World Heritage Papers

This publication presents the most up-to-date research on the peopling of the Americas. The studies and discoveries brought to the reader in these articles review the latest developments in this field of knowledge: how the Americas were first experienced, how and where their colonization took place, and what aided the successful development of cultural diversity at the last continental frontier for the human species. This book stems from the international meeting, The First Peopling of the Americas and the World Heritage Convention, held in Puebla, Mexico, from 2 to 6 September 2013. It is thanks to this meeting and the discussions arising from it that a cooperation strategy with the State Government of Puebla is being established by the UNESCO Office in Mexico; this cooperation aims to launch actions to better preserve the heritage of the first peopling of the Americas, where our species, Homo sapiens, put into practice the vast trajectory of human experience they had accumulated thus far. These volumes provide the rationale and arguments for the future recognition, conservation and research of sites linked to the processes of human evolution and diversity in the American continent. This fascinating journey investigates the scientific, cultural, ethological, geographical and historical dimensions of the earliest steps of human development in the Americas, and the earliest American evidence of human ritual, expression and practice. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the invaluable assistance and cooperation of officials from the State Government of Puebla and the Municipality of Puebla for hosting this meeting at the Palafoxiana Library, which was the first public library in the Americas and is recognized as Memory of the World by UNESCO. I also extend my sincerest gratitude to the HEADS Scientific Committee and especially to Professor Robin Dennell for his never-ending dedication and fruitful cooperation in the framework of the HEADS programme