First Humans on the Continent
30/05/25 14:29 Filed in: History
"The very first humans emerged in Africa, and migrated from there to regions around the world. The exact date they first walked in the Americas is a long-standing open question, the answer to which continues to evolve as advances in archaeology and DNA analysis shed more light on the subject. During the second half of the 20th century, many archaeologists favored the “Clovis-first” theory, which argued that the prehistoric Clovis people were the first to reach the Americas, about 11,500 to 13,000 years ago. It was believed they crossed a land bridge — known as Beringia — linking Siberia to Alaska during the last ice age. This bridge then disappeared underwater as the ice melted, leaving the Clovis culture to roam North America — a land never before occupied by humankind.
More recent archaeological discoveries, however, have dramatically pushed back the timeline of human habitation on the continent. In 2021, archaeologists discovered human footprints in mud in what is now New Mexico, and dated the prints to between 21,000 and 23,000 years old. Research by an international team at the University of Oxford, meanwhile, suggests that the earliest humans arrived on the continent 30,000 years ago — and that rather than crossing a land bridge, they came by sea. The debate is ongoing, and tantalizing evidence of pre-Clovis cultures continues to be accumulated."
More recent archaeological discoveries, however, have dramatically pushed back the timeline of human habitation on the continent. In 2021, archaeologists discovered human footprints in mud in what is now New Mexico, and dated the prints to between 21,000 and 23,000 years old. Research by an international team at the University of Oxford, meanwhile, suggests that the earliest humans arrived on the continent 30,000 years ago — and that rather than crossing a land bridge, they came by sea. The debate is ongoing, and tantalizing evidence of pre-Clovis cultures continues to be accumulated."
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