Prior to Gondwana?

[Skip Dahlgren <SDAHLGREN@liblan.uams.edu>]

In time and topic, this question goes a bit beyond dinos, but it's one that 
has puzzled me for a long time, and hopefully some of the experts here may be 
able to shed some light on the matter.

Back when I was studying archaeology at UPenn (I was there from 1962-66), the 
theory of plate tectonics was considered a fool's raving by most geologists.  
Now of course it's the Law of the Land, so to speak  :>

Since my path has diverged from scientific to health-related and finally to 
cybereducational pursuits over the intervening years, and I have had little 
to no contact with other than popular geology, I have not been able to locate 
resources that could answer a question that has troubled me about the 
available information about the movements and configurations of continents 
over time.

All sources that I have been able to find refer to no earlier land 
configuration than the unified supercontinent Gondwana.  Yet it seems 
reasonable to assume that there must have been movement prior to Gondwana.  
This huge cluster must have been the result of earlier continental movements 
and collisions.  

Is there simply no popular interest in the configuration of these earlier 
continents, has the matter not been studied, or is it too difficult to 
project continental movements back in time prior to the Gondwana 
supercontinent?

Any info or suggested resources for further pursuit of such info would be 
appreciated.


Skip Dahlgren
Applications Programmer, Office of Educational Development
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Phone: 501/296-1087; FAX: 501/686-7053 (new FAX#!)
e-mail: sdahlgren@liblan.uams.edu; bcsskip@aol.com
-ex-archaeologist; lifelong afficionado of dinosaurs and their latter-day kin
"Cross-platform computing is much safer than downhill!"  :)