The First North Americans
Arrival Theories
Arrival Theories
Bering Land Bridge/Clovis Theory
Pacific Coastal Route Theory
Pacific Crossing Theory
Atlantic Crossing Theory
Bering Land Bridge / Clovis Theory
Migrants from NE Asia arrived in NA
during the last Ice Age via the Bering
Land Bridge
Discovered a passage in the glaciers &
eventually moved south from Alaska to
inhabit the Americas
Big Game hunters
Clovis, New Mexico
13,500 year old -spear points
Clovis People
Pacific Coastal Route Theory
 Explorers from SE Asia may
have travelled the Pacific coast
in small boats
 Coast was more exposed due to
glaciation
 Eventually populated both North
& South America
 Monte Verde, Chile remains of a
14,500 year old campsite have
been discovered
Pacific Crossing Theory
 peoples of the SW Pacific
may have travelled east
eventually reaching
South America
 13,500 year old skull in
Brazil bears similarities to
early Australian
aborigines
 No solid evidence; highly
unlikely
Atlantic Crossing Theory
 Proponents suggest that
people from the Iberian
Peninsula traveled
across the Atlantic in
boats following the edge
of receding glaciers
 Solutrean Technology
from Spain and France
 16,000 - 24, 000 yrs ago
 Cactus Hill, Va & Topper,
S.C
Homework Questions
1. What is the most important source of evidence for early human
beings in the Americas?
2. Why is this type of evidence difficult to use to draw
conclusions?
3. Where do most scientists think the first peoples to reach the
Americas came from?
4. Where is the oldest site of human habitation found in the
Americas? Which theory does this support and why?
5. Which evidence would support the Atlantic Crossing Theory?
Explain.
6. Which evidence challenges the Clovis Theory?
7. Based on the evidence presented, which theory do you think is
most likely? Explain your reasoning.
8. How can archaeological evidence teach us about culture?