Earlier this year I happened about an article featuring this book (probably related to its release since it is very new). It sounded very interesting so I went shopping.
This look at how and when humans first arrived in and populated the Americas looks at very current research (it cites 2021 works). It starts by looking mainly at the archaeological evidence and then looks more at what has been learned from genetic research. There is also a naming of the fact that to do the work ethically one needs to build relationship with the modern Indigenous people whose ancestors are being examined. Raff is honest about some of the ways this work has been damaging. She talks about how early archaeology (and some present work in both archaeology and genetics) did a poor job at treating the Indigenous peoples (ancient and modern) with respect. She talks about ways that more current professionals are trying to build relationship and let the Indigenous people have much ore control over the process.
I was fascinated by this book. It does not claim to have a definitive answer to the questions of how humans came to be in the Americas. It does a good job of raising what some of those questions are, what we know to help answer them, and how the professionals in the field are trying to follow the various threads to will lead to a more complete picture. And because I found it I have a number of suggested books that I may need to explore....
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