It is generally agreed that the first people to inhabit the New World arrived on foot from Siberia, when the low sea levels of the Pleistocene converted the present Bering Strait into a land bridge. Adherents of the "Clovis" theory suggest that this migration began ~12,000 years ago, using a type of arrowhead, the oldest technology securely dated, as a reference point. Other prehistorians suggest that this migration began ~30,000 to 40,000 years ago, or even earlier.

Although new radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Clovis occupation of the Americas has come to light recently, Ron Dorn argues that the Clovis vs. Pre-Clovis debate can only be resolved when it is viewed as a cultural process to be explained by competing migration models, rather than as a simple problem in chronology.

Cosponsored by: Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Graduate College, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, The Council of Deans, The Center for Advanced Study, George A. Miller Endowment, George A. Miller Committee, Peggy Harris Memorial Fund, Department of Anthropology, Department of Geography, Department of History, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, World Heritage Museum