Modern Humans Arrived In The Americas Earlier Than You Think
It is a commonly accepted belief that modern humans arrived in the Americas around 11,500 years ago. According to mainstream archaeology, it was at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch that the retreating ice gave way to the first Paleoamerican settlers. They crossed the Bering Strait into what is known today as Alaska. However, recent discoveries are now challenging this version of the human evolution timeline.
New evidence points towards a far older and more complex human migration than we had previously imagined. This has lead scientists to revisit questions such as who were the first human settlers of the new world? How long ago did modern humans reach the Americas? And how did they travel to and throughout this new land?
The Americas Were Discovered by A Different Type of Human Species
It is now believed that prehistoric humans occupied North America at least 130,000 years ago. Five scratched cobbles, rock fragments, as well as mastodon bones with questionable fracture patterns, were unearthed at a construction site in San Diego, California back in 1992 — now referred to as the Cerutti Mastodon Site.
Attempts to recreate the fractures on the mastodon bones hinted at the possibility that the found cobbles were actually used as tools to smash these bones. In addition to that, a uranium-thorium dating test done on the bones suggested that the animal was killed around 130,700 years ago.
If humans did arrive in the Americas 130,700 years ago, then they were probably a different, yet-to-be-discovered type of Homo species. Perhaps native to the continent. What we know thus far is that the earliest Homo sapiens to have left Africa date back to only 70,000 years. Neanderthals, Denisovans and other human ancestors are also believed to have remained on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean during that millennia. Until new evidence is found, we can only speculate that what caused this massive creature’s death was none other than a human being.
The First Modern Humans Arrived in The Americas More Than 13,000 Years Ago.
The official story is that the first settlers of the Americas arrived at the end of the last ice age. Human remains and tools found in North and South America suggest otherwise — modern humans may have arrived well over 20,000 years ago. Such is the case of the remains of a human baby named the “Beringian child”, found in Alaska.
Scientists had long theorized that a group of ancient nomads separated from the East Asian population some 36,000 years ago and traveled to the Americas through Siberia. The Beringian child possesses a genome that supports this theory. It also reveals that this group of nomads diverged into at least two genetic lineages: the ancestors of native Americans that settled across the Northern and Southern regions of the continent, and the Ancient Beringians. The latter lineage stayed on the Beringia — a region comprised of a portion of Siberia and Alaska, and the entirety of the Bering Strait— and later disappeared.
Through DNA analysis, scientists have identified that the genetic divergence happened almost 20,000 years ago. It is uncertain as to where in the Beringian region this genetic split took place and if it happened before or after the surge of the northern and southern branches of Native Americans.
The Beringian child brings a new theory into light: that our ancestors made several trips across the Beringian passage and that not all of these migrations were done after the melting of the ice. By looking at evidence discovered along the coastal regions of the Americas, scientists have developed a new hypothesis to tackle the question as to how our ancestors may have crossed the ice-cold regions of North America: the Coastal Route Hypothesis.
Early Paleoamericans Travelled Down the Pacific Coast Line Using Boats.
How did nomadic tribes move down the two continents at such a fast pace without the ice-free corridor that began to form 13,000 years ago? Many researchers are now speculating that these tribes sailed down the Pacific coastline in the so-called Coastal Route Hypothesis.
This hypothesis lays its foundations on archaeological evidence located in coastal sites in North and South America. Sites such as Monte Verde in Chile, where hundreds of ancient artifacts, that attest to human activity as far back as 18,500 years ago, have been found. Another example is Cedros Island off the Mexican Pacific Coast, where the oldest fishing hook in the Americas was uncovered, carbon dated at 11,300 years. Countless other findings, including the Naia skull, the Arlington Springs woman, and Canada’s West Coast oldest human footprints all date back to at least 13,000 years. This gives us a revolutionary new perspective on human migration at the time.
Whether this hypothesis is correct or not, one thing is for certain: modern humans inhabited the Americas long before the end of the last ice age. How long ago exactly and through what means are still very difficult questions to solve, but we may be getting closer to finding the answers.
The Clearer Picture.
Our human ancestors emerged from Africa almost 300,000 years ago and began to populate the entire planet soon thereafter. A group of nomadic tribes began to disperse through Asia until reaching the Bering Strait where they settled for hundreds of years before finding safe routes to cross the piece of land. These nomadic tribes made multiple journeys across the freezing pathway — some through alternate routes using boats. Simultaneously, these people began to diverge into separate genetical groups as years passed.
The ice caps eventually melted and a large part of these tribes continued their journey across the Bering Strait and into all of North and South America. Some groups stayed at the Bering region until unexplainably disappearing years after. Other tribes continued on with their migrations throughout the new world. To these people’s bewilderment, tools and other artifacts were found on this new continent, left behind by some unknown human species that inhabited the continent long before them.
Humanity’s past is still a colossal mystery that needs to be solved. The age-old questions of “where we come from?” and “what is our purpose?” may remain unanswered for many years to come. Regardless, it is undoubtedly evident that modern technology and recent archaeological studies have allowed us to form a more detailed and realistic description of our past.
References
- Zimmer, Carl. (2018, January 3). Ancient remains found in Alaska shed light on how humans populated the Americas. The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/science/2018/01/03/remains-of-alaskan-sunrise-girl-shed-light-on-how-humans-populated-the-americas/
- Katz, Brigit. (2017, April 26). Remarkable New Evidence for Human Activity in North America 130,000 Years Ago. Smithsonian.com. Zimmer, Carl. (2018, January 3). Ancient remains found in Alaska shed light on how humans populated the Americas. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-evidence-human-activity-north-america-130000-years-ago-180963046/
- Dunham, Will. (2018, January 3). The 11,500-Year-Old Remains of a Baby Could Reveal How Humans First Came to the Americas. Time USA, LLC. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from https://time.com/5086657/alaskan-sunrise-girl/
- Gibbons, Ann. (2015, November 18). Oldest stone tools in the Americas claimed in Chile. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/11/oldest-stone-tools-americas-claimed-chile
- Wade, Lizzie. (2017, August 10). Most archaeologists think the first Americans arrived by boat. Now, they’re beginning to prove it. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/most-archaeologists-think-first-americans-arrived-boat-now-they-re-beginning-prove-it
- Worrall, Simon. (2018, June 9). When, How Did the First Americans Arrive? It’s Complicated. National Geographic. Retrieved July 1, 2019 from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/06/when-and-how-did-the-first-americans-arrive--its-complicated-/
- Matthew R. Des Lauriers (a1), Loren G. Davis (a2), J. Turnbull (a3), John R. Southon (a4) and R. E. Taylor (a5) (July 2017). THE EARLIEST SHELL FISHHOOKS FROM THE AMERICAS REVEAL FISHING TECHNOLOGY OF PLEISTOCENE MARITIME FORAGERS. Volume 82, Issue 3. Pp. 498–516.
