Tracking the First Americans @ArchaeologySouthwest
Tracking the First Americans  @ArchaeologySouthwest
Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
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On Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at the Archaeology Southwest Headquarters or online via Zoom Webinar, Vance T. Holliday (Professor Emeritus of Anthropology & Geosciences, University of Arizona) presented “Tracking the First Americans.”
Recent research in White Sands National Park supports interpretations that human tracks found there date to 23,000 to 21,000 years ago. The tracks are the oldest in the Americas in one of the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas. The new investigations also show that people were walking across a floodplain within a few hundred meters of a large lake and wetland complex that offered a wide range of plant and animal resources.

This presentation was part of Archaeology Southwest’s Archaeology Café series—an informal forum that brings lifelong learners together with experts.

2025–2026 Archaeology Café: Tread — The Where, How, and Why of Trails & Foot Travel

Step into the 2025–2026 season of Archaeology Café: Tread. This year, we’re following the routes people have taken across time—on foot, through memory, and across landscapes.

From ancient migrations and sacred trails to trade paths, historical expeditions, and everyday travel, this season explores how movement shapes cultural landscapes in the Southwest and beyond. Trails connect people to place, carry meaning, and leave lasting marks on the land and in our stories.

This season, we’re coming home: Archaeology Café is returning to the headquarters of Archaeology Southwest in downtown Tucson—and adding a live Zoom Webinar option so you can join the Café in real time from wherever you are.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and talks begin at 6:00 p.m.
Can’t make it in person? Recordings are posted here on our YouTube channel a few days later.

History has many paths—let’s walk a few together.

Archaeology Café is made possible by BMO and The Smith Family Trust.
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Tracking the First Americans

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