3)
How Did People Reach the Americas?
By Andrew Curry, July 24, 2008, Source: US News
A) After years of debate over how and when people first reached the Americas, scientists finally seem to reach agreement. Although many human walked over the
Bering land bridge to Alaska, these people probably did not wait for ice sheets covering Canada to melt to move south over unfrozen ground. Instead, early nomads might well have traveled by boat or at least along the coast from Siberia to
North America. The evidence: ancient DNA.
B) For almost a century, most archaeologists believed that people arrived in the
Americas between 13,000 and 13,500 years ago. The date was based on flint tools first found in Clovis, N.M., and later all over North America. Instead, some argue, the first Americans must have arrived by boat, sailing along the coast from Siberia and sailing south along the American coast.
C) Announced in April, the find backs up evidence previously found at the other end of the Americas, at a site in Chile called Monte Verde. There, a fullfledged campsite was discovered, and scientists figured out that it came from
14,500 years ago, putting people in South America more than a 1000 years before those in Clovis in North America supposedly crossed the Bering Strait. By analyzing the DNA found there, University of Oregon archaeologist Dennis
Jenkins said "we can directly date the item and determine it's human."
Tent Pegs found in Monte Verde.
They are 14,000 years old.
An ancient footprint. It is 14,000 years old.