Recent Genographic Data Strengthen the Theory for
Coastal and Island-Hopping Routes to the New World
Presented by Don Douglass © 2012
to the 5th International Conference on Russian America
Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland • 20-25 August 2012
SECTION 1: DNA Data and the Discovery of
The New World
Recent genographic data from DNA studies of timemarkers by Spencer Wells, author of Journey of Man,
with National Geographic; and by Stephen Oppenheimer,
author of Out of Eden, with the Bradshaw Foundation,
show that human migration routes out of Africa stalled at
the eastern edge of the Russian landmass for a significant
period of time. For many millennia, the Pacific Ocean
remained a barrier to further eastward exploration and the
discovery of the North and South American continents.
Let’s take a look at several genographic maps
these two scholars have developed which relate to the
populating of North America. I would like to point out
that many of the dates and theories among scholars vary
substantially—particularly with regard to the dating of
the various ice ages and the peopling of the Americas.
(I, myself, believe that the early Siberian migrations predated the Clovis era. See Conclusion.)
The first Oppenheimer map shows that migration
stalled at the Pacific Ocean along the eastern shore of
Siberia between 40,000 and 25,000 years ago.
The second map (ca. 25,000-22,000 years ago) shows
MAP2 - Land Route Through Ice-Free Corridor
MAP 3: Alaskan Coastal Route south to Monte Verde, Chile
MAP1: Human Migration Stalls at the Eastern Shores of Siberia.
a land-route that follows the Yukon River and the icefree corridor through middle North America, as well as
a coastal water-route that leads as far south as British
Columbia.
The third map (ca. 15,000-12,500 years ago) shows
an Alaskan coastal route that continues along the entire
length of North and South America to Chilean Patagonia
(Monte Verde site).
Spencer Wells’ studies indicate that around 50,000
years ago, humans belonging to the genetic Haplogroup A,
who inhabited the plains of Central Asia, began moving
MAP 4: Migration routes of Haplogroup A
east across Siberia. Haplogroup A, with a few exceptions,
is the only Haplogroup (genetic marker) carried by
Eskimos who, it is believed, first colonized the areas
of Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada. Haplogroup
A is also found in both North and South America. It is
generally considered that the narrow strip of east Central
Asia extending from Mongolia to the Pacific Coast served
as one of the starting points for human migration to the
New World.
Archaeological findings in the Yana River valley of
northeastern Siberia include artifacts dating from 30,000
BP1—the earliest known human settlement this far north
and east. The Yana coastal site revealed hundreds of
bones of mammoths, horses, bison, cave lions, and pollen
data that show a
cool, dry climate
with larch and
birch. (An earlier
archaeological
site located in
Arctic European
Russia is dated to
40,000 BP.) This
archaeological
evidence suggests
that early seamammal hunters
in kayaks/skin
boats came
far enough
eastward to have
traveled to North
America before
the lowering
of the sea level
Modern Eskimos equipped with traditional
and exposure of apparel and hunting tools that would have
the Continental enabled long sea voyages in past eras.
1
Before Present refers to historical time periods before 1950 when carbondating was first used. BP has essentially replaced B.C. and A.D.
2
BERINGIA LAND BRIDGE: Cape Dezhneva to Seward Peninsula,
Alaska, via the Diomede Islands
Shelf, and well before the coldest period of the last
ice age—ca. 26,500-19,000 BP (i.e., the Last Glacial
Maximum or LGM). Perhaps in years to come, more sites
of human habitation in northeastern Siberia will be found
and studied, giving us greater knowledge of the peopling
of the Americas.
Unfortunately, seafaring artifacts, such as vessels
made of animal hides, with wooden ribs, and harpoons
of wood and bone, have either disintegrated or lie
underwater.
To understand how early humans may have crossed
the Pacific Ocean, let us imagine a possible scenario
that takes place some 35,000-30,000 years ago, when
the Pacific Ocean was at its nominal sea level and just
beginning a dramatic descent. We follow two SiberianEskimo sea-mammal hunters who come to the shore
of Cape Dezhneva, Russia—the easternmost point
of the Russian land mass. From the cape,2 they look
southeastward.
