, ciation with Earth and Planetary Science Letters the bones Irwin-Williams closes the The bone was fresh (“green”) v. 6, pp. 237-44. Tables 1 and 2. section on El Horno with the when it was carved. 3. Armenta Camacho, J. 1978, Vesti- of extinct gios de Labor Humana en Huesos de following summary: No evidence today? animals, Animales Extintos de Valsequillo, “Between June 8 and July But this evidence apparently Puebla, Mexico [Traces of Human primarily 14, 1962, excavations were Workmanship on Bones of Extinct has been forgotten. Although Animals from Valsequillo, Puebla, carried out at the site of El the El Horno site and Tetela 1 mastodon.” Horno, in the Valsequillo Zone, Mexico], Work supported by the engraving are not unknown to American Philosophical Society and Puebla, Mexico. A total of government scientists in Mex- the Mary Street Jenkins Foundation, fifteen artifacts and flakes of presented at the 35th International ico City, a recent article by Congress of the Americanists, Puebla, them states the following: 1978, published privately, Puebla, Mexico, 1,000 copies, 128 pp. “Proboscideans are among an important suite of animals 4. Arroyo-Cabrales, J., O.J. Polaco, E. Johnson, 2006, A preliminary view in examining the coexistence of the coexistence of mammoth and of early peoples and extinct early peoples in México, Quaternary fauna in México. For the late International, 142-143, p. 79-86. Pleistocene, four genera are 5. Cremo, M., 2010, Forbidden Ar- known for this group, the cheology and the Knowledge Filter , gomphotheres Cuvieronius Pleistocene Coalition News, March- and Stegomastodon having April, 1:2, pp. 4,5. one species each, the Ameri- can mastodon Mammut VIRGINIA S TEEN -MCINTYRE , PhD, is a americanum, and the Plains volcanic ash specialist; founding mammoth Mammuthus member of the Pleistocene Coalition; columbi (Polaco 2002). The and copy editor, author, and scientific consultant for Pleistocene Coalition only one that has been News . She began her lifelong associa- found in association with tion with the Hueyatlaco early man Fig. 2. Engraving on a mastodon pelvis bone of what appears evidence of human activity site in Mexico in 1966. Her story of 4 to be a double-tusked mastodon. The engraving is dated c. is the mammoth.” suppression—now well-known in the science community—was first brought 250,000 years old. Remains of the double-tusked mastodon Of course radiometric to public attention in Michael Cremo’s are known from the same area as the engraving. dates for Irwin-Williams’ and Richard Thompson’s classic and Armenta’s discoveries tome, Forbidden Archeology , which indisputably human work- was followed by a central appearance would put them back in mid- in the NBC special, Mysterious manship were recovered, Pleistocene, not late- Origins of Man in 1996, hosted by eleven in direct association Pleistocene time. Perhaps Charlton Heston. The program was with the bones of extinct that is why they are ignored aired twice on NBC with mainstream scientists attempting to block it. animals, primarily mastodon” here? Is this a case of a (p. 17, later pagination, p. 20). communication gap or a All of Virginia’s articles in PCN can be accessed directly at the following link: Later uranium-series dates for classic example of Michael the animal, obtained from a Cremo’s “knowledge filter” http://www.pleistocenecoalition.com/ 5 #virginia_steen_mcintyre tooth fragment, are greater in action? > Cont. on page 12

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 4

The “new” New World Chapter 7 from The First American: The Suppressed Story of the People Who Discovered the Americas (2007) reprinted in response to the recent Cerutti Mastodon Site announcement By Chris Hardaker , MA, archaeologist

The sooner we know where pre-Clovis horizons are, the sooner we’ll know what to look for and what to keep from being destroyed before “Now we get a good it will chance to look at it. be up Bone beds and to us stone quarries to ex- would be good first plain bets. Sheguindah's quartzites and Cal- ‘why’ ico's semi-precious a certain cherts will make excellent broken study collections because stone can- there are so many speci- mens. Bone beds from the not be an Middle Pleistocene forward Fig. 1. Valsequillo spearheads. Age: 200,000+ years old. Priceless. Missing. artifact are now potential goldmines. instead of What do kill sites look like bust the Clovis bubble, but survive, maybe there is blindly as- without bifaces, without stone things have changed and that some of us in the mix. bubble has long been popped. suming spearheads of any kind? With- Translated: Track down your out stone? A kill site without Now these lower tier sites geofacts.” don’t have to prove immacu- friendly neighborhood Pleisto- arrowheads might look very cene paleontologist. Bow. Pre- different from the Clovis kill late presence. Now the pres- sure is on us to expect earlier, sent the customary imported six- sites we know and love. So pack. And this is what you ask: might the tools, like bone tools? non-bifacial thinning, agnostic artifact types. Now it will be up “Seen any anomalies lately?” The puzzle pieces of human to us to explain “why” a cer- Anomaly Heaven evolution are materially finite. tain broken stone cannot be The preClovis record is fragile an artifact instead of blindly “I met Roald Fryxell. He gave and easily destroyed. That assuming geofacts. To this a talk at the Udden Club. I record will be largely composed end, presence/absence recog- remember sitting in the labo- of faint vestiges of human nition needs to be upgraded. ratory afterwards and he told presence captured in the an- me about a site that he was cestral dust, mere fingerprints Experimenting with bipolar working on in Mexico. I don’t in a Clovis world that demands flaking is definitely a start [see remember exactly the name skulls if not skeletons. Bipolar Corner , PCN #36, July- of the site. He found some August 2015]. A few centuries really early kinds of tools. He Valsequillo could easily be one ago in Europe, flake scatters dated the site five or six of a kind. It would be hard to were regarded as places where different ways. It was too old imagine another region so witches blew up. While most all for carbon-14. It was a very generous in Middle Paleolithic archaeologists are (or should old site. He had primitive bones and artifacts buried in be) hip to direct percussion tools. He had volcanic ash that sand and silts ( Fig. 1 ). The and pressure methodologies, he dated. There was a basalt Lake Manix region surrounding bipolar assemblages might as flow that blocked a lake. They Calico would be a good sec- well be places where witches were able to date that using a ond. But what of all those blew up Bone fractures and uranium dating technique. The other sites that didn’t quite taphonomy could become the fossils were much older than measure up? (For Euros like meat and potatoes of the new recent material. They did hydra- Francois Bordes and Mary American archaeology. In the tion studies on flints [volcanic Leakey, Calico measured up.) end, exposing our deep New glass-ch] to get an age. All These “lesser” sites might not World heritage may depend > Cont. on page 12 have been strong enough to on bone beds. Where bones > Cont. on page 5

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 5

The “new” New World (cont.)

the dated material was more chance of finding anything. context seems to have been than 100,000 years old. Of For example, if there are sites caused by a rising ocean level course early humans in the in an area and they have been and the resulting back up of new world at that time had avoided or excavated, the con- the local drainages creating a only been dated to seven or tract archaeology company marsh-like zone. The gentle eight thousand years. He worked often leaves one or two field- deposition of sediments kept on an early man site in Washing- workers behind to follow the the bones in place for the most ton State. Nobody would believe mechanical dinosaurs in case part. A horse was uncovered; “It was a that work in Mexico because it anything else turns up. This a near-perfect burial except cross- was way too old. I never forget also applies to paleontologists. the head was missing, which section of him telling me that. It was just is not rare in paleontology. More than a decade ago, in a tusk, a a few months after that he was killed. He was out in the field National City, California, south Anomaly 2 tusk that and was going to town to give a of San Diego, a SDNHM [San Diego Natural History Museum] What is rare, is to find the had been talk. They think he fell asleep and remains of animals in fairly buried got into an automobile accident. paleontologist was monitor- ing an area where there was good shape while another vertically The reason I remember that, a slight chance that California one next to them is smashed in the as a paleontologist, I always Department of Transportation to smithereens, like it got thought that if humans were (CDoT) roadwork would turn up run over with a steamroller. ground... This was the Mastodon. The like a chasing mammoth and mas- old bones. Day after day it is as todons and bison and large much your ears as your eyes bones were broken when post.” mammals up in the arctic, that can call your attention to they were still fresh (green). when those things migrated a possible discovery. Fossilized Anomaly 3 into the New World, I always bone sounds different from thought that man hardened mud and sand when What was also strange was would be right be- scraped by a bulldozer’s blade, finding several small boulders hind them. Just and this sounded like bone. He (roughly about 20 pounds) and about four or five calls the bulldozer off the spot a couple of broken cobbles in years ago we discov- and brushes the ground looking a fossilized marsh. The larger ered a site here. It for the source of the “noise.” stones were typified as “anvil- was the same kind sized” but could also be viewed of thing. We dated it Anomaly 1 as large hammerstones, possi- every way possible. It It was a circular outline, but it bly using two hands. A couple was close to 200,000 was not bone. It was a tusk, of the larger stones were found years old. Nobody probably mastodon. It was amidst bone clusters. Referred believes that one circular. And it was a tusk. It to as “erratics,” it means that either. People will was circular, and that meant the presence of these stones argue about it whether it was a cross-section of a is unexplainable, out-of-place. it was fossil that was tusk. It was a cross-section There is no natural riverine deposited and then of a tusk, a tusk that had agency that can select certain reworked into a been buried vertically in the heavy stones for transport younger deposit. So ground...like a post ( Fig. 2 ). while only carrying silts and Fig. 2. National City Mastodon there are many aca- clays over flat ground. It drove tusk found buried vertically demic arguments. But What could have naturally a local geology professor batty. (1992 report). I have never forgotten buried a tusk that stood it up Several of the smaller cobbles that and tend to think in a vertical position? were found broken, with sharp that he was probably right. It refittable bits and pieces Once excavated, the paleon- was probably that old. I think scattered about the site. This tologists had to append that our site is as old as that. I think meant they were broken up question. someday you will find some- onsite in a muddy matrix. How body publishing on a paleolithic What could have naturally bur- did the boulders get there? discovery in North America.” ied a tusk in a vertical position What broke the cobbles up? that penetrated at least three –MW Hager, PhD. Executive Dir, San Anomalies 4 and 5 Diego Natural History Museum. 2005 strata of a buried flood plain? Clusters of bones were seem- If monitoring behind bulldozers The deposits were made up of ingly arranged. One cluster and bellyloaders is one’s idea of hardened sands, silts and clays. featured the “heads” of two a romantic profession, it ceases Like Valsequillo this meant a mastodon femurs that were to be after the first day, unless low energy, gentle burial, only found paired up, together. you have a thing for diesel slower. There were no gravels. The other “arrangement” fumes. It is a marginal type of This was later supported by the looked like a collection of work because you usually get articulated nature of the buried bones in a framed context. to do it when there is a good remains of many other critters. chance there is only a slight From reconstructions, the burial > Cont. on page 6

