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How Humans Reached The New World
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This paper discusses several theories that purport to explain how the first humans reached ...... More...
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Paper Abstract:
This paper discusses several theories that purport to explain how the first humans reached the new world. The theory involving the land bridge over the Bering Strait is explained, as well as discoveries in the Amazon and the American West that suppport other theories.
Paper Introduction:
How Humans Reached the New WorldIntroduction When and how humans reached the New World and where they went whenthey arrived there is a matter of dispute among scientists and researchers There are a number of ways that humans could have reached the New World anddifferent findings that suggest various entry points Molecular geneticstudies of Siberian and Native American populations for example indicatethat the initial migration of ancestral Amerindian originated in south-central Siberia and entered the New World between calendaryears before present Schurr
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The distance from the Bering Strait to Cape Horn isapproximately 1 , miles, which is a considerable enough distance toallow for a vast range in time (MacGowan 4). In the early 2 thcentury, stratigraphic superposition dating that dates objected based onwhere they occur in geological strata began to come into use, followed byseriation analysis, which dates objects based on culture and pottery stylesthat are specific to a particular era (Klein & Schiffner 1). "First Americans-Origins of Man." Discover, Feb 1999. The further observation thatfew of the ancient skulls found near him look like anyone living now orlike each other fuels the assumption that perhaps none of these theories iscorrect. Kenneth MacGowan includes excerpts from a number of primary sources inhis book Early Man in the New World. Academic OneFile. The Bering Strait theory is arguably the most popular of all thetheories that purport to explain when and how the first humans reached theNew World. New York: Macmillan. However, itis agreed that "the archaeological evidence is so far insufficient tosettle the problem of precisely when the New World was populated form theOld. A time discrepancy of four millennia must be explained" ("Peoplingthe New World" 384). http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2 5/is_2_37/ai_111897842/pg _2MacGowan, Kenneth. Molecular geneticstudies of Siberian and Native American populations, for example, indicatethat "the initial migration of ancestral Amerindian originated in south-central Siberia and entered the New World between 2 , -14, calendaryears before present" (Schurr 551). Roosevelt of theField Museum in Chicago, the evidence "documents the ancient presence offolks who gathered fruit, caught fish, and hunted a variety of land animalsin a humid, tropical forest far from the Andes" and suggests that "Peoplemust have reached North America at least 12, years ago to have had timeto settle Brazil and points farther south over the next millennium (Bower244). Findingssuch as these open up new ground for determining how the first humans cameto the Americas. This produced three aboriginalpopulations-the South American Indians, North American Indians, and Inuit,of whom the earliest were known as the Clovis People (Grady E.15). http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi- bin/abstract/871 /ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY= Grady, Wayne. The theory that the first humans crossed over a now-submerged land bridge from Siberia through the Bering Strait has manyproponents and substantial evidence to back it up, although there is alsosome disconcerting controversion against it. "Amazon cave yields ancient culture. Anotherfinding of an Ice Age site at the Ushki Lake in Kamchatka was originallycarbon dated to be 16,8 years old, but more recent radiocarbon readingsshow that the correct figure is closer to 13, years, a discrepancy thatobviates the possibility that the Ushki Lake inhabitants could have beenancestors of the Clovis people ("Peopling the New World" 384). Yet "If the Beringia story is right...there should not be any evidenceof human life in the New World older than 11, years," and there is; afemale skeleton nicknamed Luzia was found in Brazil and carbon-dated to11,5 Before Present (B.P.), a group of mastodon hide-covered huts morethan 12,5 years old have been found in Chile, and human fingerprints onclay fired 3 , B.P. