When Did Humans Arrive in the Americas?
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 4.4ACTIVITY WHEN DID HUMANS ARRIVE IN THE AMERICAS?1Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “When Did Humans Arrive in the Americas?”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/PurposeEvaluating different theories for when humans arrived in the Americas will help you see how collective learning is an ongoing process.Process1.Read each of the theories for when humans arrived in the Americas on the next page,and then complete the table below.TheoryEvidenceRank which theory you believe from most (1) to least (3)Beringia theoryCoastal migration/kelp highway theoryTwo founding populations theory2.What evidence convinced you to rank the theories in this order?
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 4.4ACTIVITY WHEN DID HUMANS ARRIVE IN THE AMERICAS?2TheoriesBeringia theory:Early humans migrated from Asia across the Bering Strait land bridge about 18,000 years ago. Then, they moved down into the interior of the Americas and spread to South America by about 13,000 years ago. Archaeologists found remains (animals and human-made tools) of people hunting near Clovis, New Mexico. Similar tools were later found in Mexico and Central America, which suggested that Clovis culture was widespread from about 13,000 to 11,000 years ago. The tool similarities led researchers to believe that these were the people who moved across the Beringia land bridge and populated the Americas.Coastal migration/kelp highway theory: Early humans “island hopped”from Asia using simple boats about 16,000 years ago. They ate marine life and migrated along the “kelp highway,” which extended from the Pacific Northwest coast to Baja California and down to the tip of South America. Archaeologists found tools in different sites in both North and South America that predate Clovis culture by thousands of years. Human remains have been found in underwater coastal areas in California, Mexico, and South America that have been dated to about 18,000 to 14,500 years ago.Two founding populations theory: There were at least two and maybe more migrations of early humans. One migration was from Eurasia along the Bering Strait land bridge or kelp highway route. The other migration was by people with genetic similarities to Australasians, who may have arrived after the first Eurasian migration. Archaeologists have suggested that some early humans do not have the same facial and cranial characteristics as the Native American/Eurasian populations do. These scholars found a group of Amazonian peoples whose DNA markers more closely match those of Indigenous Americans with Asian descent.