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Anthropology

starroute

(12,977 posts)

4. The lack of evidence in North America is not surprising

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Thu Nov 19, 2015, 09:03 AM

Nov 2015

The far greater linguistic diversity in South America suggests it was settled first. There were simply not a lot of people in North America before Clovis.

There are a couple of ways they could have arrived. Maybe down the coast from Alaska, stopping only briefly at now-submerged sites and moving along quickly. Maybe by accidental drift voyages from somewhere in the vicinity of Japan, where the currents can take you straight to California.

They wouldn't have had the navigational skills of the much later Polynesians, but they certainly were at home on the water.

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Oldest stone tools in the Americas claimed in Chile 17,000 to 19,000 years ago. [View all] Ichingcarpenter Nov 2015 OP

It seems reasonable to me that the populating of the Americas by humans would proceed along.. aidbo Nov 2015 #1

The Clovis paradigm of 13,000 is finally buried Ichingcarpenter Nov 2015 #2

By +/- 60 kya boats are part of migration and settlement of Australia. L. Coyote Nov 2015 #6

Lovely picture. aidbo Nov 2015 #9

Panoramio image from Google Earth. L. Coyote Nov 2015 #10

Is it possible the first migration was from prehistoric Polynesians? Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2015 #3

We have solid evidence of the human occupation all along the northern Pacific Rim, no real gaps L. Coyote Nov 2015 #7

One group doesn't preclude the other.... Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2015 #11

The lack of evidence in North America is not surprising starroute Nov 2015 #4

The diversity may be an expression of the ecological nature of the settled areas. L. Coyote Nov 2015 #8

I don't think all the data is in yet Ichingcarpenter Nov 2015 #13

Exciting the digging proceeds there. Very different tool assemblage raises big questions. L. Coyote Nov 2015 #5

I'm old enough to remember when they claimed the glyphs were "art" and nothing more. Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2015 #12

Evidence shows earliest Americans arrived 6,000 years earlier than believed Judi Lynn Nov 2015 #14