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Press Release
Dec. 10, 2002
SCIENTIST TO SPEAK ON SOUTHEAST CAVE FINDINGS
Anthropologist Dr. Jim Dixon will give a free lecture this month about “On Your Knees Cave,” thought to be the most significant archaeological and paleontological site in Southeast Alaska.
Scientists exploring the cave on Prince of Wales Island in 1996 discovered human bones dating back nearly 10,000 years. They are the oldest human remains ever found in Alaska or Canada, said Dixon, who joined the project in 1997 as principal investigator of archaeology.
Scientific evidence from the find supports the theory that America was first populated by people migrating along the coast, rather than along an ice-free, mid-continental corridor, said Dr. Rosita Worl, a Tlingit anthropologist.
“The discovery also gives weight to our Elders’ assertion that the Tlingit have owned and occupied Southeast Alaska since time immemorial ,” said Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, which is sponsoring the lecture in Juneau.
The cave project sharply contrasts with the Kennewick Man discovery, which has sparked lawsuits between scientists and tribes in the Lower 48. Southeast tribes have collaborated with federal agencies and scientists on the cave project, said Worl, who serves as an advisor to the research team. SHI also is collaborating with Dixon, the Forest Service and filmmaker Ted Timreck on a video about the project.
The lecture is scheduled 7-8:30 p.m., Dec. 18, in the 4th-floor boardroom of the Sealaska building in downtown Juneau. It is free of charge and open to the public. The lecture is the second talk in a new lecture series sponsored by Sealaska Heritage Institute, a nonprofit organization founded to perpetuate the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures.
CONTACT: SHI President Dr. Rosita Worl, 463-4844.
News Article:
"Cave Reveals 10,500
Year Old Remains"