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 6

The “new” New World (cont.)

As often happens in contract months after they left the files, he thought it was some fieldwork, unexpected finds field, speculation on the site’s of the most intriguing evidence tend to eat up small budgets, antiquity was rife. The Ari- he had seen regarding really and paleontologists live on zona paleontologist made a early man in the New World. scanty morsels to begin with. most ominous assessment to A northern Arizona paleontolo- the museum crew: “If the site Whether or not the mastodon gist (also present at the 1968 is less than 15,000 years old quarry is ever resuscitated, it “This was meeting in Tucson where the then it is probably cultural; if it should draw attention to the southern 250,000y U-series dates were is older, it is probably natural.” types of problems archaeolo- first discussed) helped the gists should learn to expect in a California Had it stayed within the preClovis, preModern world. It and they museum facilitate a $10,000 National Geographic Society 15,000y maximum, you might also calls to paleontologists to all knew emergency archaeology grant. have heard about the site on be on the lookout. After all, like about You don’t mess with the NGS the evening news. There would Professor Krieger said forty until you are fairly sure of your have been a monument. And years earlier, it was the paleon- what hap- National Geographic would have tologists who first brought bone pened to claims, so the features must have looked pretty archaeo- scored another cover. In 1993. tools to the attention of archae- archae- ologists at the turn of the 20th logical to the paleontologists. It was not even close. ologists Nothing else made sense. century. This was how it was for who 180,000-300,000 years. This is me when Joaquin showed me No natural agency or forces what the U-Series dates origi- the flattened rib fragment from claimed could selectively and collec- nally said. What did the scien- his bone pit. In a preMod world, pre-Clovis tively account for the anomalies tists say? Nothing. Silence. a great burden of recognition sites.” turning up among the bones. Tip-toe away? Maybe nobody will shift to paleontologists. They acknowledged that there will hear. More than a decade was no absolute, direct evi- In the end, it was an archaeologi- later, nobody has. A mono- cal call. If the museum paleon- dence, but when all the anoma- graph was started a few years lies were added together, it tologists led the charge on this ago and then it just stopped. site, there is every chance they always spelled a-r-c-h-a-e-o-l- From all accounts, no report o-g-y. (To local archaeologists, would not have faired too well. was ever sent to National There is every chance they would not so much.) The paleontolo- Geographic . One has to won- gists got the grant quickly. have suffered a drop in credibility der what NGS thought about and respect, and a drop in grants It was not a kill site but a all this when they heard the and contract work. Afterall, this butchering or processing site. dates. Oh, no! Not another was southern California and they By all counts, the mastodon Calico! No thanks. Don’t call all knew about what happened was probably already dead, us; we’ll call you. [Recently to archaeologists who claimed little more than a carcass, but improved Uranium-Thorium pre-Clovis sites. Archaeologists still worth butchering; the dates came up with 130,000y.] nor paleontologists would not tusks and bone would make So, instead of a world class have stood a chance in the aca- for good tools plus all the archaeological discovery demic climate of the day. They other things like high-protein demanding its very own con- probably would still not stand marrow from bones, hide, etc. ference, published volume, a chance. The only chance will come from an informed public. A cautious silence was the TV show, and a national local archaeological reaction monument to commemorate CHRIS H ARDAKER , BA, MA, is an archae- to the site by officials from the site,...nothing. Nothing is ologist working in California and is one of the founding members of the Pleis- San Diego’s Museum of Man. known of this site outside a very small circle of participants. tocene Coalition. He reviewed and They visited the site, looked and catalogued the data from the massive listened, but did not say a word. The report of the fieldwork artifact collection of Calico. For details, The CDoT archaeologist merely was sent to CDoT and a couple see The abomination of Calico , Parts scoffed. She didn’t buy it for a other government agencies and 1-3, including Hardaker’s first expla- is not currently available for nation of Caltrans (Cerutti) Mastodon second. One can only wonder: Site suppression beginning in PCN #6, had archaeologists been digging sale. What survives are some July-Aug 2010, and Calico redux: the site, would they have no- nagging memories among Artifacts or geofacts: Original 2009 ticed anything strange? Most some of the professional geolo- paper updated and serialized for PCN (PCN #24, July-Aug 2013) and its of us aren’t trained to recog- gists and paleontologists who worked and visited the site. Part 2 ( PCN #26, Nov-Dec 2013. nize an archaeology composed Hardaker is also author of: of a series of paleontological Robson Bonnichsen was one of The First American: The suppressed anomalies. What the hell’s a story of the people who discovered a very small number of ar- the New World. paleontological anomaly? chaeologists who actually took All of Hardaker’s articles in PCN can That’s not to say there wasn’t the time to examine the mate- be accessed directly at the follow- a lot of head shaking among rials in the lab and looked over ing link: the crew. Though dates the field notes and report. http://pleistocenecoalition.com/ would not be known for many From a letter in the SDNHM #the_first_american

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 7

Member news and other info

DNA can be recovered is around 700,000 years old. ment must put down early people with no justification. from soil 17-05-14 And at the California Academy Apparently, human-based DNA of Sciences in San Francisco a Thanks for all you do, “Of interest can now be recovered from stratigraphic monolith—which I Ken Johnston to me, they cave soil. It looks like we have was involved in extracting from Harbor Hills, Ohio a game changer here! Now the archaeological layers at may Eds. Comment: Johnston is right in the very dirt that incases Hueyatlaco in 1973 ( Fig. 1 ) have sits, still tied to its board and drawing attention to a science pre- those precious bones and sumption. The remains of H. naledi wrapped in burlap, just waiting also artifacts at archaeological don’t say anything about their intelli- shared sites can be examined to for someone to examine it! gence. Yet the field presumes evolv- tell us who left them! The DNA paper was published ing intellect while continuing to block the in Science in late April. –VSM evidence proving the opposite is true. globe Scientist Viviane Slon of with the Max Planck Institute Homo naledi just got H. erectus for Evolutionary Anthropol- younger musicians the Val- ogy and a large group of col- evolved? –jf sequillo leagues have extracted mito- Skeletal remains of several chondrial individuals, possibly intention- In our March-April DNA from ally interred, were reported 2017 issue ( PCN #46) we sediment from deep within a South African published an article called, collected at cave system called Rising Star Homo erectus inching four Euro- in 2015. They have been called toward Carnegie Hall: pean caves. H. naledi , and they are a puzzle, Modern jazz musicians Using small with a very small brain case and compose and improvise on samples, modern feet similar to ours. Bilzingsleben’s Augmented only about At first, based on phylogenetic Scale X . This was to show a half- analyses, age of the fossils were that world-class musicians teaspoon of thought to be roughly 900,000 including Director of the New dirt, they years. More recently (May 9, York Piano Society composed treat them eLife ) using chemical dating tech- and performed a composition with chemi- niques on the bones and sur- based entirely on a 400,000- rounding materials, an interna- Fig. 1. In this picture from 1973, I am prepar- cals that year old engraved bone from ing a Hueyatlaco monolith (stratigraphic sam- release the tional group of scientists believe Bilzingsleben, Germany. The ple) for extraction. See The Valsequillo Saga genetic ma- they are much younger, between artifact was shown by PCN and Hueyatlaco Site: VSM recalls, Parts 1–2 terial into 335,000 and 236,000 years. This Layout editor in a paper pre- (PCN #11, May-June 2011, pp. 15–20) for means that H. naledi may have sented at the XV UISPP Con- details. And for a recent update of the series, solution. Then they shared their African homeland gress, Lisbon, 2006 to be a see, The Valsequillo/Hueyatlaco story: Over- with our own species, H. sapiens. duplicate representation of view and links , ( PCN #39, Jan-Feb 2016). The take genetic Of interest to me, they may have photo also appears in Emmy-award–winning material of ‘Augmented Scale X.’ In a documentary filmmaker Bill Cote’s article on known spe- also shared the globe with the paper to which Bilzingsleben pp. 7–8, The Valsequillo saga and Hueyatlaco cies and add Valsequillo people in central may be an un-cited reference, site: Bill Cote’s involvement , and in Cote’s it to the mix. Mexico and the Calico people U.K. anthropologists announce controversial 1996 NBC special, The Mysteri- in southern California! –VSM H. erectus as piano-capable ous Origins of Man , hosted by Charlton If the un- known DNA musicians e.g., 5-8-17 (after Heston. Though the film has its critics, most In response to similar Nature Human Behavior ). Here do not know the facts of Valsequillo as detailed is similar to news about Homo naledi in many issues of PCN over the years. one of the are a few of the ‘new’ claims: Ken Johnston quotes a stan- known adds, “Ancient humans ... may have dard evolutionary publication: people in it hooks up with it and can been budding musicians .” be extracted and identified. central “These were not human ScienceDaily put it this way: beings. These were pin- Mexico and So far they have identified Ne- heads, with some hu- “Advances in the production of Early anderthal DNA at three caves the Calico manlike body parts.” Stone Age tools had...more to do with people in where Neanderthal bones have the brain networks involved in previously been collected. They –This face changes the human modern piano playing ..a major southern have also found Neanderthal story. But how? National- step..in understanding the evolu- California!” DNA at the famous Denisova geographic.com Sept 10, 2015 tion of human intelligence .” Cave, although no Neanderthal [pinhead One who lacks the intelli- “These same brain networks –VSM bones have yet been found gence of the “normal” sector of the today allow modern humans there. And not only ancient human population; even so cannot to perform such behaviors homo DNA, they also find DNA handle the most mundane of tasks due to the lack of common sense as skillfully playing a mu- of ancient animals like wooly and intelligence. –Urban Dictionary sical instrument.” mammoths and wooly rhinos. definition supplied by the Eds.] The oldest sequence they have Does using these same networks successfully worked with so far With this news, the establish- today really point to evolution?

