Waunakee Rotarians had the chance to imagine the first people of North America living in Wisconsin tens of thousands of years ago at their Nov. 18 meeting. Archeology professor Sissel Schroeder talked about her research into Paleoindians in the state, describing how it’s believed they came to the Americas from Asia more than 12,000 years ago and spread broadly across North America.

Artifacts from Paleoindians dating back 21,000 to 23,000 years have been found in White Sands National Park, New Mexico.

Archaeologists have studied ancient tools and the advances in their technology, finding that fluted tools were  developed later. The best known Paleoindian sites are kill-butcher areas where the stone tools were used. Archaeologists have studied the pattern of these sites, noting most are west of the Mississippi River. In the Eastern United States, more Paleoindian sites show a diversity of resources due the diversity of wildlife.

In Wisconsin, both mammoth and mastodon remains have been discovered. Sissel talked about how the ice age affected the landscape and those animals’ feeding areas.

Paleoindians were nomadic, hunting and foraging people who moved across the landscape. It is believed that they had aggregate spots where several congregated to compare technologies, play games and discuss changes in the landscape. One was the Skare Site in Wisconsin where a number of different tools have been found, including wedges to crack logs, scrapers, spears and more. The fluted, pointed tools and others are found throughout the state, but more frequently in areas where universities research them and where raw materials were available for those first people of North America.

 

Guests: None.

 

Visiting Rotarians: None.

 

 Other news:

-Santa will come to town Dec. 4 at the Centennial Park Shelter. Peggy Acker-Farber is looking for volunteers to provide cookies and bring them to the Dec. 2 meeting. You can buy the cookies at the store.

-Let Jim Kattner know if you can take a shift at Rotary Lights, which begin this Sunday. A second shift is needed on Wednesday and on Thanksgiving evening.

-Rotarians are chipping in for the Waunakee Neighborhood Connection's program to provide families with gifts. Jennifer Tasker is heading this up if you want to contribute.

 

Birthdays: Dec. 6, Bud Zander; Dec. 8, Roberta Baumann

 

Anniversaries: Dec. 3, Jim and Kathy Kattner

 

Greeters: Dec. 2, David Rupp and Troy Salisbury; Dec. 9, Ellen Schaaf and Todd Schmidt; Dec. 16, Phil Simon and Dan Statz; Dec. 23, Ray and Harriet Statz; Dec. 30, Jennifer Tasker and Howard Teeter.