The Peopling of Australia and the New World Only modern Homo sapiens spread to the farthest reaches of the world into Siberia Australia New World North Central South America Remember this spread occurred during the Pleistocene the Ice Age When glaciation caused low sea levels allowing some land masses to be joined Colonization of the New World Americas were settled by Homo sapiens sapiens during the Upper Paleolithic during the Pleistocene Controversies 1 When did people enter the New World 2 What routes did they take to enter the New World and where did they come from 3 How many waves of migration were there 4 What does Clovis represent Where how did people arrive a Across Berengia and through ice free corridor b In boats along Pacific coast from Berengia c In boats across Arctic ocean from Europe Immigrants traditionally thought to have walked here by following big game across the Bering Land Bridge Beringia Blue area indicates exposed land during glaciation Glacial advance caused sea levels dropped about 120 meters below what we see today creating a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska close to 1500 km wide It was exposed continuously from 35 00 11 000 ya Once Ice Free Corridor you reachedformed Alaska near hadend to traverse of Pleistocene throughbetween 15k and 12kya Canada glacier covered Could do so only when an ice free corridor opened up Navigable not necessarily survivable near end ofbut Pleistocene between 15 000 12 000 ya Navigable but not necessarily survivable journey A Across Berengia and through ice free corridor B In boats along Pacific coast from Berengia Pacific Coastal Route Still from Asia but along coast Climate not as harsh as Ice Free Corridor We know they had boats at least 40 kya We don t have to worry about time constraints of Land Bridge or Ice Free Corridor Coastal Route along exposed continental shelf which is now underwater Need to conduct underwater archaeology to find evidence C In boats across Arctic ocean from Europe Siberia lacks artifacts that resemble Paleoindian Clovis points Solutrean points from Europe are very similar to Clovis finely worked bifacial points Geographical and temporal distance leaves some archaeologists skeptical the Solutrean Complex is found in Europe between 22 000 ya and 16 500 ya www andaman org This leaves roughly a 3 000 year gap between the end of the Solutran Complex and the generally accepted beginning of Clovis 13 500 ya How could you possibly tell where colonizers came from You d look for earlier sites in source areas You d look for the same styles of artifacts in the source area and in the earliest American sites But to figure out what is earlier you d need to know when they first arrived in the Americas Center for the Study of the First Americans When did people arrive We now know they were living at Monte Verde site in Chile near south tip of South America by 14 000 ya Wisner 1997 14 Feder Park 2001 424 Very controversial when first found Now well accepted date of 14 000 ya Organic remains preserved uky edu Structure arrow at NW corner Cut wooden stake WHERE did the colonizers come from You d expect to find some cultural continuity the same sorts of artifacts using the same technology in the source area where colonizers originated and before they appear in their new American home What styles of artifacts do we first find in America We ll start with what people thought for a long time Clovis lanceolate fluted spear point Found across North America 13 000 10 000 ya Earliest were made of high quality raw material Source of raw material may be very distant Seen as evidence for high mobility of people Lanceolate shape Fluted channel at base for hafting onto spear Center for the Study of the First Americans Clovis points are widespread across North America at about 10 000 ya Two theories Clovis first These points were made by the earliest colonizers and represent the geographic spread of the first successful colonizers Lanceolate fluted Feder Park 2001 427 Or Pre Clovis People were already here making other sorts of less durable tools and or less distinctive tools So Clovis represents the spread of a new technology rather than the spread of the first colonizers Increasing numbers of pre Clovis sites are being found in North America Many remain controversial Meadowcroft Rockshelter sw Pennsylvania Topper sw South Carolina Cactus Hill Virginia In other words Clovis were NOT the first tools other tools are earlier Meadowcroft Rockshelter southwestern Pennsylvania Over 12 800 ya Lee Paxton Wikimedia Commons Simon Fraser virtual museum Miller Lanceolate projectile point unfluted Blades Knives Topper along Savannah River South Carolina Perhaps 20 000 ya Even more controversial 50 000 ya Dr Al Goodyear SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology http www allendale expedition net http www allendale expedition net http www allendale expedition net Cactus Hill Virginia Center for the Study of the First Americans Clovis Center for the Study of the First Americans Pre Clovis Found stratigraphically below Clovis C14 date of 18 000 ya Scraper Core Blades Siberia Growing number of archaeological projects But still little archaeological investigation Yana RHS dates to 27 000 years ago in the Arctic Circle of eastern Siberia on Yana River Hunted megafauna and large game RHS stands for Rhinoceros Horn Site Pitulko et al 2004 Yana RHS One rhinoceros horn and two mammoth ivory atlatl fragments Lithic assemblage Core tools bifacially flaked pebbles choppers scrapers and a hammerstone Pitulko et al 2004 Pitulko et al 2004 Dyuktai Culture No older than 18 000 ya and probably 14 000 12 000 ya characterized by bifacial points discoidal Levallois and wedge shaped cores dihedral burins crescentic flakes microblade scrapers notched based blades Hunted mammoth and musk ox Center for the Study of the First Americans Kamchatka Peninsula Siberia Dyuktai culture was widespread across Siberia and into the Kamchatka Peninsula Dyuktai Culture Center for the Study of the First Americans Ushki sites in Kamchatka Peninsula on south shore of Lake Ushki 13 600 14 300 ya Stratified with volcanic ash Center for the Study of the First Americans Ushki sites Found houses hearths bifaces unifaces burins wedge shaped cores Center for the Study of the First Americans In other words So far we have one 27 000 year old site in Siberia of where the colonizers could originate No particular linkage by styles of artifacts Need more archaeology done What can early
View Full Document
Unlocking...