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_2_2 /ai_53631758 Whereas the traditional models used todescribe the migration into the New World were based on the types of simpleevidence found at Clovis, such as spearpoints and soil layers, newtechnologies that allow researchers to obtain age estimates from tinysamples of organic material without damaging the specimen, andanthropologists can use computers to compare skull shapes via"mathematically sophisticated quantitative comparisons of skull shapesamong different populations" (Wright 1). Some archaeological findings suggest that the firstsettlers may have come by sea and that they have been in the New World forat least 2 , years (Wright 1). Works Cited"Peopling the New World." The Pharmaceutical Journal, 271.7267, 384, 2 September 2 3. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=221369521&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=26 6& RQT=3 9&VName=PQDKlein, Herbert S.; Schiffner, Daniel C. Another discovery made as a result of excavations in a Brazilian cavenear the Amazon River indicate that humans lived in a tropical localeapproximately 11, years ago after traveling down the Canadian coastlineand entering North and South America by way of major rivers such as theAmazon (Bower 244). Spirit Cave Man looks most akin to the indigenous people ofJapan, and Kennewick Man looks more like the British actor Patrick Stewart,while a 1 ,7 -year-old Idaho skeleton nicknamed Buhl Woman actually doesresemble a modern Native American, suggesting that "thousands of yearsbefore the arrival of Columbus, America was already something of a meltingpot" (Wright 2).Conclusion How and when the first humans arrived in the New World has not yetbeen definitively determined, but as this paper demonstrates, each of themajor theories has both much to recommend it and some inconsistencies thatcall it into question. (195 ). http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/2 3 92 /comment/onlooker.htmlBower, Bruce. This findingsuggests a different theory than the usual one involving Siberians whocross the Bering Strait, and the alternative theory is supported by thefact that anthropologists analyzed ten early American skulls and foundamong them only two individuals that could have passed "as kin of eithercontemporary northern Asians or Native Americans" (Wright 1). For now, it is best not to discard any ofthese theories without further examination, as any one of them-with a fewchanges-might turn out to be the explanation that archaeologists andanthropologists have been looking for. In recent decades, newertechnologies have arisen that bring in still another perspective on thesubject. How Humans Reached the New WorldIntroduction When and how humans reached the New World and where they went whenthey arrived there is a matter of dispute among scientists and researchers.There are a number of ways that humans could have reached the New World anddifferent findings that suggest various entry points. This theory too has its detractors, with some investigators claimingevidence of "a more arid, open environment in the Amazon" during that time(Bower 244). http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=749598421&sid=2&Fmt=4&clientId=26 6& RQT=3 9&VName=PQDWright, Karen. Further research is required to know for certain, but in themeantime, modifications to the existing theories may end up providing themissing piece to the puzzle. This theory has been questioned more of late due to new discoveriesthat cast the shadow of doubt upon it. One of the problems with making a definitive determination of when andhow humans reached the New World is that the various methods of dating usedby archaeologists yield widely divergent results. Science News, 149.16, 2 April 1996, 244. (Grady E.15). Nevertheless, despite this promising supportiveevidence, "geneticists and physical anthropologists have intensified thedebate over the peopling of the Americas and challenged the original three-migration model" (Klein & Schiffner 2). The most widely accepted theory is that the first humans arriving inthe New World were big game hunters from Asia "who crossed a now long-submerged land bridge spanning the Bering Strait and gave rise to the so-called Clovis culture many millennia ago" ("Peopling the New World" 384).Even this popular theory has now come under criticism as new evidencesuggests discrepancies that call it into question. Interestingly, "most prehistoric Americans don't really look likeanyone alive today, and they don't all look like each other, either"(Wright 2). In addition, it would have beennecessary for enough time to pass to ensure that the increase in the numberof people was sufficient to "force the earlier men to the peripheries ofnortheastern America, Florida, and Lower California, and push them acrossAmazonia and toward the bleaker and less desirable parts of South America(MacGowan 3). http://www.questia.com/PM.qstSchurr, Theodore G. "The