It is an unusually clear summer day
and, from shore, the hunters sight a far-off
peak about 20 miles away. What they see, in
reality, is the top third of the volcano on Big
Diomede Island—the nearest offshore island
(elevation 1667 feet/508 meters). These two
Siberian hunters set out from the cape in a
tandem kayak, perhaps following migrating sea
mammals. They paddle for approximately five
hours, heading toward Big Diomede Island.
2
Named East Cape by Captain James Cook on his voyage of discovery in
1778.
POST-KAYAK TECHNOLOGY: Umiak Covered with Split Walrus
Hide, Cape Prince of Wales
As they approach the big island, a smaller
island—Little Diomede, four miles distant—
comes into view. This small island, previously
obscured by its larger neighbor, seems to offer
better protection and a landing beach. The
hunters go ashore and see no signs of land to
the east; nothing but ocean.
They understand that in order to see further
and get the longest line of sight, they must
climb to the highest elevation. They climb
upward toward the summit of Little Diomede
Island (1308 feet/400 meters) and sight what
appears to be the upper third of another
volcano (Brooks Mountain), about 30 miles
distant (See map with range circles showing
maximum line of sight). I theorize that what
these hunters are practicing at this moment is
an early method of navigation, which I call
“Island-Hopping the Pacific Rim of Fire.”
Benefitting from 24 hours of daylight, the
two hunters continue paddling eastward for
another five or six hours, eventually coming to
a low, flat, and broad peninsula where several
snow-covered peaks lie further inland. The
highest of the peaks is Brooks Mountain at
2918 feet/890 meters (63°11ˊN, 150°39ˊW).
From the beach, the two hunters observe
animals that seem unafraid of people. They
find no signs of other humans. Nothing.
Let us further imagine that these two
hunters are the first Siberians to set foot on
the shores of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and
are thus the first humans to discover the New
World.
Early on, the Siberians made a leap forward in
technology that led to the optimization of sea-craft
adequate for long-distance travel. Using stone and bone
tools, they devised methods of joining sea mammal
skins to make them waterproof (waterproof seams).
This technology was critical for shelter, clothing and,
eventually, for skin boats and marine transportation.
The kayak—20 feet long (6 meters), and sometimes
designed for two paddlers—was the first sea craft
MODERN UMIAK (30 ft. x 6 ft.) Built in Anacortes, Washington,
showing internal capacity.
adaptable to longdistance travel under
demanding Arctic
conditions. This
innovation allowed
early explorers to
penetrate the Pacific
Ocean barrier and
discover the North
American continent.
The umiak—a
larger craft of about
30 feet (9 meters)
in length, six feet
(2 meters) in width,
with a displacement
of between 5,000 and
CLOSE-UP OF UMIAK constructed
10,000 pounds—was a of local materials, Gambell Island,
Alaska, 1973.
required advancement
for long-distance migration. Its open deck—as opposed to
the closed deck of a kayak—allowed space for carrying
cargo and animal hides, fresh water and food, in addition
to seven or more people.Walruses, sea lions and fur seals
could thus be harvested along the coasts of Siberia and
Alaska and, in a relatively short time, meat, skins, and
valuable furs could be carried back for Russian or Chinese
markets. Further eastward and southward migrations also
became possible with an umiak.
SECTION 2: Five Logical Exploring &
Migrating Routes from Siberia to the New
World (All Tide-Dependent)
From west to east, the entire Pacific Rim of Fire
encompasses about 20,000 small volcanic islands.
The Aleutian Chain, itself, comprises fourteen large
islands and fifty-five smaller ones—most of which have
volcanoes that rise anywhere from 2847 feet (868 meters)
3
Five Logical Routes to the New World
to over 8600 feet (2700 meters). With a few exceptions,
it is possible to sight from one island to the succeeding
island.
The “Kelp Highway” Hypothesis,3 proposed by
Professor Jon Erlandson of the University of Oregon, calls
attention to the fact that, between volcano islands, there is
a shallow shore-route he calls the “kelp highway,” where
the rocky, shallower shoreline provides holdfasts for giant
kelp. Certain herbivorous sea mammals feed on this kelp.
