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That time a grad student corrected my 'Clovis First' take at a dig site
I was at a dig in New Mexico back in 2018, just helping move dirt, and I mentioned finding a spear point. This grad student, maybe 22 years old, just looked at me and said 'You know that point is older than Clovis, right?' She pulled out a paper from 2017 about the Buttermilk Creek site in Texas showing pre-Clovis dates. I had been smug about Clovis being the first people in the Americas since my college intro class. Made me realize how fast this field changes if you are not actually reading the latest studies. Anybody else had a younger researcher completely flip your thinking on something?
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corap613mo ago
Big same, @maryr43, a college intern wrecked my view on migration timelines last summer too.
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maryr433mo ago
Wait, wasn't the Buttermilk Creek site more about the Debra L. Friedkin site specifically? I thought the dates there were still kinda debated in some circles, not a total slam dunk. But yeah, getting schooled by someone half your age definitely stings at first.
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aaronroberts3mo ago
Did that sting in the moment or did you end up appreciating the wake-up call? I know I’ve been humbled by a younger field tech pointing out my outdated assumptions more than once.
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