The Joe Rogan Experience welcomes Steven Rinella, who offers insights into North America's fur trade history and early economic expansion driven by the trapping and trading of valuable beaver pelts. Rinella delves into the peopling of the Americas, examining archaeological evidence challenging the "Clovis First" hypothesis and suggesting earlier migration waves from Siberia.
Rinella recounts tales of explorers facing survival challenges and describes experiments to better understand prehistoric tools. The discussion navigates ethical tensions surrounding the study and display of indigenous ancestral remains, exploring complexities surrounding repatriation and respecting cultural considerations.
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The fur trade, particularly the trapping and trading of valuable beaver pelts, spurred early economic expansion and exploration in North America, as Steven Rinella discusses. Pelts were shipped across the Atlantic to supply Europe's wool felt industry, driving the "mountain men" era. However, intense trapping depleted beaver populations by the 1840s, effectively ending the fur trade.
Archaeological evidence challenges the "Clovis First" hypothesis of the first Americans arriving via an ice-free corridor. Rinella highlights finds suggesting an earlier coastal migration along the Pacific, termed the "Kelp Highway" theory. The Anzick child also implies Clovis were mammoth hunters, not scavengers. Genetic data points to multiple migration waves from Siberia populating the Americas.
Rinella recounts tales of explorers facing starvation, like "John the Baptist" and the Donner Party, and describes experiments butchering bison to understand prehistoric tools. He discusses new archaeological tech like remote sensing uncovering sites, but also respecting indigenous remains through repatriation and limited displays.
The conversation centers on tensions between scientific study and indigenous spiritual concerns regarding ancestral remains. Rinella describes Pueblos working to reclaim taken remains and disputes over museum displays. He notes the complexities of identifying direct descendants for ancient remains due to historical population movements.
1-Page Summary
Steven Rinella provides an in-depth exploration of the fur trade's powerful influence on the economic and exploratory expansion in North America, highlighting the conflicting and competitive nature of the era, as well as the eventual depletion of beaver populations.
Rinella discusses the intense competition and conflict during the fur trade era, which saw beaver pelts emerge as North America's valuable commodity, akin to mineral wealth in other regions. The beaver pelts were extremely lucrative in Europe, driving economic activity.
Explorers like LaSalle built ships, notably the Griffin, filled with precious beaver pelts for European trade. However, piracy, intimidation of Native tribes, and the French-English competition for control were prevalent during this time. Beaver pelts were sought-after for creating wool felt, leading to the mountain man era, marked by figures like Jim Bridger and Jed Smith. Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition discovered a significant beaver population in the Rockies, setting off the "mountain men" period, with American trappers living in the wilderness for years. John Jacob Astor became America's first homegrown millionaire due to his involvement in the fur trade, which helped launch expeditions during this era.
Fur Trade and Early North American Industries: History and Impact
Discussions by Rinella and others bring to light evolving theories about the early settlement of the Americas, challenging long-held beliefs and presenting new puzzles about the past.
Recent archaeological findings have put the once-dominant "Clovis First" hypothesis into question, suggesting a much earlier and more complex migration story.
Rinella discusses the "ice-free corridor" hypothesis, which is now seen as untenable in light of older sites like Monteverde in Chile, which predate the Clovis presence and suggest an earlier arrival to the Americas. These ancient settlers likely traveled not only via the Bering land bridge but also along coastal routes in what is now known as the Kelp Highway theory. This theory proposes that early Americans were seafaring people who navigated down the Pacific coast. These maritime migrants took advantage of rich marine resources provided by kelp beds, quickly moving southwards and populating the Americas.
Rinella touches on the controversy over whether the Clovis people were specialized mammoth hunters or scavengers. The discovery of a Clovis child known as Anzick One, who was buried with weapons and ochre in Montana, and stable isotope analysis of the child's diet suggest that mammoth was a part of their diet, supporting the theory that Clovis people hunted mammoths actively rather than scavenging. Rinella is skeptical of the scavenger theory based on the improbability of encountering sufficient fresh carcasses and suggests that megafauna like mammoths may have been easier to hunt due to their lack of evolutionary adaptations against human hunters.
These coastal peoples who migrated along rivers and salmon runs eventually became mammoth and grassland hunters. There is evidence to suggest descendants of these early seafarers may include groups like the Tlingit or Haida along the Alaskan coast.
Even as new evidence fills in gaps, it also opens up fresh que ...
Peopling of the Americas
Steven Rinella speaks to the perils faced by explorers and groups throughout history, while Joe Rogan and Rinella also touch upon the advancements in archaeological methods and the ethical considerations involved in researching and displaying the past.
Rinella describes the dangers of glacier hiking, including a story of a student who went missing after stepping into a crevasse and the melting risks associated with using a screw for anchoring. He reveals the intriguing tale of a man self-identifying as "John the Baptist," who arrived on a homemade log raft in Alaska in 1978. This man, who eventually died from starvation after ignoring advice and stealing supplies from others, became a burden to those living in the wild, taking up their resources.
Moreover, Rinella talks about a member of the Donner Party consuming hides and bone, along with hair follicles that formed obstructions, as they faced starvation. He notes that in extreme conditions, mooches like "John the Baptist," who looted a reloading station, could threaten others' survival due to resource scarcity.
The discussion also covers the Donner Party, where out of 90 stranded in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846 to 1847, half were children, and the presence of children correlated with a higher chance of survival for the parents. Rinella and Rogan ponder the psychological aspects of survival, such as parents potentially feeding their children human flesh.
Rogan and Rinella further discuss survival situations extending to a failed Arctic expedition where the crews of the boats Terror and Another Boat resorted to cannibalism after ice entrapment. An example is given where a man killed two Native American guides to consume them without repercussions, highlighting the lengths to which people might go for survival.
Rinella talks about his involvement in an experimental archaeology study from Kent State University, where they butchered a bison with stone tools to understand their historical usage. This method aimed to create comparison data sets to interpret cut marks found on prehistoric bones and provided insights into the functions of Clovis points.
Rinella describes using stone tools to extract a bison tongue during the study, which did not leave the expected cut marks, altering the understanding of prehistoric tool usage. They highlight the importance of experimental archaeology in generating new hypotheses about the behavior of prehistoric peoples.
Challenges and Mysteries of Survival and Discoveries
The conversation surrounding the ownership and treatment of ancestral remains highlights the tension between scientific research and the cultural and spiritual concerns of indigenous peoples regarding their heritage.
The rights and practices of indigenous groups concerning their ancestral remains are at the center of ethical debates in archaeology and museum studies.
Rinella talks about meeting a Puebloan focused on the repatriation efforts for his community, working tirelessly to get back the remains of his ancestors that were taken without permission and are now held by museums. The Pueblo people have a long history in specific regions, and outsiders have historically excavated their ancestral remains for display, often leading to ongoing legal and ethical disputes.
Rinella highlights a particular museum exhibit in Chicago that was concealed due to a repatriation issue, showing the active custody battles over these displays. The conversation explores the complexities of ensuring sensitive handling of human remains and the need to balance scientific interest with the respect for indigenous cultural and spiritual values.
The challenge of accurately ascribing ancient remains to modern indigenous groups is exacerbated by historical population movements and genetic intermixing.
As discussed by Rinella and Rogan, the question of who contemporary peoples are concerning ancient inhabitants introduces complexity into the repatriation of bones that are thousands of years old. With population m ...
Ethical and Cultural Issues In Owning Human Remains
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