Effect of Climate Change & LGM
At the onset of the ice age, as high latitudes
grew significantly colder and temperatures dropped
dramatically, the apparent sea level along the continental
shelf of Beringia lowered, and ice-sheets built up
thousands of feet.
Ice age cycles (five since humans came out of Africa4)
are caused by a phenomenon called precession of the
equinoxes—the gyration of the Earth’s axis of rotation
(not to be confused with the annual orbit of the Earth
around the Sun). One complete cycle takes approximately
24,000 years, and peak ice accumulation occurs at a
glacial maximum.
As glaciation increased during the Last Glacial
Maximum, the precession cone of gyration pointed the
furthest away from the North Pole. And the extreme
weight of ice caused tide levels to lower as much as 450
feet/138 meters, compared to prior and nominal sea levels.
High-north-latitude sea levels fell also due to the
3
Marine Ecology, the Coastal Migration Theory, and the
Peopling of the Americas,” The Journal of Island and Coastal
Archaeology, Professor Jon Erlandson et al., July 2007]
4
Out of Eden, table, p.81.
4
transfer of evaporated equatorial
seawater (the Hydrologic Cycle)5 and
the Northern Pacific Ocean sea level
dropped accordingly. This change
exposed a well-defined continental
shelf, commonly called the Beringia
Land Bridge.
The Land Bridge, at its maximum,
extended from the coast of northeastern
Russia to the west coast of Seward
Peninsula, Alaska—roughly 50
miles/80 kilometers across, at its
narrowest point, and about 1000
miles/1610 kilometers in length from
Wrangel Island, Russia, to the eastern
end of the Aleutian Islands. Along the
Russian coast the Land Bridge was
about 400 miles/645 kilometers wide.
A study of the surface of the
Continental Shelf on modern charts shows that the sea
bottom is presently composed of a combination of small
to medium-sized rocks, cobbles, sand, mud and seashells.
This same type of irregular surface on the sea bottom
would have been exposed during the era of the Land
Bridge, making foot travel possible but quite difficult.6
Therefore, data suggests that during the ice age, travel by
sea craft along either side of the Continental Shelf was
safer and more efficient.
I suggest that five tide-level-dependent routes would
have been the logical, most efficient, least exposed and
easiest paths to navigate.
From north to south, these five routes are listed below:
Route 1: Wrangel Island to Greenland via the Alaskan
and Canadian Arctic Coasts
Route 2: The Beringia Land Bridge from Cape Dezhneva
to Seward Peninsula, Alaska (via the Diomede Islands)
Route 3: From Cape Chaplina, Russia, to the Yukon River
via St. Lawrence Island
ROUTE 1: From Wrangel Island to Greenland
5
This phenomenon, called the Hydrologic Cycle, refers to the continual evaporation of equatorial salt water in the atmosphere that changes to rain or snow
on the earth’s surface, then compresses into ice and glaciers at high latitudes.
6 My
own personal experience of having walked along the present-day shore
of Bristol Bay, Alaska, proved that this composition of cobbles and rocks the
size of grapefruit is difficult or dangerous for foot travel.
ROUTE 3: Beringia Land Bridge; Cape Chaplina to the Mouth of
the Yukon River via St. Lawrence Island.
ROUTE 2: Beringia Land Bridge; from Cape Dezhneva to Seward
Peninsula via the Diomedes Islands.
Route 4: Cape Navarin, Russia, to the Alaska Peninsula
via the Pribilof Islands and the South Shore of the
Continental Shelf
Route 5: The Aleutian Route: From the outlet of the
Kamchatka River east to Umnak Island
A combination of coastal paddling and/or islandhopping along the entire Rim of Fire chain offered
possibilities of finding shelter, seafood or small game for
food, and fresh water that flowed from melting snow on
volcanoes.
ROUTE 1: Wrangel Island to Greenland via the
Alaskan and Canadian Arctic Coasts
This route would have been practical for Eskimo
kayak-paddlers setting out from Wrangel Island in skin
boats.7 Crossing the Chukchi Sea to Point Barrow (the
northernmost point of Alaska), then along the continental
shoreline of Alaska and Canada via Bellot Strait, at the
top of Boothia Peninsula (the most northern tip of North
America) and across Lancaster Sound and Baffin Bay
to Dundas, Greenland—the distance is 2460 nm. With
continuous summer daylight, tandem kayaks propelled by
strong paddlers could have attained this distance in two
months, averaging approximately 48 miles a day.
