Land Bridge Theory
Land Bridge Theory Synopsis: The Land Bridge Theory, also known as the Bering Strait Theory or Beringia
Theory, is a popular model of migration into the New World. This theory was first proposed in 1590 by José de
Acosta and has been widely accepted since the 1930s. The Land Bridge Theory proposes that people migrated
from Siberia to Alaska across a land bridge that spanned the current day Bering Strait. The first people to populate
the Americas were believed to have migrated across the Bering Land Bridge while tracking large game animal
herds. This theory is widely adopted by most modern textbooks.
Over the last half-century, archaeologists have largely concurred that the first Americans migrated into North
America from Asia more than fourteen to twenty thousand years ago via an overland route across the frozen Land
Bridge.
Although it is likely that there were additional migration routes into America, the importance of ancient Berinigia
and its role in peopling America is undeniable.
The initial empirical confirmation for the long-held Land Bridge theory came from the discovery of spear points
near Clovis, New Mexico in the early 20th century, between 1929 and 1937, that matched the kinds of artifacts
found in Beringia.
Carbon dating has now placed these spear points are more than 13,500 years old. The majority of archaeologists
have traditionally seen this as direct proof of both the Bering Land Bridge theory and timeline of early migration
into America.
Subsequent discoveries of Clovis style
artifacts in other areas of the
Southwestern United States seemed to
offer further confirmation for the theory
and timeline, which held undisputed
sway for many decades. Even today, the
Beringia theory, with its rich
archaeological record, is still the
dominant American migration
hypothesis.
This image depicts possible migration
routes.
Using the information from the text, write a paragraph to answer the
following question:
According to archeologists, how does the Land Bridge Theory explain how
early people migrating from Asia were able to reach North America?