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The Pleistocene version of a multi-use tool By Tom Baldwin

At least 200,000 years der Dam (AZ) to Los Ange- “While work- ago, Early Man wandered les (CA). Beneath the power ing at the the shores of Pleistocene lines run maintenance Lake Manix (the now roads. While they are dirt, dry lake is found in they are at least graded the Mojave Desert and drivable by most cars, near modern day and open vast areas to Yermo, California). exploration by people like All those eons ago Lake me, without ATVs. Manix’s shoreline teemed with animals to I named one of those hills Lithics Knob (a personal Fig. 2. How the multi-use stone tool fits hunt and plants to into the hand as if molded to fit. It dem- gather. The animals designation that while ap- propriate, will not appear onstrates the skill of the person who Calico Early found in the area were pri- knapped this tool. Photo by Tom Baldwin. on any map except the one Man Site as a marily shore birds of various types, but mammoth, and in my hand-held GPS). It is tors could see and handle the volunteer, I herds of camels, and horses a small hill, with power lines castings while the actual tool also left their fossils above and a maintenance was safely locked away in the there. In addition road for access below. Its San Bernardino County Mu- predators such as surface is covered with desert seum.) When I saw and han- dire wolves and sun- pavement and littered with dled that casting I knew that dry types of cats objects made by early man. what I had found was not could be found in Years ago I found an interest- just happenstance, but the the area. The sur- ing stone tool on one of those result of planning by whoever face of the nearby artifact rich hillsides. It seems made it. Just one more proof hills was littered to have multiple uses. It has of how wise and skilled those with chalcedony, a a cutting edge on one side early men and women were. favorite stone for that could be used as a I decided this type tool needed knapping into the scraper, also a tip that shows tools those early a name of its own. It was evidence of having been used more than a scraper, more men used to make as a graver. In addition it has their lives easier. In than a graver, more than even a concave area perfect for a concave scraper. I would call short, the lake with trimming up wooden shafts its teeming life it a PSAK (pronounced piss-ack ), or peeling meat from bones. which stands for Pleistocene along the shore and the surrounding Anyway, I found the artifact Swiss Army Knife. mineral deposits for interesting, but at the same Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b Show the tool making made time I also thought it was only whole tool. In Fig. 1a the left this an ideal place to a fortuitous flake. I had fallen side is the area used as a live, and man did so into the same trap that has scraper, the pointed area at as evidenced by The caught up so many members about seven o-clock is the Calico Early Man of the archaeological establish- graver, and the lower portion Site found in those ment, I made the mistake of is the concave scraper. Also hills and just a few not sufficiently respecting our Fig. 1. Top: Multi-use stone tool notice the deep brownish or- miles from the an- forbearers. I figured the knap- ange color. This staining of the the author found during explora- per had gotten lucky. They tion of Pleistocene Lake Manix. cient lakeshore. tool’s surface is called ‘desert had not created such a multi- Left side is area used as a scraper, Today, that lake is varnish’ (see The romance the pointed area at about seven purpose tool through skill and and prehistory of Lake Manix , o-clock is the graver, and the gone along with the planning, but just by accident. animals that lived PCN #46, March-April 2017, lower portion is the concave for a discussion of the phe- scraper. Bottom: obverse side of beside it. The hills, Then one weekend some nomenon). It argues for the the tool. Photos by Tom Baldwin. however, remain, time later, while working at and littering their the Calico Early Man Site as tool having a very great age. a volunteer, I noticed that in Fig. 1b shows the obverse of noticed that surface are the tools that were made by early man. the Visitor’s Center they had the tool in the Visi- a casting of an almost identi- Fig. 2: Shows how the tool tor’s Center A great way to find your way cal tool, albeit the casting back into those hills is pro- fits into the hand as if it were they had a was of a bigger version than molded to fit and demon- vided by the power compa- the one I had found. (It was casting of an nies. Huge half million volt strates the skill of the person common practice back then who knapped this tool. almost iden- power lines stretch across the to make copies of important tical tool.” desert all the way from Boul- tools found at the site so visi- >> Cont. Cont. on on page page 12 9

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The Pleistocene version of a multi-use tool (cont.)

satisfaction from having made it. It is a complicated intel- lect that can design a tool with multiple purposes in mind, one that we do a disservice when we fail to give them credit for their many accomplish- ments.

Fig. 3. Highly magnified view of the Lake Manix multi-use tool showing use/wear on the scraper portion of the tool. Photo by Tom Baldwin. TOM B ALDWIN is an award-winning “It is a Fig. 3: A highly magnified view showing use/wear on the author, educator, and compli- amateur archaeolo- scraper portion of the tool. gist living in Utah. He cated intel- Fig. 4: A highly magnified has also worked as a lect that successful newspaper view showing use/wear on columnist. Baldwin can design the graver portion of the tool. has been actively involved with the Friends of Calico Fig. 5. Highly magnified view of the Lake (maintaining Manix multi-use tool showing use/wear on the controver- the concave portion of the tool . sial Early Man Photo by Tom Baldwin. Site in Bar- stow, Califor- nia) since the early days when famed anthropolo- gist Dr. Louis Leakey was the site’s excavation Director (Calico is the only site in the Western Hemisphere which was excavated by Leakey). Baldwin’s recent book, The Evening and the Morning , is an entertain- ing fictional story based on the true story of Cal- ico. Apart from being Fig. 4. Highly magnified view of the Lake Manix multi-use tool one of the core editors showing use/wear on the graver portion of the tool. of Pleistocene Coalition Photo by Tom Baldwin. News, Baldwin has pub- lished many prior arti- cles in PCN focusing on a tool with Fig. 5: A very high magni- Calico, early man in the Ameri- multiple fication view of the concave cas, and Homo erectus . portion of the tool, again purposes in All of Baldwin’s articles pub- showing use/wear. lished in Pleistocene Coalition mind.” As can be seen in Figs. 3– News can be found at the fol- lowing link: 5, all three working por- tions of the tool show signs http:// of use. Its creator must pleistocenecoalition.com/ have drawn a great deal of index.htm#tom_baldwin

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

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The levee breaks By David Campbell