[Note that stone implements, as well as indications of
human habitation, have been reported on Wrangel Island
7
Wrangel Island, a medium-sized island in eastern Russia at latitude 70°57’N,
is bisected by the International Date Line, longitude 180°Wand 180°E.
by Vasiliy V. Baranyuk, a Wrangel Island biologist, who
told me that the implements have not yet been analyzed,
nor their age determined.]8
ROUTE 2: Beringia Land Bridge from Cape Dezhneva
to Seward Peninsula via the Diomede Islands
The second feasible eastbound route from Siberia
is the shortest of the five routes leading to Alaska. As
we showed in our scenario, Eskimos could have set out
from Cape Dezhneva (66°05ˊN, 169°39ˊW) crossing to
Big Diomede Island (65°47ˊN, 169°06ˊW)—a distance
of 20 nautical miles (nm).9 From Big Diomede it is an
additional four nm to Little Diomede Island (65°45ˊN,
168°55ˊW), then another 21 nm to Cape Prince of Wales
on Seward Peninsula, Alaska for a total of 45 nm.
During nominal sea levels, before the Beringia Land
Bridge was exposed, travelers would have been forced to
cross the Bering Strait by small boat.
During stages when sea levels dropped 165 feet/50
meters or lower than the nominal sea level, Eskimos along
the northern Siberian coast could have crossed on foot, but
under difficult conditions. They would have had to portage
their boats or stay clear of the Continental Shelf.
During the Last Glacial Maximum, the sea level was
at its lowest point—450 feet/138 meters below current
8 Personal
communication with Vasiliy V. Baranyuk, the Wrangel Island
biologist, March 2012. In addition to the information about stone implements,
Baranyuk noted that about 100,000 snow geese summer on Wrangel Island,
and the majority of these winter over on Fir Island, near Anacortes, Washington. The rest are divided between winter feeding-grounds in isolated areas
near Bellingham, Washington, and Northern California. Their flyway, as well
as that of other large migrating waterfowl, closely follows the eastern Pacific
Coast both north and southbound. Therefore, this route may well have helped
set the navigation path from Siberia to the New World.
9
One nautical mile (one degree of latitude), a unit used in measuring distances at sea, equals 1,852 meters.
5
is probably the conventionally
accepted version of the crossing to
Alaska and eastward via the icefree corridor.
Migrators with cargo-carrying
capacity umiaks could have
continued south by water, skirting
the ice-fields to the south of the
Gulf of Alaska.
ROUTE 4: Cape Navarin,
Russia, to the Alaska Peninsula
via the Pribilof Islands and
the South Shore of the
Continental Shelf
From the southern tip
of Cape Navarin in eastern
Russia (62°17ˊN; 179°07ˊE)
to the western end of St. Paul
Island (57°12ˊN; 170°23ˊW)
in the Pribilofs, the paddling
distance along the Land Bridge
(Continental Shelf) is 440
ROUTES 4 & 5: Cape Navarin to the Alaska Peninsula via the Pribilof Islands; The Aleutian
Route from the Sea of Okhotsk.
nm. During the Last Glacial
Maximum, when sea level along
this coastline was about 450 feet/138 meters lower than
level. At that point in time, the Land Bridge (Continental
Shelf) between Chukotka and western Alaska was entirely nominal levels, it would have been possible to continue
from the Pribilofs to the northern side of the Aleutians
dry and exposed.
The average of various scholarly sources indicates that to what is now Unimak Island (54°45ˊN, 165°W)—the
first island south of the Alaska Peninsula. Since there was
21,000 BP was the approximate midpoint of the LGM.
no passable channel during the LGM, upon reaching the
The Cordilleran Ice Sheet had reached its southernmost
Alaska Peninsula paddlers would have been forced to
limit in the vicinity of Washington State at about 17,000
portage or turn southwest, following the coast to either
BP, and the ice sheet in Alaska may have started its
melting cycle. At this point, the transfer of the net mass of Unimak Pass (54°51ˊN, 164°55ˊW) or Amukta Pass
(52°23ˊN, 171°27ˊW).
