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| Just yesterday, Bill Fitzhugh and Sven Haakanson surveyed the Verkhoyansk
Mountains. Keeping up with Bill on a scientific mission is like running a
marathon. He sets off as always with his backpack, and climbs quickly up a
steep hillside, over slippery lichen-covered rocks, tough undergrowth, and
through thick clumps of evergreens.
Flatlands extend far off to the south and east. To the north, these vast plains suddenly end and the mountains begin. A river meanders into a pass through the foothills. The range has always separated those living in the agricultural zones of central Siberia from the myriad river valleys to the north. To Bill, this is an ideal place to search for evidence of our ancestors: through the ages, the pass has been a gateway for animals and humans.   
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