By now all of you have face of the prevailing notion a 33,000 YPB site nearby, probably heard the buzz that human occupation of the Chinchihuapi, turned up. about the Cerutti Site and Americas was no older than Meltzer told Dillehay to let some of you may have the Clovis artifacts, 11,500 Chinchihuapi slide until the had a déjà vu moment YBP or perhaps a thousand 13,000-year date of the origi- recalling reading often of years previous allowing them nal site had cleared the hur- a similar site here in PCN to rush down the Ice Free dle. In other words, throw the beginning around 2010 Corridor dogs a bone called the Caltrans and exter- until we get site. Maybe that’s minate the this steak because they are one megafauna home. in the same. before rush- Monte Verde ing head- opened The renaming honors long down doors for one of the excavators to Tierra del other Pre- and Chris Hardaker Fuego only Clovis sites gives details of that to stop that had elsewhere in this issue. because been waiting The main differences between they lacked Fig. 1. Stone tools from the deepest in the wings “Some may cultural level at Huaca Prieta, Peru, now our account and this latest boats to for some wonder one is the confirmation of a dated c. 15,000–13,500 years. Detail cross the from Dillehay et al, “A late Pleistocene time. Like why previ- 130,000 YBP date by ura- waters and roaches, nium-thorium methods and human presence at Huaca Prieta, Peru, inhabit and early Pacific Coastal adaptations.” once you ous sites of the publication in Nature , one equal or Antarctica. Quaternary Research , May 2012. See spot one, of the top dogs in peer re- Now many also SciNews May 25, 2017. you sud- greater an- viewed literature. When Na- apologists denly see a tiquity ture speaks, people listen, at will protest that the final nail hundred more. They’ve been least the people who count in was driven into the Clovis there all along but now a were not mainstream scientific litera- mentioned coffin with Tom Dillehay’s change in your perception ture. While many of them may discoveries at Monte Verde in allows you to see them. in Holen’s disagree with the authors’ the mid 1970’s proving how report … claims, they are forced to step good science corrects itself The public announcement of into the daylight and present with new input. Maybe good Cerutti was slightly preceded Calico, their counterarguments. Holen by the acceptance of Jaques Hueyat- science does work that way in and his colleagues are already theory, but in practice, Zombie Cinq-Marrs’ Bluefish Cave work laco, Texas prepared to swat those away Clovis still walks the imaginary with a verifiable date of 23,000 Street and like so many moths drawn to Ice Free Corridor in almost years old. Jaques had provided the porch light. They’ve had every popular science release evidence of his claims about 30 others plenty of practice. years ago but the Clovis Bar- commonly sanitized for public consump- tion. Remember, with regard rier prevented acceptance of Some may not know of the his evidence that consisted known to La Sena and Loveless sites in to individual response to readers of perceived reality, perception mostly of bone and non- Kansas and Nebraska that projectile lithics. He later this news- Steve Holen advocated as Pre- IS reality. Today perception management is pervasive stated in an interview at a letter. … Clovis megafaunal butchering Canadian university that the sites exemplifying the same obscuring any alternative view beyond a carefully constructed Clovis First myth had hobbled throw the signature bone fracturing as progress in paleoanthropology he found at Cerutti and like artificial barrier. Holen’s pub- dogs a lication has breached that for fifty years. Oddly enough Cerutti lacked any stone bone and non-projectile, non- bone until projectile points. Those sites barrier significantly. we get this fluted artifacts are a common aligned with Alex Krieger’s Some may wonder why previ- theme in the newer discoveries steak Pre-Projectile Horizon, in which ous sites of equal or greater that are not really new at all home.” he observed that the earliest antiquity were not mentioned but a reexamination of previ- artifacts in North America may in Holen’s report, such as Cal- ous ones or areas near them. have been of wood or bone no ico, Hueyatlaco, Texas Street longer extant. Further he ar- and others commonly known An example that caught my gued that some of the artifacts to readers of this newsletter. eye recently was the reexami- labeled scrapers or gouges The answer may be similar to nation of a mound some 600 would have been labeled the advice David Meltzer gave miles north of Lima called Oldowan had they been found Tom Dillehay in the days when Huaca Prieta ( Figs. 1-2). in Africa instead of North Monte Verde’s 13,000-year Junius Bird had excavated America. Krieger was forced to dates were struggling for this site in 1946–1947 com- back down from this hypothe- acceptance and evidence of sis because it flew full in the > Cont. on page 1211

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The levee breaks (cont.)

ing up with dates around duced dates and artifacts Elsewhere, Vero Beach, 5,000 years. Recently, Tom dated to 6,500–8,000 years, where E.H. Sellards discov- Dillehay and friends decided raising more than a few eye- ered human artifacts along “Junius to dig a little deeper and brows, but quickly moved to with extinct mammals in Bird had discovered an occupation the backroom of the memory 1916, is being reexamined component dating to 15,000 hole unil years later. He is by Andy Hemmings. Hem- excavated YBP. Okay, stifle your also noted for the fishtail mings, you may recall, dis- this site in yawns, gentle readers. Re- unfluted points that run neck covered the “oldest” engrav- and neck ing of a mammoth on a tusk with Clovis. a few years back in the same Later, when region. Sellards was radiocarbon hounded out of Florida for dating be- his discovery and Texas came avail- gained one of its pioneer able, layer V archaeologist/paleontologist/ beneath a geologist founding fathers. sterile layer While his controversial dates at Fell’s Cave for the Malakoff Heads re- yielded dates main largely unaccepted of 10,000– today, maybe Malakoff will 11,000 be given a posthumous sec- years. Had ond chance too. Bird put forth such dates in So while it’s premature to 1936, his break out the firewater and career would firecrackers for Calico and have ended Valsequillo, it’s not too opti- in muffled mistic that they are in the protests from lineup for a second glance a rubber not too far in the future. room. Flash With Holen’s publication, Fig. 2. View SW toward Huaca Prieta mound and the Pacific Ocean across there’s a break in the levee the Raised Plain and Irrigated Lowlands, El Brujo (Peru). Image: forward to holding back a flood of simi- Wikimedia Commons—detail. the 21st cen- tury when a lar discoveries. It remains to be seen how effective the 1946–1947 call that Michael Waters, large point is fished from an who had so cavalierly dis- excavation of a prehistoric sandbaggers will be in slow- coming up missed Hueyatlaco in 2004, cemetery at Buckeye Knoll ing it down. with dates was hoisted upon his own near Victoria Texas. Texas around petard when proudly pro- archaeologists gasp asking 5,000 years. claiming his Debra Friedkin what a big fishtail, Fells Cave DAVID C AMPBELL is an author/ (Brushy Creek) site as Tradition point is doing in a historian and an investigator of Recently, geological or manmade altered 15,000 years old. His col- South Texas Archaic ceme- stone anomalies or large natural Tom Dillehay leagues bristled at such a tery dated to 7,000 years. structures which may have been and friends suggestion, noting the crude Yielding to pressure from used by early Americans. He also decided to artifacts he presented as various Amerindian tribes has a working knowledge of evidence looked nothing like who did not even exist at various issues regarding the dig a little projectile points. Yet, they that time, the results of the peopling of the Americas. Along deeper and did bear a resemblance to excavations were with Virginia Steen-McIntyre and Tom Baldwin, Campbell is one of discovered the crude artifacts from “repatriated” at an undis- the core editors of Pleistocene an occupa- Huaca Prieta, that dated also closed site and photos the Coalition News . Campbell has to 15,000 YBP but were in- complete skeleton recovered tion compo- also written nine prior articles for conveniently located thou- there forbidden for public PCN which can be found at the nent dating sands of miles to the south display. The principal investi- following link: to 15, 000 of Brushy Creek. Not men- gator of the site later opined http://pleistocenecoalition.com/ YBP.” tioned in all of this was that in an interview that indica- index.htm#anarchaeology Junius Bird, who in 1979 had tions were that the unexca- pronounced Monte Verde a vated components of the site Author’s website: non-site because upon his dated to 8,000 years and anarchaeology.com visit Tom Dillehay had not perhaps thousands of years yet cleared the top layers to earlier. We will probably get at the good stuff, discov- never know the full truth of ered Fell’s Cave in 1936. this Big Fish story. Fell’s Cave at layer III pro-

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Oral tradition and beyond By Ray Urbaniak , Engineer, rock Art researcher and preservationist

Some Ice Age animal depic- tions could have been made by indi- viduals who had actually “This has observed the made me animals. How- wonder ever, my per- just how sonal opinion is Fig.1. Proposed Siberian ibex depiction. Photo credit: Dinosaur National that most of the de- Monument website Jones Hole Trail. Inset: Example of a living Siberian far pictions ibex. Notice the ridged horns in each. back are im- such ages passed This has made me wonder depictions from genetic just how far back such oral oral down through memory, encoded during the oral tradi- tradition might actually go? the development of our tradi- tion and later I’ve mentioned a few ex- species. Such horns make tion depicted 1,000 amples of current research an indelible artistic impres- might to many thou- elsewhere suggesting that sion on our brain. To this oral history may go tens of actu- sands of years day, this animal is being ago. Fig. 1 is thousands of years into the hunted to extinction not for ally what I believe past. See for example: meat but for its horns. go? I’ve to be one such example. It “Recommended article: Abo- men- is a photo from the Dino- riginal memories of inunda- Every time I have seen tion of the Australian coast these sweeping horns, in tioned a saur National Monument website—Jones Hole Trail. It dating from few ex- appears to represent a Si- more than amples of berian Ibex an example of 7000 years current which research can be seen elsewhere in the suggest- inset ing that to the oral his- figure. tory may In go tens of past arti- thousands cles of years (e.g., into the my series beginning Fig.2. Left: Scimitar oryx from Africa. Right: Proposed Scimitar oryx past.” with Ice Age animals depictions from petroglyph panel, Utah. Such depictions have traditionally in Southwest U.S. rock been referred to as “bighorn sheep.” See my prior PCN articles showing more such comparisons. Photo: Ray Urbaniak. art, Part 1 , PCN #22, March-April 2013), I ago,” PCN #44, Nov-Dec have presented evidence 2016 ; and “Recommended rock art or in photos of which led to my conclusion articles: Articles providing animals, it has stirred a that petroglyphs from Utah, more evidence of oral histories primal feeling inside of me such as that pictured in Fig. 2 , passed down across millennia,” which goes beyond my logi- are actually depictions of PCN #45, Jan-Feb 2017 ). cal brain (see Fig. 3 , fol- extinct pronghorn antelope, lowing page). not big horned sheep as is I suppose one could even generally believed. make a case that some of > Cont. on page 12 the petroglyphs are in fact > Cont. on page 13

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Oral tradition and beyond (cont.)

