Paleoamerican Odyssey 2026

An International Conference on the First Americans

October 14-17, 2026

Santa Fe Convention Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Center for the Study of the First Americans invites you to participate in a three-day examination of the first people to explore and settle the Americas at the end of the last Ice Age. This conference is for everyone—archaeologists, avocational archaeologists, Quaternary scientists, students, and anyone interested in archaeology.

Much new information has been generated about the peopling of the Americans since the 2013 Paleoamerican Odyssey conference that is changing how we view the First Americans. The archaeological genetic revolution took place after 2013 with genomic analysis of human individuals and their dogs creating a biological outline of the ancestry of the First Americans and estimates for their arrival south of the Ice Sheets. New information has been generated about the coastal and inland corridors which more clearly define the timing of their opening and viability. The Western Stemmed Tradition of the Intermountain West now appears to be coeval with Clovis. Many new archaeological sites have been excavated in

Americas placing the arrival of humans between 23,000 and 16,000 years ago. New dating and other studies also tells us much about the timing and cause for the extinction of megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene and the role of humans in this event.

Come and hear 35 lectures given by preeminent scholars on all aspects of the study of the First Americans—the genetic history of the first Americans and their dogs, the earliest archaeological sites in Beringia, North America, Central America, and South America, the routes people took through and around the Ice Sheets covering Canada and more. Also, examine 400 poster presentations on a variety of topics and view artifact casts from important sites.

There will be opportunities to ask questions, meet, and discuss the First Americans with the speakers, poster presenters, and others throughout the day and during our evening meet and greet sessions.

This will be the largest gathering of First Americans researchers since Paleoamerican Odyssey 2013!