James M. Adovasio

James M. Adovasio (born 1944) is an American archaeologist and one of the foremost experts in perishable artifacts (such as basketry and textiles). He was formerly the Provost, Dean of the Zurn School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Director of the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, Adovasio is best known for his work at Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania and for his subsequent role in the "Clovis First" debate. He has published nearly 400 books, monographs, articles, and papers in his field.

Background James M. Adovasio was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1944. He received his B.A. in anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1965. He spent a year in the University of Arizona's graduate program in anthropology before pursuing his Ph.D., which he received in 1970 from the University of Utah. During his graduate studies, Adovasio worked on multiple excavations and ecological and archaeological mapping projects in Utah; he also performed basketry and textile analyses for Danger Cave and Hogup Cave.

By his own admission, Adovasio was "programmed to be an archaeologist." He developed a passion for archaeology at a young age. Under the guidance of his mother, a historian, he learned to read using books about geology, paleontology, and archaeology.

Once at the University of Utah, Adovasio studied under the tutelage of Jesse D. Jennings, whose work at Danger Cave and other eastern Great basin closed sites greatly influenced Adovasio's research foci. During Adovasio's graduate years at the University of Utah, he processed a deluge of perishable artifacts (baskets, strings, and cords) from Hogup Cave. Through this work, Adovasio developed expertise in and passion for perishable artifacts that has persisted throughout his career.

Though it can at times be frustratingly meticulous work, Adovasio claims archaeology is also an incredibly rewarding field with unparalleled opportunities for interdisciplinary study. In an interview about his book The First Americans, Adovasio comments on his role as an archaeologist in the modern age: "I think in a sense the story that we’re trying to tell…is how we ended up where we are now technologically, socially, and environmentally because—you’ve heard the old saw ‘You can’t know where you’re going in the future unless you know where you’ve been in the past?’ Well, it really is true, and now we understand better how to figure out where we were."

Employment history Most recently, Adovasio worked at Mercyhurst University where he was a professor of Anthropology and Archaeology and of Geology, Director of the Anthropology and Archaeology and Geology Departments, Director of the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute (MAI), Dean of the Zurn School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Senior Counselor to the President, and Provost. From 1995 to 2001, he served as Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. He currently serves as an expert witness for Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) cases, helping to protect archaeological sites from looters. Before taking a position at Mercyhurst, Adovasio taught at Youngstown State University and at the University of Pittsburgh. He taught anthropology at Youngstown State from 1966 to 1968 and 1970–1971. After taking a postdoctoral stint at the Smithsonian Institution, he assumed a position at Pitt, where he worked from 1972 to 1990. While there, he taught anthropology, Latin American studies, and geology and planetary sciences; he also served as Chairman of the Department of Anthropology and Director of the Cultural Resource Management Program (CRMP). The site was visited principally during the Fall of the year by broad spectrum foragers throughout its long history. Even after the appearance of horticulture in the area, the basic function of the site never changed.

Due to the age of this site, Adovasio has been involved in the "Clovis First" debate for several decades, defending Meadowcroft as a pre-Clovis site. Skeptics like James Mead and C. Vance Haynes have repeatedly questioned Meadowcroft's age based on concerns about contamination of radiocarbon samples and the absence of Pleistocene fauna.

To support the radiocarbon dates from the earliest occupational levels, Adovasio emphasizes that the 52 radiocarbon dates from Meadowcroft are, with several inconsequential low order reversals in late contexts, in absolute stratigraphic order. Additionally, all of the assayed samples derive from firepits and fire features with directly associated cultural material of indisputable anthropogenic origins. The entire suite of early dates derives from beneath a rockfall event of Clovis age. Adovasio has repeatedly pointed out that there is no coal seam at Meadowcroft—only isolated outcrops of vitrinite—making contamination unlikely. Further, the highly localized vitrinite is separated from the Stratum IIa occupational floors by approximately 30–50 cm of undisturbed deposits. Regardless, vitrinite is not soluble in water and could therefore only contaminate fire features in the stratum as particulate matter. Repeated examination of the radiocarbon samples by four different laboratories has consistently failed to reveal any particulate fragments. Additionally, microstratigraphic analyses by Paul Goldberg and associates has conclusively indicated absolutely no groundwater movement and hence, no vehicle for transporting contaminants in any of the sites 11 strata. Furthermore, if vitrinite contaminated the dates in Stratum IIa, it logically follows that it would have similarly contaminated all subsequent dates as the same vitrinite exposures were present throughout the Meadowcroft occupation. If the later dates were contaminated to the same extent claimed for the earlier dates, the later dates would be several thousand years in the future. The pre-Clovis debate continues, with many skeptics resurrecting the same concerns about contamination and absence of Pleistocene fauna. It is notable, however, that although archaeologists have called the early dates from Meadowcroft into question, Adovasio's methods of excavation have always been considered above reproach. and has written numerous books, guides, papers, and chapters for edited volumes over the identification and analysis of perishables from various parts of the continent.

Adovasio also examines the adaptations and behaviors of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene populations globally and is involved in developing the interdisciplinary relationship between archaeology and geology (geoarchaeology). Finally, he is also involved in the ongoing development of excavations, field documentation, and analytical protocols for excavations, as shown by his work in CRMP at Pitt and at MAI at Mercyhurst. Since women were typically the ones who made and used perishable artifacts, their roles in prehistory are often undetected since these artifacts break down so quickly. Adovasio's specialty lends him a unique window into the world of prehistoric women, providing a logical platform from which to attack traditional concepts about men's and women's roles in prehistoric North America.

Adovasio is working in the Gulf of Mexico looking for submerged sites on the continental shelf, focusing on submerged coastlines, especially where rivers meet the ocean. Analysis of submerged sites could yield a wealth of information about prehistoric humans, as modern humans have yet to disturb them due to the rise in sea level that submerged the sites thousands of years ago. He also continues to analyze prehistoric plant fiber perishables from throughout the world.

Selected books and monographs

Selected papers