RAY U RBANIAK is an engineer by niak’s book, Anasazi of South- training and profession; how- west Utah: The Dance of Light ever, he is an artist and pas- and Shadow (2006), is a collec- sionate amateur archeologist at tion of rock art photographs

“Every time I have seen these sweeping horns, in rock art or in photos of animals, it has stirred a primal feeling inside of me which goes be- yond my logical brain.”

Fig. 3. Every time I have seen these sweeping horns, in rock art or in photos of animals, it has stirred a primal feeling inside of me which goes beyond my logical brain. Photo Ray Urbaniak.

heart with many years of sys- including time-sequenced tematic field research on Native events with clear descriptions, American rock art, including as compass, and other informa- related to archaeoastronomy, tion. All of Urbaniak’s prior equinoxes and solstices in articles in PCN can be found at Utah. He has noted that stan- the following link: dard archaeological studies http:// commonly record details of pleistocenecoalition.com/ material culture but overlook index.htm#ray_urbaniak the sometimes incredible celes- tial archeological evidence. Urbaniak has also played a role raising concerns for the accel- erating vandalism, destruction, and theft of Native American rock art. He has brought state representatives to rock art sites with the hopes of placing “protected” labels near what he calls “sacred art” sites as a deterrent to vandalism. Urba-

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Cerutti Mastodon publication after “25 years” What was actually behind the infamous suppression and publication? The answers are not as clear-cut as Nature and other popular venues are saying, Part 1

By John Feliks; informed by PCN editors Dr. Virginia Steen-McIntyre, Tom Baldwin, and David Campbell; and PC records; Chris Hardaker; the San Diego Cerutti Team’s “Discovery Timeline;” and other sources as credited

This side-by-side timeline the Americas has already been dismisses established artifacts compares Pleistocene Coali- long-forwarded and established. from older sites as mere rocks tion documentation with the As critics of Nature have recently only “resembling” stone tools. “First, Cerutti Timeline. It provides published, the evidence as pre- This standard claim can be ques- the prob- missing perspective on how CM sented does not match the bold- tioned by looking at the Figures Site authors’ confidence was ness of claims made for Cerutti in Hardaker’s, Baldwin’s, and lem is interwoven with the PC and Mastodon as a “stand-alone” Feliks’ articles this issue to de- not falsi- Pleistocene Coalition News . It site. Because of this, the cide whether or not the claim fication. also sheds light on the inner claims made seem to come is even remotely true. Only What’s workings of anthropology and out of nowhere. Where did so in anthropology is undeniable paleontology the past 50 years. much confidence in H. erectus well-documented profession- needed or Neanderthal capabilities ally-acquired physical evidence is proper “This is a hypothesis that come from after 25 years? not incorporated into the knowl- citation begs for careful scrutiny Also, how is it that the evidence edge base even after half a cen- and attempts to falsify it; and ac- provided both “suggests” and, tury but ignored while new claims I’m open to that.… That’s at the same time, “confirms” start over from scratch. This is knowled the way science should the presence of unidentified one of the reasons the field is gement work, right? Bring it on.” Homo species in the Americas attracting increasing skepticism of prior –Dr. Tom Deméré, Cerutti Masto- without acknowledging any prior with a public looking more and relevant don Team, nationalgeographic.com , evidence? As Dr. Virginia Steen- more into matters for them- April 26, 2017 McIntyre says in this issue selves. For too long, anthropology work.” the CM Site is not the “oldest has promoted individual sites at First, the problem is not fal- in situ , well-documented ar- the expense of a larger picture sification. What’s needed is chaeological site in North Amer- which is already here. 50 years proper citation and acknowl- ica” (Holen et al 2017, Nature of Calico and Valsequillo sup- edgement of prior relevant 544: 479). Yet, in the Nature pression and omission is enough. work and that the hypothesis News article 5-27-17, CM Team That also is how science works. of 100,000-year+ people in

PCN ’s Parallel Timeline : PC documentation behind Cerutti confi- Cerutti Mastodon Discovery Timeline : dence regarding H. erectus and Neanderthals in the Americas San Diego Museum website —abridged

1992–2009 1992 The Cerutti Mastodon Site was recognized already in 1992 as an im- Nov 1 _Retired PaleoServices Field Pale- portant “Pre-Clovis” site by its discoverers despite a cryptic 1995 “Final Re- ontologist Richard Cerutti discovers the port.” Whether it was 400,000 years old or 100,000 is minor compared to site. Curator of Paleontology and Director the many implications of an extinct mastodon skeleton worked by early of PaleoServices Dr. Tom Deméré and Americans who were, purportedly, not Homo sapiens : PaleoServices Field Paleontologist Brad Riney meet with Cerutti to formulate plan “When we first discovered the site, there was strong physical for excavation of the fossils. evidence that placed humans alongside extinct Ice Age

megafauna. This was significant in and of itself.” Nov 17 _Formal excavation begins. –Dr. Tom Deméré quoted in University of Michigan News , April 26, 2017, with co- Nov 18 _Caltrans archaeologists visit the author, University of Michigan paleontologist, Daniel Fisher. Cerutti Mastodon Site and help screen For something so profound it is surprising the site was suppressed for 25 years. sediment from disturbed area. Where did the Cerutti Mastodon Team’s later confidence in H. erectus and Nean- Nov 19 _Steve’s Horse Quarry discovered derthals in the Americas come from beginning in 2008—enough to finally and excavated over next 9 days. move them toward publication? The 2017 Nature articles and interviews in

other journals suggest that the delay was because of dating problems: Dec 3 _Dr. Tom Deméré begins videotap- ing/documenting the Site. “The main delay came from the sheer difficulty in accurately dat-

ing the site [e.g., professional problems w/the U.S. Geological Survey].” Dec 19 _Paleontologist Dr. Larry Agen- broad visits the Site for the first time. –nationalgeographic.com , April 26, 2017. Dec 24 _SDSU Geologist Dr. Pat Abbott Dating problems don’t keep important discoveries from the public and defi- visits the Site for the first time. nitely not for 25 years. The dating claim just can’t be given any credence > Cont. on page 12 > Cont. on page 15

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Cerutti Site publication after “25 years” (cont.)

PCN ’s Parallel Timeline ( cont .) Cerutti Discovery Timeline ( cont .)

1992–2009 (cont.) 1992 (cont.) when seeking the real reasons for suppression. It will be something bigger. Dec 28 _Dr. Larry Agenbroad and Paleon- This Parallel Timeline, instead, adheres to PC founding member, California archae- tologist Dr. Jim Mead join the excavation

ologist, Chris Hardaker’s insider take (this issue) as far more credible. Instead team for one week. of blaming the USGS, Chris explains what happens to American scientists who dare publish controversial dates as the real deterrent. I.e. the delay was not the Dec 29 _Dr. Tom Deméré videotapes the scientists’ or the USGS’ fault but mainstream anthropology-paleontology—an aca- Cerutti Mastodon Site. demic monopoly well-known and well-documented for suppression and even Dec 31 _Former PaleoServices Field Pale- quashing researchers—e.g., famed anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey—should ontologist Steve Walsh mentions discus- they publish controversial dates or opinions. This is the kind of suppression sion with Larry and Jim about a Sangamo- power that can cause a 25-year publication delay. The reason such control has nian versus Wisconsinian age for the Site. existed in the community for decades is its attachment to origin myths taught as fact now forcing the community to self-censor, block, or deride researchers every time conflicting evidence is discovered. Honest and hard-working scientists like Richard Cerutti and Tom Deméré pay the price for bias at the highest levels of their fields. The problem is the myth that early humans such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals were not capable people and not intelligent enough to make it to the Americas. As Chris explains, the way for the public to get past science like this is to become informed. Chris ( an associate since the 1970s of the CM Site’s discoverer Richard Cerutti), in his book, The First American: The sup- pressed story of the people who discovered the New World , instead of ap- pealing to conspiracy to explain suppression, proposes “groupthink.” I.e. the community resists individual creative thinking in an effort to reach consensus without having to acknowledge conflicting evidence.

