The date and pathway of the first human occupants of the American continents is still perhaps one of the most highly debated topics in archaeology today. There are no less than four major routes that scholars have seriously postulated over the past hundred years or so; each has its proponents and detractors.
Four Theories about the American Population
- Clovis and the Ice Free Corridor
- Preclovis and the Pacific Coast Migration
- Solutrean Precursors to Clovis
- Trans-Pacific Contacts
One reason there is so much unsettled discussion has in part to do with the timing and character of the Last Glacial Maximum. The most widely accepted routes into the Americas come via the Bering Strait across what scientists call Bering Land Bridge. During the LGM, the routes into North America were blocked by glacial ice between at least 24,000 and maybe 30,000 and 18,000 years ago, at least so it seems, and yet there are archaeological sites that appear to have dates older than 18,000 years ago.
DNA and linguistic analysis have been brought to the discussion, but neither provides an unequivocal answer. One paper published by Perego et al. in January of 2009 suggests that Native Americans arrived in several waves into the Americas using two of these entry ways: the Ice Free Corridor and the Pacific Coast Migration model. The paper studied two mtDNA haplotypes and is well worth investigating.
It remains a puzzle.
Important Sites
North America: Cactus Hill Virginia, Meadowcroft Rockshelter Pennsylvania, Paisley Caves Oregon, Tlapacoya México, Kennewick Man Washington, Murray Springs Arizona, Daisy Cave California, Charlie Lake Cave British Columbia
South America: Monte Verde Chile, Guitarro Cave Peru, Pedra Furada Brazil
Russia: Yana RHS, Dyuktai Cave, Ushki Lakes, Ust-Mil
Sources
Gonzalez, S. 2007 Archaeological Records: Global Expansion 300,000-8000 years ago, Americas. pp. 129-135 in Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, ed. Scott A. Elias. Elsevier: London. Just found this good summary of the issues.
Perego, Ugo A., et al. 2009 Distinctive Paleo-Indian Migration Routes from Beringia Marked by Two Rare mtDNA Haplogroups. Current Biology 191–8.
A Preclovis vs Clovis bibliography has been built for this project.
