EUGENE–They were tough, strong and healthy–traveling far and fast on foot. They were serious traders and enthusiastic gamblers, and were skilled at living off the land. Oregon pioneers? In a sense–but these pioneers arrived thousands of years before Lewis and Clark, and the record of their arrival may lie deep below the volcanic ash, coastal silt and river mud of Oregon.

University of Oregon archaeologists are offering a series of lectures on what we know of these original pioneers on five consecutive Friday afternoons beginning Sept. 29. The archaeologists, all associated with the University of Oregon Museum of Natural History, will give an overview of their discoveries about Oregon’s most ancient people. They also will talk about how the first Oregonians got here, how they lived and how their cultures changed and diverged with changes in the Oregon landscape itself.

For 65 years, UO archaeologists have played a key role in uncovering hundreds of compelling stories about Oregon’s deep human past.

"The UO’s archaeological work, in particular, is a coordinated, long-term effort that you don’t see everywhere," says Dennis Jenkins, a museum archaeologist and lecture series presenter. "It started with Luther Cressman’s work at Gold Hill in 1929 and 1930. Continuity gives you a different insight. Information flows freely among all of us who work in the different areas of Oregon."

The first four lectures are scheduled at 5:30 p.m. through Oct. 20. The fifth lecture on Oct. 27 will begin at 4:30 p.m. All will be held on the first floor of the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. on the UO campus.

The one-hour lectures are free and open to the public. Free parking is available in campus lots adjacent to the law center. The museum and museum store, next door at 1680 E. 15th Ave., will remain open until 5:30 p.m. on lecture days.

The UO archaeological lecture series includes:

• Sept. 29: "Paleolithic Thoughts," Mel Aikens, 5:30 p.m. Room 175, Knight Law Center.

• Oct. 6: "The Peopling of the New World," Jon Erlandson, 5:30 p.m., Room 110, Knight Law Center.

• Oct. 13: "10,000 Years at Fort Rock," Dennis Jenkins, 5:30 p.m., Room 110, Knight Law Center.

• Oct. 20: "Archaeology at Our Back Door," Brian O’Neill, 5:30 p.m., Room 110, Knight Law Center.

• Oct. 27: "The Artists of Chauvet Cave," Jim Keyser, 4:30 p.m., Room 110, Knight Law Center.

The lectures are part of a month-long series of events proclaimed by Gov. John Kitzhaber as "Oregon Archaeology Celebration 2000." During September and October, Oregon archaeology professionals and volunteers will sponsor lectures, exhibits, children’s events and classes all over the state on the protection and interpretation of Oregon’s heritage.

Mel Aikens, director of the museum, UO professor of anthropology and an archaeologist of the Great Basin region and Japan, will open the lecture series on Sept. 29. His talk, "Paleolithic Thoughts," will explore shamanism and the persistence of ideas about religion and the cosmos in oral traditions all over the world.

"The central principle of the Shamanic world view is that people, animals and spirits are continuous with one another and that it is possible for spirits and certain people–shamans–to travel between worlds," he says. "This pattern of belief is shared among different peoples around the world and is, I believe, extremely ancient."

UO anthropology professor Jon Erlandson will follow on Oct. 6 with "The Peopling of the New World," a discussion of modern humans and maritime migration and how people first came to the Americas. Erlandson is an archaeologist of the Pacific Coast and has explored early coastal societies from Alaska to California.

Jenkins, who is also co-director of the UO summer archaeological field school, will speak about "10,000 Years at Fort Rock" on Oct. 13. Using slides from field school projects, he will discuss the long story of cultural change and stability in the Fort Rock Basin. The oldest shoes in the world–sagebrush bark sandals–were found at Fort Rock Cave and are now in the UO Museum of Natural History.

On Oct. 20, museum archaeologist Brian O’Neill will discuss new additions to the local archaeological record with "Archaeology at Our Back Door." An archaeologist of the lush interior valleys of western Oregon, he will talk about 10,000 years of human history along the Long Tom River west of Eugene.

"One of the challenges in deciphering the early archaeological record in the Willamette Valley is just finding it!" O’Neill says. "Our work in the Long Tom River basin has given us good information about where we might search and how deeply buried these deposits are beneath the accumulated silt."

The series will close on Oct. 27 with archaeologist Jim Keyser’s lecture on "The Artists of Chauvet Cave." Stone drawings and paintings at Chauvet Cave in south central France were discovered in 1994, more than 30,000 years after prehistoric artists created them.

Keyser, who earned his doctoral degree in anthropology at the UO, is the regional archaeologist for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and Washington. He is an expert on ancient rock art, including Columbia River rock art, and is a member of the scientific advisory committee studying Chauvet Cave.

Other Lane County events honoring "Oregon Archaeology Celebration 2000" includes UO anthropology professor Madonna Moss’ lecture on coastal archaeology at noon on Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Red Lion Inn, 205 Coburg Rd. in Eugene. An archaeological hike will depart at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, from the Middle Fork Ranger District office in Oakridge.

The Museum of Natural History and museum store are open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday on the UO campus near the corner of East 15th and Agate. Free parking is available in front of the museum with a permit from the front desk. Admission is by $2 donation; UO students and museum members are admitted free.

For information about the UO archaeological lecture series, visit <http://natural-history.uoregon.edu/> on the web, call (541) 346-3024, or send e-mail to mnh@oregon.uoregon.edu. For a 24-hours-a-day taped message about museum exhibits and activities, call GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone, 485-2000, ext. 3447.

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