1993 1993 January 3 _Dr. Tom Deméré videotapes

the Cerutti Mastodon Site. January 14 _National Geographic Society awards emergency grant of $14,038 to

support field work and travel. January 23 _Dr. Larry Agenbroad returns

to San Diego for two-day visit. January 24 _Dr. Tom Deméré videotapes

the Cerutti Mastodon Site. January 27 _SDSU Geologist Dr. Tom Rockwell visits the Site suggesting an age of 300,000 years +/- one interglacial (i.e., 200,000–400,000 years) based on elevation, caliche volume,

and degree of modern soil development. March 22 _CM-423 cobble found in Unit

G-5 at the Cerutti Mastodon Site.

April 5 _Dire wolf skeleton discovered. April 21 _Column sample of quarry strati- graphy jacketed in northwest corner of

Unit F-5 at the Cerutti Mastodon Site. April 27 _Steve Walsh collects OSL samples—north

wall Unit B-6; last day of field work at the CM Site.

April 28 _C Mastodon Site buried by bulldozer. December 29 _Richard KU (USC) calls Dr. Deméré with preliminary radiometric date of ~190 ka on caliche sample. 1994 1994 January 7 _USC Geologist Dr. Richard Ku sends letter report with radiometric (U-Th) dating results .

> Cont. on page 16

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Cerutti Site publication after “25 years” (cont.)

PCN ’s Parallel Timeline ( cont .) Cerutti Discovery Timeline (cont .)

1995 – On the ball scientists appear immediately . After reading the 1995 “”Final Re- 1995 port” (submitted only to CA government), USGS professionals, the late Dr. Charles Repenning March 20 _State Route 54 Paleon- (renowned paleontologist who confirmed ID’s of small mammals at the site), Dr. Virginia tological Mitigation Report submitted Steen-McIntyre (volcanic ash specialist), and the late Dr. George F. Carter to the California Department of (Johns Hopkins U., Texas A&M U.; anthropology)—all involved with earlier sites and Transportation (Caltrans). well-aware of U.S. suppression regarding early Americans—agreed not to discuss the “exciting discovery” until the original scientists made their public announcement. No announcement was ever made (Dr. Virginia Steen-McIntyre, PCN #3, Jan-Feb 2010 ). Note that Richard Cerutti was/is a supporter of Dr. Carter’s views on early Americans; so not publishing suggests concern over career exactly as per Chris’ article this issue. 1996 –2007 Nothing happens with the Cerutti (Caltrans) Mastodon Site for 11 years . 1996 –2007 N/A Anywhere else such a discovery would have been announced quickly. But in the Americas due to predisposition scientists have been afraid to publish sites old 11 years enough to invoke Neanderthals or Homo erectus . Those who do are academically maligned. In the meantime, due to no small effort by Dr. Steen-McIntyre, Caltrans was becoming rec- ognized “outside” academia as the suppression of yet another early American site. For the most part, those listening were not mainstream scientists. One result involved online dis- cussions in 2006 including both amateur and professional archaeologists informed by Dr. Steen-McIntyre and Chris Hardaker that Caltrans was one of “many” suppressed American sites. This was just prior to Chris’ announcement in the same forums of his upcoming exposé, The first American , incl. Caltrans, providing insight into how honest archaeologists and pale- ontologists are cattle-prodded by science institutions. Such e xposés questioning sci- ence authority are increasing. An editorial published in Nature simultaneously with PCN’s Jan-Feb re-publication of Virginia’s 2010 Caltrans exposé describes this very well: “Of the two industries I work in ... concerned with truth—science and jour- nalism—only the latter has seriously engaged and looked for answers. Scien- tists need to catch up, or they risk further marginalization in a society that is increasingly weighing evidence and making decisions without them.” –A. Makri. “Give the public the tools to trust scientists… The form of science …in popular media leaves the public vulnerable to false certainty.” Nature 541, January 2017. Public pressure to publish : In 2005, Dr. Steen-McIntyre’s sought-out knowl- edge sent Michael Cremo and co-author of Forbidden Archeology , mathematician, Richard Thompson, to the San Diego Museum to speak directly with Dr. Tom Deméré— author of the 1995 CM “Final Report.” They didn’t stop there. They further asked about a relevant San Diego site with mammoth bones showing “cut marks made by stone tools.” The bones were dated by the USGS to 300,000 years old . Deméré said he was familiar with the evidence but that due to peer review it could never be published into “any” scientific journal. There’s the culprit at work .

2006 Dr. Steen-McIntyre continues actively discussing suppression of early 2006 N/A American sites with scientists and others via online forums, etc.

2007 Chris Harkaker publishes The first American . See his article, The ‘new’ New 2007 N/A World , this issue for perspective on what contract paleontologists and archaeologists such as Richard Cerutti and Tom Deméré were up against when deciding whether to publish.

2008 – THE TURNING -POINT YEAR : Dr. Steve Holen and influences Though Steen- 2008 McIntyre, Repenning, Carter and Hardaker were aware, 2017 Nature paper lead au- April 5 _Archaeologists Dr. Steve thor—mastodon expert, Dr. Steve Holen—had no idea the site even existed until 2008: Holen [mastodon site expert] and “After hearing about the San Diego mastodon the Holens visited Kathleen Holen [‘cognitive archae- Deméré in 2008 to see the boxed-up remains.” –Nature News , April 26, 2017 ology’] first research visit to San Diego Also in 2008, Steen-McIntyre contacted Dr. Holen regarding mastodon sites incl. Natural History Museum to examine bones w/undeniable markings from stone tools in Valsequillo, Mexico, dated 250,000 years the fossils and artifacts salvaged by the USGS . One expert critic of the Nature report noticed such missing references: from the Cerutti Mastodon Site. “I do think it is important to properly contextualize the Cerutti Mastodon claim, and I believe it should have been done, however briefly, in the original article. ” –Dr. Andre Costopoulos, Prof. of Anthropology; Vice-Provost and Dean of Students, University of Alberta, ... Continued in Part 2 CA; “Traditional academic publishing has jumped the mastodon.” Archaeothoughts.com , May 2, 2017 August 2008, Dr. Steen-McIntyre introduced PC founder and Layout editor, John Feliks , to Dr. Holen via e-mail. Dr. Holen who had just learned about the CM Site’s evidence of “pre-sapiens ” people in the Americas was interested in hearing about the 400,000-year old evidence from Bilzingsleben, Germany, recently published by Feliks on modern-level intelligence in Homo erectus —‘cognitive archaeology’—early human capabilities.

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Cerutti Mastodon publication after “25 years” What was actually behind the infamous suppression and publication? The answers are not as clear-cut as Nature and other popular venues are saying, Part 2

By John Feliks; informed by PCN editors Dr. Virginia Steen-McIntyre, Tom Baldwin, and David Campbell; and PC records; Chris Hardaker; the San Diego Cerutti Team’s “Discovery Timeline;” and other sources as credited

PCN ’s Parallel Timeline (continuing from Part 1 ) Cerutti Discovery Timeline :

2009 Dr. Holen was part of the inside group during formation of the Pleistocene Coali- 2009 tion. PC was formed for two main reasons: 1.) Publish mainstream-suppressed evidence about early humans in the Americas , 2.) Publish mainstream-suppressed May 28–29, 2009 evidence that early humans were of modern-level intelligence . Afterwards, a 3rd Conference on Cerutti Mastodon Site held goal became exposing sciences aggressively promoting origin myths as fact. at San Diego Natural History Museum. When Pleistocene Coalition News debuted in 2009, Dr. Holen was al- Attendees included Dr. Tom Deméré, Rich- ready on the mailing list—PCN #1 onward. The Denver Museum of Nature and ard Cerutti, Dr. Steve Holen, Kathleen Science—where Dr. Holen was Curator of Archaeology and Kathe Holen ‘cognitive Holen , Dr. Dan Fisher (paleontologist archaeology’ —archived hardcopies of PCN as arranged by Dr. Steen-McIntyre. and mastodon expert), Dr. Tom Stafford When PC began, Dr. Holen believed humans in the Americas were (archaeologist and dating expert), George no older than a couple dozen millennia . Through VSM and PCN, Dr. Holen Jefferson (paleontologist and Pleistocene became increasingly informed about earlier sites as well as PC’s ongoing evidence expert), Dr. Steve Forman (OSL dating for modern-level intelligence in the Cerutti-pertinent age range of H. erectus and expert), Dr. Pat Abbott, and Dr. Mark Neanderthals. This was squarely against mainstream consensus. These facts Becker (archaeologist and lithic expert) explain the confidence of CM claims which critics find unsupported with CM May 28, 2009 promoted as a stand-alone site. So, while Dr. Holen’s confidence was strong that support already existed , Nature skeptics—seeing no citations—did not have this. By Trench excavated into the south side of not citing earlier science, to critics, CM confidence seems to come out of nowhere. the sound berm directly opposite the PC, PCN , and Dr. Steen-McIntyre and her prior San Diego site connections no Cerutti Mastodon Site to collect fresh doubt fueled that confidence. At least one mainstream expert noticed missing sediment samples for OSL dating. citations and questioned why relevant contextual references were not included: “The Cerutti Mastodon Letter to Nature introduces, seemingly out of the blue … the find and its claim of interglacial human occupation of North America … and surprisingly uncritically. It is no surprise in fact that this development comes out of the San Diego area with its long history of research on this question. What is surprising is that despite its obvious roots, the Nature paper makes no reference at all to this long history and is not contextualized with reference to the evidence previously presented in an archaeological tradition that goes back at least to the 1950s and probably earlier. ” –Dr. Andre Costopoulos, Professor of Anthropology; Vice-Provost and Dean of Students, University of Alberta, Canada; “The Cerutti mastodon and the San Diego School: A brief history of the claim.” Archaeothoughts.com . May 10, 2017.