seawater reversed itself and the depressed land under the
Stone tools dating from 8500 to 8000 BP—
ice sheets started to rebound.
hammerstones,
projectile points, large blades, and
Before approximately 29,000 BP and after 13,000 BP,
knives—were
found
in the 1970s at the site of Anangula
the sea level was most likely too high to allow foot travel
from Siberia to North America, and use of sea craft would (53°N,10168°55ˊW), a small, protected cove off Umnak
Island. However, humans may well have frequented this
have been necessary.
island chain much earlier, following Routes 2, 3, 4, or 5
(tide-level dependent). Evidence suggests that these earlier
ROUTE 3: Cape Chaplina, Russia, to the Mouth of
hunters would have used bone or ivory harpoon-tips.
the Yukon River via St. Lawrence Island
Such artifacts may lie underwater, may have been buried
When sea level was about 170 feet/52 meters lower
by volcanic activity, or may have disintegrated.
than nominal level, it would have been possible for early
ROUTE 5: The Aleutian Chain Route from the Sea
humans to cross overland by foot from Cape Chaplina
of Okhotsk via Sakhalin Island, to Hokkaido Island
(64°42ˊN, 172°25ˊW)—at the far southeastern end of
(Japan), across the Kuril Islands to Kamchatka River
Siberia—to the northern end of St. Lawrence Island,
and East to the Aleutians
a distance of 41 nm. From St. Lawrence Island, they
could have walked across or paddled a skin boat along
Millennia passed and, once the Aleutian Island Route
the coast to Northeast Cape, the easternmost point of
was known as a viable corridor past the Commander
St. Lawrence Island. Then, they could have paddled
Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula became important as a
another 110 nm east and reached the mouth of the Yukon
fur trade route with China.
River in approximately two to three days. Route 3 is the
10
Anangula is now a National Historic Landmark.
shortest route from Siberia to the Yukon River delta and
6
Typical view along the Aleutian Chain.
Of the five routes to the New World I have suggested,
the Aleutian-Islands-Hopping Route is, in my opinion,
the most logical. It was largely an ice-free route with
less severe weather, more reasonable temperatures, 11
and navigating from island to island was easier, with
two exceptions (see below). From the Sea of Okhotsk or
Japan, the Aleutians can be reached via Sakhalin Island or
Hokkaido Island, and island-hopping becomes relatively
straightforward through the Kuril Islands. From the
outlet of the Kamchatka River to the Commander Islands
(Komandorski Islands)—Bering Island (55°N, 166°16ˊE)
and Medny Island (54°42ˊN, 167°43ˊE)—and thence
to Attu, the Aleutians would have served as “stepping
stones” to the Alaska Peninsula and the Gulf of Alaska.
Note that, along this Rim of Fire chain, two visual line
of sight breaks occur on either side of the Commander
Islands—the first between Kamchatka River and Bering
Island; the second between Medny Island and Attu Island.
The line of sight from the highest peak on Kamchatka
Peninsula—Mt. Klyuchevskaya, 15,584 feet/4750 meters
(56°03ˊN, 160°38ˊE)—does not overlap with the line of
sight on the highest point of Bering Island, the initial leg
to the Aleutians. This same limitation occurs between
Medny Island and Attu Island.12
For these two breaks, certain atmospheric conditions
could have extended the sight-line considerably and
helped early migrators deduce the existence of another
island further east. Conditions such as a stationary cloud
above a volcano, over-the-horizon refraction,13 and
volcanic eruptions that emit smoke or fire are common
occurrences along the Rim of Fire even today.
11
Monthly mean temperatures for the Aleutian Chain rarely drop below freezing (32°F; 0°C). U.S. Coast Pilot 9. Pacific and Arctic Coasts Alaska: Cape
Spencer to Beaufort Sea.
12
Based on the Distance of the Horizon formula for curvature of the earth:
d=1.17x√hf [where d=distance in nm, or nm; h=height of volcano summit in
feet (f) above sea level].
13
The bending of light waves by the Earth’s atmosphere at the horizon.
In addition to these clues, early explorers would have
observed the north and south migration routes taken by
sea mammals and birds. Some skilled seamen may have
understood that because the sun rises or lowers by 15° per
hour its position could be used as a kind of “compass” to
maintain a straight course.
