In the traditional view of human colonization of the Americas, big-game hunters from Asia —the so-called Clovis people —swept quickly across a now submerged landmass called Beringia into North America around 13,000 years ago and hastened south into warmer climes. Over the past decade, however, evidence against this "Clovis First" scenario has mounted, as this article in the November issue describes. The latest geologic and archaeological research indicates that humans entered the New World thousands of years before the Clovis people left behind their distinctive stone tools and suggests two possible migration paths: a coastal route and an early ice-free corridor.
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8 Comments
Add CommentThe question is "Whether these people who populated Americas 15 000 yers ago or earlier have the same features as the Asians who were formerly assumed to be the settlers who migrated via Beringia or not? If not where did they come from?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMany "Key Find" sites were left off your interactive map including the Clovis site known as Thunderbird in Virginia and the pre-Clovis sites in Topper, SC; Cactus Hill,VA; Meadowcroft, PA; and Monte Verde, Chile. Also of interest is Dennis Stanford's Salutrean Hypothesis that says people migrated from Europe to North America via a North Atlantic pack ice route.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAccording to an article published by Dr. Dennis Jenkins, in charge of the Paisley Cave #5 dig in Eastern Oregon, an analysis of the human feces found had DNA sequencing very similar to the DNA found in East Asians and Native American Indians. So, based upon the findings of 14,400 year old remains the folks came either by land or sea from Eastern Asian between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago. This finding and dating of material was pre-clovis as well as other findings mentioned in the article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA recent report in the October 22 addition of The Oregonian newspaper page 1 by Joe Rojas-Burke headlined "NW Mastodon was speared 13,800 years ago" outlined information on how the rib bone of a Mastodon had a sharpen bone spear imbedded into it rib by a hunter. This new finding was made possible High resolution CT scans not available in 1977 when the rib bone was first discovered. This also pre-dates Clovis.
What a vacuous article. For twelve years after Monte Verde, that is all SA can put up? What about Topper, Meadowcraft and Cactus Hill? And what about all the MtDNA evidence of their being FIVE incursions into the Americas? I guess SA is not about "the truth, all whole truth. and nothing but the truth."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCharlesAHI and barryrice are correct.
As barryrice points out, why is SA masking or hiding evidence of the Solutrean hypothesis? Do they think that ignoring it will make it all just go away?
A shameful article. SA should be given a dunce cap and made to sit in the corner.
The "Southward Ho! scenario is not at all convincing. All species, including humans, expand within an ecological niche-- they [we] do not hop from niche to niche. We have a 15 year reproductive cycle. Learning new survival skills/tools takes time; folks have to eat everyday. This does not fit with dragging the entire family overland, having 're-adapted' from a seafaring life style, following unknown animals all the way to Chile- etc.? Note that current artic peoples have an extremely finely tuned tool/skill kit developed in the last 10,000 years, not the paleolithic one.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe oldest sites are in South America. The oldest sites are in what are now deserts or very dry lands. I would propose a whole different story. People, being smart survivors, followed the one absolutly dependable niche all the way from Asiia to Alaska To Chile. THE SEA SHORE. THEY EXISTED THERE, INCHING THEIR WAY ALONG THE RIM OF THE CONTINENTS THROUGH OUT THE ICE AGE. Then, when the melt started to destroy the coastal settlements, which we cannnot find buried as they are on the continental shelf, the people gradually moved inland to higher ground- to dryer land.
The various contorted methods by which the overland route is created and recreated provide an un-needed hardship on both our ancient americans and the scientists who create them.
the Salutrean hypothesis fails on the time frame. The points in N. America that are supposed to resemble Salutrean points are 20,000 years apart in time. Not a good correlation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf people arrived by the "overland route", they were undoubtedly given a Welcome To the Neighborhood fruit basket by the "seafarers" and paddlers that arrived hundreds or thousands of years before. Ever tried hiking and paddling??
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIts interesting trying to find out all the ways the original settlers of America came here.
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