Unpacked by AFAR · Thursday, October 29, 2026
Reflecting on the 250th anniversary of American independence and her upcoming online piece, Kate Nelson notes that human history on the North American continent spans at least 20,000 years, providing much greater depth when indigenous timelines are included.
“And so you put that in perspective, which I know that's another book that I contributed to is called Rock Art, An American Story, with photographer Stephen Alvarez, who has photographed indigenous rock art, you know, pictographs, petroglyphs all across the country. You just show it on this timeline. And you realize that... There's so much more depth and richness by... including this rather than excluding it.”