Navigators would also have noticed that the usual
west-flowing current along the south side of the Aleutians
—called the Alaska Stream—caused an accumulation
of brush, driftwood, and flotsam on the east shore of the
Commander Islands indicating the presence of islands
further east (i.e., the Aleutian chain, starting at Attu).
From Umnak Island, migrators could have continued
along the south side of the Aleutian Islands, the south side
of the Alaska Peninsula, east across the Gulf of Alaska,
southeast along the Alexander Archipelago, then along the
Pacific Coast to South America. In recent historic times,
after trade routes had been established, Kodiak Island and
Sitka (Arkhangelsk or Fort Archangel), Alaska, blossomed
into thriving Russian trading and government centers.
SECTION 3: Speed of Kayak and Umiaks
Compared to Modern Voyages of Current
Small Craft with Short-Handed Crews
How rapidly
could the Northwest Coast of
North America
have been peopled?
How rapidly could
humans theoretically have reached
Monte Verde,
Chile (41°30´S,
73°12´W),14 on the
southwest coast of
South America?
These are questions that have long
plagued archaeologists and that have
been an ongoing
source of debate.
Dove III—The fourth boat to navigate the
Route 1 in
Northwest Passage in a single season.
Section 2 suggests
the manner in which the west coast of Greenland could
have been explored.
As comparisons for speed, I would like give you three
different accounts of present-day voyages that were made
under difficult circumstances or environments—voyages
14
Artifacts found at this site are reported to date to over 14,000 BP.
7
that roughly follow early migration routes. As the first
example, we use the voyage of a small Canadian sailboat.
In 1992, Winston Bushnell, of Nanaimo, British
Columbia began building his own steel sailboat, the Dove
III. The 27-foot (8-meter) vessel had a beam of eight feet
(2.5 meters), was equipped with a small 23-horsepower
auxiliary engine and limited fuel tankage. On May 8,
1995, Bushnell, with a crew of two, set out from Nanaimo
to navigate the Northwest Passage in one season—just 15
years before the 21st Century’s dramatic period of melting
began in the North American Arctic. Bushnell’s route from Point Barrow to Clyde River
on Baffin Island is the equivalent distance of that from
Point Barrow to Dundas, Greenland. Following the north
shore the entire time, Bushnell sailed this distance in 46
days, elapsed time, averaging 42 nm per day (at 1.75
knots),15 including all stops and off-route travel. His
vessel was the twelfth—and smallest—since Amundsen’s
first exploration of the Northwest Passage in 1903.
Furthermore, he appears to be the fourth boat to have
made the transit of the Northwest Passage in a single
season.
Le Dauphin Amical departs Los Angeles, California, en route to
Chile in 1974.
15
8
Knot: nautical measure of speed; one nautical mile (nm) per hour.
A two-man
tandem kayak, with
a 20-foot waterline
(6 meters) and a hull
speed of about 4
knots, can be paddled
alternately by one
person at a time, at
about 2 knots for
long periods of time.
Setting out from
Point Barrow on
July 1 and heading
east, paddlers would
most likely have
encountered similar
conditions as the
Don takes sun shot with sextant and
chronometer during the voyage Le
Dove III did. This
Dauphin Amical in 1974.
far north, a paddler
would benefit from
a 24-hour-period of sunlight until early August at which
time daylight begins to decrease and twilight begins.
As a second example, Réanne and I sailed a 42-foot
(13-meter) William Garden ketch-rigged sailboat from
Los Angeles, California to the “Screaming 50°s” in the
Great Southern Ocean where our vessel was pitchpoled at
49°57´S, 95°42´W in February 1975, and we had to seek
shelter in the uninhabited Patagonian Channels.
The distance we logged on this leg of our voyage was
6,850 nm—500 miles farther south than Monte Verde,
Chile. We had a maximum hull-speed of 8 knots, and an
average speed-made-good of about 4 knots.
Having departed the Northern Hemisphere in October
1974 (autumn) and crossing into the Southern Hemisphere
in their spring, we benefitted essentially from an “Endless
Summer” until we reached Patagonia, an elapsed time of
120 days for that leg. The voyage was basically uneventful
until we encountered the fierce weather northwest of Cape
Horn.