2010 —12th year nothing from the CM Team. From Jan 2010 to April 2017, 2010 N/A PCN was the only publication keeping the CM Site before the public. By con- trast , readers of mainstream science had no idea the site even existed for 25 years. They continued to be told there were no early people in the Americas. PCN #3, Jan-Feb 2010 PC founding member, volcanic ash specialist, Dr. Virginia Steen-McIntyre, published her first article on the suppressed Cerutti (Caltrans) Mastodon Site called, In their own words: Caltrans site . Dr. Steen-McIntyre had already begun telling researchers about the site in the 1990s after realizing it was not going to be published. PCN #7, Sept-Oct 2010, First Anniversary Issue PC founding member, archaeolo- gist, Chris Hardaker’s first PCN mention of the suppressed Caltrans Site, The abomi- nation of Calico, part two . In the same issue we frontloaded the work of Cree First Nations archaeologist, molecular anthropologist, Paulette Steeves (now PhD)—another associate of Dr. Holen . Her article, Deep time an- cestors in the Western Hemisphere , started her online database to coincide with PCN’s Ann. 12 sites, incl. CM, Calico, Valsequillo were oldest. To help it get off the ground, the Pleistocene Coalition promoted Steeves’ database incl. sites known only to Native Americans and First Nations peoples of Canada. The four oldest > Cont. on page 18 North American sites involved Dr. Steen-McIntyre and Dr. Louis Leakey—Valsequillo and Calico. Steeves’ PCN article received rave reviews from all associates prompting > Cont. on page 12 her to create the first university class on indigenous sites 10,000–200,000+ years old. Again, Dr. Holen was informed on the earliest American sites via the PC .

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Cerutti Site publication after “25 years” (cont.)

PCN ’s Parallel Timeline ( cont .) Cerutti Discovery Timeline (cont .)

2011 Denver Museum of Nature and Science where Dr. Holen was Curator 2011 of Archaeology begins archiving archaeological papers on Valsequillo —dated 250,000-years by the U.S. Geological Survey—as arranged by Dr. Steen-McIntyre . May 16 _First Cerutti Mastodon Site samples sent to Dr. James Paces, geolo- PCN #14, Nov-Dec 2011 : In this issue we produced a map of the earliest suppressed Western Hemisphere sites up to 400,000 years old including Caltrans. See The gist and geochronologist at the U.S. Geo- collapse of standard paradigm New World prehistory , Virginia Steen-McIntyre, PhD . logical Survey . Also in this issue is Virginia’s, Hueyatlaco/Valsequillo saga: Part 7 , important because it proved the destruction of Hueyatlaco, a direct result of U.S./Mexican anthropology omission and denigration. Even at this late stage , Dr. Holen was promoting the Mam- moth Steppe Hypothesis that Americans dated no earlier than 40,000 years. 2012 2012 February 18 _Initial radiometric (U-Th) dating results reported to the Cerutti Mastodon Team. April 2 _Dr. Jim Paces and Dr. Steve Holen visit the San Diego Natural History Museum to identify additional samples for dating. October 5 _Two Cerutti Mastodon Site rock specimens (CM-254, 383) sent to Australia for use-wear and residue analysis. Initial con- tact with Archaeologist Dr. Richard Fullagar. July 2012–December 2014 _Dr. Jim Paces prepares multiple specimens and performs digestions, chemical separations and puri- fications, and completes isotope analyses on nearly 100 individual subsamples. 2013 —Still no Cerutti Mastodon Site announcement after “21 years” 2013 PCN #22, March-April 2013 Excerpts: “Fred F. Budinger Jr. , archaeologist Dr. Jim Paces dating continues and former Director of the 200,000-yr old Calico Early Man Site …is looking for any ideas on how to protect the site from the ongoing destruction of physical evidence… by its new Director, Dee Schroth.” “Toca da Tira Peia site [Brazil] is being sold to the public as “rewriting history” because of its 22,000-yr old date. Of course, that date is not at all controversial compared with... Calico (200,000), Hueyatlaco (250,000), or Caltrans (300,000)—all blocked from mainstream publication.” “In Part 1 , I sug- gested that the discovery of ‘cultural’ evidence of early humans in the Americas at sites such as Calico, Hueyatlaco, Caltrans, etc., was more important and more trust- able than anything the public has been taught by the physical anthropology community.” PCN #23, May-June 2013 Excerpts: “Pleistocene Coalition founding mem- bers, Jim Harrod and Chris Hardaker , also discussed evidence for the potential of very early Bering Strait crossings as far back as several hundred thousand years ago ( Out of Africa revisited , PCN #3, Jan-Feb. 2010; The abomination of Calico, part 3 , PCN #8). PCN editor Tom Baldwin provided estimates of an available Bering Land Bridge at 13,000, 125,000, 325,000, and 425,000 years ago (Breaking the Clovis barrier , PCN #16, March-April 2012). This is all not to men- tion the years of evidence provided by founder, Virginia Steen-McIntyre , regard- ing the 250,000-year old Valsequillo sites in Mexico as well as sites such as the Caltrans 300,000-year old mastodon kill site in California ( PCN #3, Jan-Feb 2010).” PCN #24, July-Aug 2013 Excerpts : The Pleistocene’s most well-traveled creature . By Tom Baldwin. “The animals … were going back and forth between Alaska and Siberia—the land bridge becoming a veritable megafauna superhighway—yet we are led to believe by archaeological authorities that early man stopped and did not make that same crossing, at least not until a relatively few thousand years ago… [I] find myself asking a big “WHY?” Then I realize it isn’t I who has to answer that question. It is the Ar- chaeological Powers That Be. They are the naysayers. … In fact, there is ample evidence that Homo erectus did cross over. He left his tools at the Calico Early Man Site …(and at the Caltrans mastodon kill site also in California). He left them at Valsequillo in Mexico. ...This is as should be expected. ...Given Homo erectus’ well-known pen- chant for travel and ... Beringia ... with all kinds of large animals crossing back and forth regularly it is logical to assume that Homo erectus did find his way to the > Cont. on page 19 Americas. Those who believe otherwise need to come up with reasons why not. ” Also 2013 , Dr. Holen publishes The Mammoth Steppe Hypothesis proposing oldest evidence for humans in Americas 40,000 yrs. No mention of CM, Calico, Hueyat- laco even though dated much older, e.g., 250,000 years by the USGS and NASA. PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

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Cerutti Site publication after “25 years” (cont.)

PCN ’s Parallel Timeline ( cont .) Cerutti Discovery Timeline ( cont .) 2014 2014 PCN #29, May-June 2014 Excerpts: “After Tom Baldwin’s recent articles Dr. Jim Paces dating continues concerning the rapidly changing views about people in the Americas … our readers have been on the lookout... One item sent by Kevin Callaghan is very telling. It is a...write-up in the May 9 issue of Science called, ‘New sites bring the earliest Americans out of the shadows.’ What they mean by ‘earliest Americans’ has to be questioned…Hueyatlaco, Calico, Caltrans, [Old] Crow, etc., are much older...Now that the once taught-as-fact Clovis-first theory has been disproved mainstream archaeologists are rushing to push their dates back while still blocking the evidence of earlier sites .” 2015 2015 PCN #33, Jan-Feb 2015 . 8th article w/CM suppression. Excerpts: “National Geographic, January to April _Dr. Jim Paces compiles January 2015—Same old same old .” –By Dr. Virginia Steen-McIntyre. “On the and evaluates all data using newly published ‘First Americans.’ Both give ...establishment take... As expected , none of the early sites or numerical age models that consider diffu-

artwork from the Americas...are mentioned. ...While...Monte Verde...is mentioned, the older sion, absorption, and decay of U in bone. dates for artifacts from lower in the excavated section are not... No mention of: [Valsequillo, 250k], Calico (200k+ yrs., Issue 13 pp. 6,7); the Flagstaff site (Sangamon interglacial, February _Geoarchaeologist and Soil Scientist >80k yrs. Issue 31 p. 13); Old Crow Basin, Yukon (Pre-Sangamon, Issue 20 p.16); Dr. Jared Beeton visits the San Diego Natu- National City/Caltrans State Route 54, California (ca 300k yrs, Issue 3 p.10).” ral History Museum for first time to examine Cerutti Mastodon Site collection and obtain