Peopling of the New World: Perspectives from Molecular Anthropology." Annual Review of Anthropology, 33, 2 4, 551- 588. It will culminate with a summarizingconclusion.Did The First New Worlders Arrive Via the Bering Strait? Early Man in the New World. According to archaeologist Anna C. All of these findings and theories are supported ordiscounted by advanced technological assessments. The Amazonian discoveryseems to suggest that man may have reached South America prior to coming toNorth America. "Dating prehistoric bog- fires in northern England to calendar years by long-distance cross- matching of pine chronologies." Journal of Quaternary Science, 12.3, 253-256. have turned up in Texas, in addition to fire-pitsmade by humans found in Brazil and dated to 32, B.P. The three-migration theoryseems to make sense as well, but some of its points have likewise beenshown to be inconsistent with other findings. This paper will examine the known evidence to analyze when and howhumans first reached the New World. Find Articles web site. "Stirring up the scientific pot: Where have the Natives come from, how did they get here: Anthropology; [Final Edition]." Edmonton Journal, 15 April 2 1, E.15. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m12 /is_n16_v149/ai_18229945Chambers, Frank M.; Lageard, Jonathan G.A.; Boswijk, Gretel; Thomas, Peter A.; Edwards, Kevin J.; Hillam, Jennifer. The discovery of Spirit Cave Man in 194 among "a small cohort ofskeletons and skull fragments up to 11,5 years in age" placed the findamong the oldest human remains known in North and South America (Wright 1). In the last analysis,however, it may be the simple observation that Spirit Cave Man does notresemble a Siberian that is the most telling. A wide range of opinions exists as to how long it took them totraverse the Bering Strait and when they probably arrived, with estimatesranging from 2 to 1, years and the actual figure most likely dependenton "how fast and in what direction those wild animals moved upon whichearly man depended for food" (MacGowan 3). One of these, from the Brerewoodseventeenth century book Enquiries Touching the Diversity of Languages, andReligions, Through the Chief Parts of the World, describes a writer'svision of bears and Tartars getting off Noah's Ark to cross the over to theNew World at a point where Asia and America "are continent one with theother, or at most, disjoined by some narrow channel of the Ocean" (MacGowan11). "The current debate about the origins of the Paleoindians of America." Journal of Social History, Winter 2 3. Close study of Spirit Cave Man showed that hebore no resemblance to the Siberians of today, having "a longer, narrowerhead, flatter cheekbones, and a more prominent chin than those typical ofboth northern Asians and Native Americans today" (Wright 1). Questia. Around 1949,carbon dating came into vogue and has been in wide use since then but hasbeen found to be "often inaccurate and at best imprecise" (Chambers,Lageard, Boswijk, Thomas, Edwards, & Hillam). and wall paintingsmade with pigment dated to 4 , B.P. This hypothesis, though currently assailed by new evidence that makesit more difficult to support, is still grounded in much scientific thoughtthat is logical and consistent with the majority of evidence.Other Theories A three-migration theory developed in 1986 by Joseph Greenberg,Chrystie Turner, and Stephen Zegura argued that the Americas were peopledby three different founding migrations, each of which formed one of thethree language families still extant in native New World populations (Klein& Schiffner 2). Although originally estimated to have been buried no more than 2, yearsearlier, 1994 radiocarbon dating of his bones and hair changed the estimateto 9,4 years (Wright 1). Researchers can now use genetic material from archaeologicalsamples of human remains and compare it with extant populations of NativeAmericans (Klein & Schiffner 2). The mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, is "anabundant, rapidly evolving source of genetic material" that can be comparedacross different populations to "reveal their molecular relatedness and theapproximate time since molecular divergence" (Klein & Schiffner 2). For example, it was originallythought that the migrators stopped for some time in Siberia as "anintermediate stopping point," but new research indicates that this site wasnot reached until much later, "when the North American mammoth had come tobe the hunters' main objective" ("Peopling the New World" 384). According to Turner, this three-migration model could bewell supported by dental evidence of the prehistoric human remains, andZegura proposed that the theory was also supported by the genetic data(Klein & Schiffner 2).
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