On another occasion, Réanne and I undertook a
“shakedown” cruise on our 40-foot (12 meters) research
vessel, Baidarka. In 2003, departing from Catalina Island
in Southern California, we traveled north to Lituya Bay in
the Gulf of Alaska and returned to Anacortes, Washington,
logging 4004 nm, for an elapsed time of 96 days, at 41.7
nm per day. We anchored nightly, performed two or three
research projects a day, averaging a cruising speed of 6
knots. When we deployed our paravane stabilization poles
on the open sea, our speed dropped to 5.5 knots, then to
4 knots when we encountered headwinds of 25 knots and
seas of more than 12 feet (3.6 meters).
These two voyages totaled 10,854 nm, with a total
elapsed time of 216 days. Each was accomplished in one
The Douglasses aboard their research vessel, Baidarka.
“Endless Summer” in two hemispheres—the equivalent
distance of that from the Land Bridge to Monte Verde,
Chile. This shows the possibility that a small group of
well-prepared migrants, using efficient and safe skin
boats, could complete a voyage from Alaska to Monte
Verde, Chile (540 nm north of our accident), in as short as
one “endless summer” season.
Conclusion:
The combination of efficient and safe skin boats
(kayaks and umiaks), along with navigational skills for
island-hopping, allowed the North Pacific Ocean barrier
to be pierced. In a relatively short period of time, humans
were able to explore the North American Continent, then
the coast of the South American Continent and establish
small settlements as far south as Monte Verde.
Recent explorations along the Chilean coast indicate
that nine kinds of both chewed and burned seaweed were
found on rocky and sandy beaches 35 miles west of the
famous Monte Verde site. Archaeologist Tom Dillehay16
of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, led
the 2008 study. Dillehay wrote: “[This study] indicates
. . . that the people of Monte Verde had a much stronger
coastal industry than we thought previously. . . . [And] that
we might be talking about people who initially entered
into the Monte Verde site from the Pacific coastline itself.”
Dr. Erlandson (of the Kelp Highway hypothesis)
also agrees with these findings and predicts that highprecision carbon dating will show that the Monte Verde
II site was occupied by pre-Clovis people more than
14,000 years ago. There has been an ongoing controversy
with the Clovis-first theory and the new data strengthen
the argument that migration to the New World started as
16
Monte Verde: “Seaweed, food, medicine and the peopling of South
America,” Dillehay, et al, 2008, Science.
soon as the critical invention of the umiak skin cargovessel was perfected. The speed of travel from Alaska
to Chile was much faster than experts have considered
possible up to now, showing that travel from the Bering
Sea to the Monte Verde area theoretically could have been
accomplished in one “Endless Summer” (11,000 nm).
The Bering Land Bridge/Ice-Free Corridor model,
which has been the standard for the past two hundred
years, has largely been replaced by newer studies with the
Clovis-first theory, the Monte Verde findings, and more
recently the Solutrean cross-Atlantic theory (Stanford
and Bradley, 2012) as well as the discovery of Western
Stemmed points found in Central Oregon (Science, July
13, 2012).
An even more exciting study led by David Reich of
Harvard Medical School came to light in the July 2012
issue of Nature magazine. The study by Dr. Reich et
al compared DNA from 52 modern Native American
populations and 17 Siberian groups. Results showed that
Native Americans descend from three distinct ethnic
groups from Asia, with 47 of the 52 populations carrying
genetic markers descending from the first of three waves
of Asian migrants. Archaeologist Tom Dillehay, quoted
above, calls this a “monumental study.”
Additional archaeological, anthropological and genetic
research will further augment our understanding and
perhaps lend credence to the five logical routes proposed
above.
The Coastal and Island-Hopping Hypothesis works
as a model for navigating the entire Pacific Rim of Fire
from the Strait of Malacca (near Singapore) to the Strait of
Magellan, thereby explaining the first peopling of the New
World.
This paper is available with illustrations on the
Douglass’ website: www.InsidePassageNews.com.
From the High North Latitudes to the High South Latitudes, Don
and Réanne thank you for your hospitality.
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