Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

SAPIENS: A Podcast for Everything Human


Sep 25, 2018

Humans may have been in North America much earlier than previously thought. Here’s the evidence: chipped rocks, crushed mastodon bones, and reliable dates showing the remains are 130,000 years old. Is that enough to rewrite the history? SAPIENS co-hosts Chip Colwell and Jen Shannon talk to Steven and Kathleen Holen, archaeologists and co-authors of a controversial discovery. And they further evaluate the claims with the help of anthropologist Todd Braje.

For SAPIENS’ original coverage of the mastodon site discovery, check out the news article “Broken Bones Could Rewrite Story of the First Americans.”

This episode of Sapiens was produced by Cat Jaffee, edited by Matthew Simonson, and hosted by Chip Colwell and Jen Shannon, with help from Esteban Gomez.

Sapiens producer Arielle Milkman, producer Paul Karolyi, and House of Pod intern Lucy Soucek provided additional support.

Fact checking is by Christine Weeber, illustration is by David Williams, and all music is composed and produced by Matthew Simonson.

Sapiens is part of the American Anthropological Association Podcast Library.

This is an editorially independent podcast funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation and produced by House of Pod.