Joseph Cramer is on a quest to discover all he can about North America’s first inhabitants.
Now he has enlisted researchers at Kansas University and given them $1 million to help.
“I’m a person who’s interested in how things happen,” Cramer said Monday. “I’m interested in the origin of life, in the origin of the Earth, in the origins of families. Some people are just like that.”
Cramer, a retired geologist who lives in Denver, and his wife, Maude Ruth Cramer, gave $1 million to create the Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund, the Kansas University Endowment Association said.
The gift will finance research by KU scientists to determine areas of the Midwest where archaeological artifacts dated to about 11,500 years ago the period when scientists think humans first came to North America are located. It also will fund a professorship in geoarchaeology, which is the combination of geology and archaeology.
The Cramers already gave $1 million each to start similar programs at the University of Arizona, Southern Methodist University, the University of Nevada-Reno and Texas A&M University. At KU, the fund will support a joint research effort between the Kansas Geological Survey and the Department of Anthropology.
Rolfe Mandel, project coordinator for geoarchaeologal studies at the Geological Survey, said finding artifacts 11,500 or more years old was like finding a needle in a haystack. The new research will narrow the places for scientists to look.
“The key thing is being able to find geologic deposits that are of the right age,” Mandel said. “Once you’ve located those deposits, that’s a beginning to find archaeological materials.”
New knowledge about early North Americans could lead to theories on everything from where and when they arrived on the continent to how mastodons became extinct.
“It’ll tell us a lot about how people came to the new world and adapted to the environment and how they might have changed the environment,” Mandel said.
Cramer said he knew the search for answers about early North Americans would be a long one. But he said the nationwide approach would help bring together the pieces of the puzzle.
“It’s a very difficult search,” Cramer said. “This isn’t a job. This is a labor of love for these people.”
The Cramers’ gift counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. The endowment is conducting the campaign through 2004 on behalf of the university to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support.
Joseph Cramer is on a quest to discover all he can about North America’s first inhabitants.
Now he has enlisted researchers at Kansas University and given them $1 million to help.
“I’m a person who’s interested in how things happen,” Cramer said Monday. “I’m interested in the origin of life, in the origin of the Earth, in the origins of families. Some people are just like that.”
Cramer, a retired geologist who lives in Denver, and his wife, Maude Ruth Cramer, gave $1 million to create the Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund, the Kansas University Endowment Association said.
The gift will finance research by KU scientists to determine areas of the Midwest where archaeological artifacts dated to about 11,500 years ago the period when scientists think humans first came to North America are located. It also will fund a professorship in geoarchaeology, which is the combination of geology and archaeology.
The Cramers already gave $1 million each to start similar programs at the University of Arizona, Southern Methodist University, the University of Nevada-Reno and Texas A&M University. At KU, the fund will support a joint research effort between the Kansas Geological Survey and the Department of Anthropology.
Rolfe Mandel, project coordinator for geoarchaeologal studies at the Geological Survey, said finding artifacts 11,500 or more years old was like finding a needle in a haystack. The new research will narrow the places for scientists to look.
“The key thing is being able to find geologic deposits that are of the right age,” Mandel said. “Once you’ve located those deposits, that’s a beginning to find archaeological materials.”
New knowledge about early North Americans could lead to theories on everything from where and when they arrived on the continent to how mastodons became extinct.
“It’ll tell us a lot about how people came to the new world and adapted to the environment and how they might have changed the environment,” Mandel said.
Cramer said he knew the search for answers about early North Americans would be a long one. But he said the nationwide approach would help bring together the pieces of the puzzle.
“It’s a very difficult search,” Cramer said. “This isn’t a job. This is a labor of love for these people.”
The Cramers’ gift counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. The endowment is conducting the campaign through 2004 on behalf of the university to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support.
Joseph Cramer is on a quest to discover all he can about North America’s first inhabitants.
Now he has enlisted researchers at Kansas University and given them $1 million to help.
“I’m a person who’s interested in how things happen,” Cramer said Monday. “I’m interested in the origin of life, in the origin of the Earth, in the origins of families. Some people are just like that.”
Cramer, a retired geologist who lives in Denver, and his wife, Maude Ruth Cramer, gave $1 million to create the Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund, the Kansas University Endowment Association said.
The gift will finance research by KU scientists to determine areas of the Midwest where archaeological artifacts dated to about 11,500 years ago the period when scientists think humans first came to North America are located. It also will fund a professorship in geoarchaeology, which is the combination of geology and archaeology.
The Cramers already gave $1 million each to start similar programs at the University of Arizona, Southern Methodist University, the University of Nevada-Reno and Texas A&M University. At KU, the fund will support a joint research effort between the Kansas Geological Survey and the Department of Anthropology.
Rolfe Mandel, project coordinator for geoarchaeologal studies at the Geological Survey, said finding artifacts 11,500 or more years old was like finding a needle in a haystack. The new research will narrow the places for scientists to look.
“The key thing is being able to find geologic deposits that are of the right age,” Mandel said. “Once you’ve located those deposits, that’s a beginning to find archaeological materials.”
New knowledge about early North Americans could lead to theories on everything from where and when they arrived on the continent to how mastodons became extinct.
“It’ll tell us a lot about how people came to the new world and adapted to the environment and how they might have changed the environment,” Mandel said.
Cramer said he knew the search for answers about early North Americans would be a long one. But he said the nationwide approach would help bring together the pieces of the puzzle.
“It’s a very difficult search,” Cramer said. “This isn’t a job. This is a labor of love for these people.”
The Cramers’ gift counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. The endowment is conducting the campaign through 2004 on behalf of the university to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support.
Joseph Cramer is on a quest to discover all he can about North America’s first inhabitants.
Now he has enlisted researchers at Kansas University and given them $1 million to help.
“I’m a person who’s interested in how things happen,” Cramer said Monday. “I’m interested in the origin of life, in the origin of the Earth, in the origins of families. Some people are just like that.”
Cramer, a retired geologist who lives in Denver, and his wife, Maude Ruth Cramer, gave $1 million to create the Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund, the Kansas University Endowment Association said.
The gift will finance research by KU scientists to determine areas of the Midwest where archaeological artifacts dated to about 11,500 years ago the period when scientists think humans first came to North America are located. It also will fund a professorship in geoarchaeology, which is the combination of geology and archaeology.
The Cramers already gave $1 million each to start similar programs at the University of Arizona, Southern Methodist University, the University of Nevada-Reno and Texas A&M University. At KU, the fund will support a joint research effort between the Kansas Geological Survey and the Department of Anthropology.
Rolfe Mandel, project coordinator for geoarchaeologal studies at the Geological Survey, said finding artifacts 11,500 or more years old was like finding a needle in a haystack. The new research will narrow the places for scientists to look.
“The key thing is being able to find geologic deposits that are of the right age,” Mandel said. “Once you’ve located those deposits, that’s a beginning to find archaeological materials.”
New knowledge about early North Americans could lead to theories on everything from where and when they arrived on the continent to how mastodons became extinct.
“It’ll tell us a lot about how people came to the new world and adapted to the environment and how they might have changed the environment,” Mandel said.
Cramer said he knew the search for answers about early North Americans would be a long one. But he said the nationwide approach would help bring together the pieces of the puzzle.
“It’s a very difficult search,” Cramer said. “This isn’t a job. This is a labor of love for these people.”
The Cramers’ gift counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. The endowment is conducting the campaign through 2004 on behalf of the university to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support.