PCN #36, July-Aug 2015 . 9th article incl. suppression of Caltrans Site. sediment samples and soil descriptions. Excerpt: “Fortunately, the preservationists persisted, and won. The Côa Val- ley sites are now safely on the ‘World Heritage’ list. If Valsequillo, Hueyatlaco, May _Final age determination for the Cerutti Calico, Caltrans and other American sites experienced similar efforts, they Mastodon bones of 130,700 ±9,400 years is reported to the Cerutti Mastodon Team. too—rather than being destroyed—might be World Heritage Sites today. –jf ” 2016 2016 PCN #39, Jan-Feb, 2016 10th article CM suppression—2 months before CM March 17 _Initial submission of Cerutti submitted to Nature — “25 years” after discovery. Excerpts: “This brings us back to Mastodon Site manuscript submitted to one of the main reasons the Coalition was formed…that evidence for the presence of truly the prestigious science journal Nature . ancient man in the Americas is suppressed by the science community. ...Related...is Virginia Steen-McIntyre’s ... Mammoth migrations into North America suggest human presence (PCN #38, Nov-Dec 2015). …[suggesting] that if mammoths …were wander- ing the Bering Land Bridge 1.5 million years ago...human mammoth hunters would have likely not been far behind. …more evidence pointing straight to North American early man sites dated between 200,000 and 400,000 years old by professional geologists and chemists including from NASA and the USGS. These sites are suppressed by the main- stream science community because of their antiquity. ...They include such sites as Old Crow in Alaska, Caltrans and Calico in California, Hueyatlaco in Mexico, and Monte Verde in Chile.” 2017 2017 PCN #45, Jan-Feb 2017 11th article on suppression of the CM Site two March 13 _Formal acceptance of Cerutti months before the CM paper is accepted by the journal Nature . This is our Mastodon Site manuscript by the science re-print of Dr. Steen-McIntyre’s original Caltrans suppression article from Jan- journal Nature . Feb 2010 w/an additional figure—“25 years” after the site’s discovery in 1992. ______April 26 Concerns of the Mastodon Team and San Diego Museum were expressed that PCN Layout editor was “leaked” inside information to explain how our Jan-Feb Below added to “Discovery issue (PCN #45) wound up with a front-page re-publication of Dr. Steen-McIntyre’s Timeline” by PCN editor: original exposé ( PCN #3, Jan-Feb 2010). It created a stir. The suspicion of a leak arose because the issue just so happened to appear two months before the CM Site was April 26-27 _Cerutti Mastodon Site finally finally announced in Nature . There was a statement requested of the Editor as to why announced to the public in the journal the VSM exposé was chosen for that particular issue. For the record and to alleviate Nature —25 years after its discovery any concerns: A year or so ago Chris Hardaker suggested re-publishing some of our best prior articles and that was simply the one the Layout editor chose to be first. An amazing coincidence to be sure. The re-publication was also about 25 years after CM discovery. PCN had already been keeping the site in public view for seven years JOHN F ELIKS has specialized in the study of early in 10 prior issues. So, there was no leaked information by anyone from the SD Mu- human cognition for nearly 25 years providing seum, Cerutti Team, from Chris Hardaker, Richard Cerutti, or anyone else. Chris, a evidence that human capabilities have re- mained the same through time. In 2009, Feliks 40-year associate of Cerutti, did not break any confidences in keeping the Nature and several colleagues formed the Pleistocene announcement completely secret. Now, with the Parallel Timeline published readers Coalition to bring to the public suppressed evi- might ask themselves: “How many more sites with evidence of modern intelligence dence related to human origins and prehistory. in early people are out there?” True science always goes wherever the evidence leads.

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Neighboring archaeological sites —The Cerutti Mastodon case would be strengthened by not distancing Calico By John Feliks

Calico Early Man Site , Barstow, CA. “In these cases [e.g., Dated c. 50,000–200,000 yrs old. “This is ex- Calico Early Man Site, Barstow, citing for the California], the findings could be explained as Cerutti Mastodon Site , San Diego, CA. day but to Dated c. 130,000 yrs old. the outcome of geologi- move forward cal or biological proc- esses that superficially • mimic hu- • man-made items.”

–Nature 544, p. 421, April 27, 2017 This is a sample Fig. 2. This map shows two long-suppressed “contemporaneous” Pre-Clovis stance which sites: Top, Calico Early Man Site (excavated by the late Dr. Louis Leakey— renowned international expert on stone tools) and Bottom, Cerutti Mastodon the Cerutti Site. The two sites are a mere 188 miles apart. They are so close together that Mastodon it would take a fit person less than a week to walk from one site to the other. The Team has Cerutti Team weakens their case by rejecting contemporaneous sites such as Calico. taken regard- ing contempo- in the Americas without any The straight line route: A raneous or ear- older or contemporaneous sites different perspective on trek- lier sites in the acknowledged. This is exciting king from Central Asia to the Americas. Obvi- for the day but to move forward U.S. Southwest , PCN #23, ous and already- American anthropology needs a May-June 2013. Also see, Fig. 1. Comparison from Reviving the identified and bigger picture. The field does not Two contemporaneous Paleo- Calico of Louis Leakey, Part 1 ( PCN catalogued have a ‘periodic table of elements’ lithic cultures showing mod- #21, Jan-Feb 2013). I made this figure so that readers could see sci- artifacts being such as chemistry had which gave ern-level intelligence, PCN entific bias in action by comparing a referred to as researchers a common objective #46, March-April 2017.) stone blade from Calico, CA, dated c. findings that goal to work toward. Anthropol- 50,000–200,000 years old “superficially ogy tends to be a field full of lone If American anthropology (meticulously photographed and mimic human- wolves with the only common would change its focus from catalogued by PC founding member made forms” element being adherence to a single sites to contempora- archaeologist Chris Hardaker) with a would never vague evolutionary myth that neous or neighboring sites it virtually identical blade from the pass peer review early people such as Homo erec- would help us preserve all of famous site of Brassempouy in our sites. We could also gain France, dated c. 22,000–29,000 years in normal sci- tus and Neanderthals were less a bigger picture of prehistory old. Readers can judge for themselves ences. Facts can intelligent than us and less capa- the objectivity of Nature claims re- be checked to ble of reaching the New World. perhaps revealing many com- cently published repeating that Cal- see whether or munities of interacting groups. ico’s specimens were made by nature not statements Fig. 2 is a map that shows the while the European specimens are such as this are locations of Calico Early Man JOHN F ELIKS has specialized in the fully-accepted as made by man . Top: scientifically Site—excavated by the late Dr. study of early human cognition Artifact #16605 from Hardaker’s Louis Leakey renowned interna- for nearly 25 years providing evi- Calico Lithics Photographic Project valid. Instead tional expert on the manufac- dence that human cognition has (see PCN #6, July-August 2010). of taking the ture and identification of stone remained the same throughout Bottom: a flint blade from Brassem- journal Nature time. Earlier, his focus was on the tools—and Cerutti Mastodon pouy (Wikimedia Commons). Dr. at its word invertebrate fossil record studying Leakey, familiar with artifacts world- take a look at Site. The two sites are a mere fossils in the field across the U.S. wide, was fully confident in the arti- an actual arti- 188 miles apart—i.e. neighbors. and Ontario for 30 years, as well facts from Calico despite uninformed fact from Cal- The sites are so close to each as studying many of the classic mainstream attempts, even in 2017, texts such as the encyclopedic ico ( Fig. 1 ). other that it would take a fit to denounce them as “geofacts.” Treatise on Invertebrate Paleon- Then, decide person less than a week to walk from one site to the other. (For tology . In 2009, Feliks and sev- for yourself whether or not eral colleagues formed the Pleis- American an- more on Pleistocene-age walk- the statement is true. tocene Coalition to challenge thropology ing see A prehistory of hiking: sciences that block evidence needs a big- The Cerutti Mastodon Site is Neanderthal storytelling , PCN from the public in fields related ger picture.“ being promoted as the oldest #10, March-April 2011; and to human prehistory and origins.

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VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 P A G E 2 1

• Learn the real story of our Palaeolithic ancestors—a cosmopolitan story about intelligent and innovative peo- ple—a story which is unlike that promoted by mainstream science.

The • Explore and regain confidence in your own ability to think for yourself regarding human ancestry as a Pleistocene Coalition broader range of evidence becomes available to you.

• Join a community not afraid to challenge the Prehistory is about to change status quo. Question with confidence any paradigm promoted as “scientific” that depends upon withholding conflicting evidence from the public in order to appear unchallenged.

PLEISTOCENE COALITION CONTRIBUTORS to this Pleistocene Coalition NEWS , Vol. 9: Issue 3 ISSUE News is produced by the (May-June) Chris Hardaker Pleistocene Coalition © Copyright 2017 bi-monthly Tom Baldwin since October 2009. PUBLICATION DETAILS David Campbell Back issues can be found EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/LAYOUT Ray Urbaniak near the bottom of the John Feliks PC home page. Ken Johnston

Virginia Steen-McIntyre To learn more about early COPY EDITORS/PROOFS man in the Pleistocene visit Virginia Steen-McIntyre John Feliks our newly redesigned Tom Baldwin David Campbell website at

pleistocenecoalition.com SPECIALTY EDITORS

James B. Harrod, Rick Dullum, The Pleistocene Coalition is now Matt Gatton entering its eighth year of chal- lenging mainstream scientific ADVISORY BOARD dogma. If you would like to join Virginia Steen-McIntyre the coalition please write to the editors.

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