The San Juan Basin Archaeological Society invites the public to a presentation. At 6:30 we will have social time. Then after a brief business meeting, we will have a presentation by Dr. John Kappelman who is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas, Austin. Dr. Kappelman's subject is " Adaptive foraging behaviors in the Horn of Africa during the Toba supereruption". For log-in information go to SJBAS.ORG.

Perhaps the most consequential event in the evolution of our species occurred during the late Middle Stone Age when modern humans dispersed out of Africa and expanded their range to populate the entire planet. New archaeological excavations in the lowlands of northwest Ethiopia near the start point of the hypothesized dispersal routes reveal how people 74,000 years ago adapted to a highly seasonal environment aided by the likely adoption of the bow and arrow with an emphasis on hunting and especially fishing. The site was occupied during the Toba super-eruption, one of the largest super volcanoes in Earth history. The behavioral flexibility required to survive seasonally arid conditions in general, and the apparent short-term effects of the Toba super-eruption in particular were probably key to the most recent dispersal and subsequent worldwide expansion of modern humans.

John Kappelman was born and raised on a small family farm in southwestern Idaho. He received a B.S. in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University, and an M.A. in Anthropology and Ph.D. in Anthropology and Earth and Planetary Sciences, both from Harvard University. He recently retired after serving for 35 years as a professor in the Departments of Anthropology and Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of Texas, Austin. He continues his association with UT Austin as Professor Emeritus. The primary focus of his research is ape and human origins and evolution, with particular emphasis in paleoecology and functional morphology, and stratigraphy and geochronology. He conducts field and laboratory research in paleontology, stratigraphy, and paleomagnetism, and laboratory research in functional morphology and computer imaging. He has worked all around the world and runs current field projects in Kenya and Ethiopia. He and his lab members have built many web sites including eSkeletons, eLucy, eFossils, and eAnthro Labs. For the past 20 years, he split his time between Austin and Pagosa Springs, and now hangs his spurs full time at the Frying Pan Lazy K ranch outside of Pagosa Springs.