MYSTERY OF THE FIRST NORTH AMERICANS

The Clovis Hypothesis and Its Critics

TWO VIEWS OF ORIGINS

A) Aboriginal Perspective:

Native peoples originated in North America

Wide variety of aboriginal "creation myths" support this position

AN OJIBWA CREATION LEGEND

Long ago before Mother Earth existed, the Creator sat alone in darkness thinking, and with His thoughts He formed Mother Earth. He covered the Earth with plants and trees, birds and animals, and many crawling insects, but He became lonely. So, from the soil of the Earth he formed two companions, a man and a woman. Beside the man he placed a bow and arrow. This was to show that the man was to be the protector and provider of food. Beside the woman he placed a birch bark basket filled with seeds. The basket and seeds represented the natural resources given to the Ojibwa people. The Creator also placed a book next to the woman. Then the Creator blew life into the woman and the man. First he blew life into the woman, and when she arose, she picked up the birch bark basket full of seeds, but she did not pick up the book. Her choice doesn't mean that Ojibwa people are not educated, they just have a different way of learning. When the Creator blew life into the man, the man picked up the bow and arrow and accepted his responsibility to protect and provide food. Then the Creator said, "Take care of Mother earth, and she will take care of you. Don't get greedy. Take only what you need, and remember to put down tobacco before you take from Mother Earth."

This is how the Ojibwa people came to be.

TWO VIEWS OF ORIGINS

B) Archaeological/Historical Perspective:

o First inhabitants of North America arrived from Asia sometime between 50 000 and 13 500 years BPo No agreement on when or how many migrations occurred

THE CLOVIS HYPOTHESIS

First North Americans arrived about 14 000 years BP Land bridge across

Bering Strait (Beringia) at end of last Ice Age provided passage from Siberia to AlaskaHumans moved south through a gap in ice fields covering Canada, spreading across North and South AmericaReached tip of South America about 1000 years later

CLOVIS EVIDENCE

13 500 year old fluted spear points discovered at Clovis, NM in 1932

Similar artifacts discovered across southwestern and central US, indicating a developed stone age culture

CLOVIS SITES IN NORTH AMERICA

PROBLEMS WITH CLOVIS (SUMMARY) Complex stone age

culture takes years to develop – unlikely Clovis was “first”

No ice-free land corridor in Canada until AFTER Clovis people's arrival (geological evidence)No Clovis spear points found in Alaska or Siberia (supposed migratory route)

PROBLEMS WITH CLOVIS (CONTINUED) Rock for Clovis tools

originated up to 300 km from site, suggesting extensive trade/travel patterns that also take time to develop

Archaeologists assumed Clovis artifacts were oldest and dug no deeper ("paradigm bias")

ALTERNATIVE "CLOVIS" HYPOTHESIS

Clovis people took "coastal" route south, as ocean levels were lower during Ice Age

Problem: coastal route available for short time period before rising sea levels flooded it

PROBLEMS WITH COASTAL ROUTE

"Clovis" people would have to spread from Alaska to tip of South America in 500 years and develop a "big game" hunting stone age culture in 1500 yearsAccomplishing

both tasks in these time periods is unlikely

LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE

North America is one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world It would require

over 50 000 years for such diversity to emerge from one common ancestor

DNA EVIDENCE DNA testing suggests

Asian origins for 4 lineages that make up 95 % of North America's native population Fifth DNA lineage is

most common amongst Canada's Ojibwa This lineage has NO known Asian link BUT does appear in Europeans The two lineages separated about 36 000 years ago Did one group of Canada's native peoples arrive from Europe?

"PRE-CLOVIS" EVIDENCE - ATLANTIC Various pieces of

evidence have been discovered, suggesting that humans arrived in North America prior to (or separate from) the Clovis peopleMeadowcroft, PA -

Artifacts uncovered that radiocarbon date to thousands of years before Clovis

"PRE-CLOVIS" EVIDENCE - ATLANTIC Topper, SC & Cactus Hills,

VA - two "Clovis" sites found in the southeastern US, far from the traditional Clovis migration route

Artifacts similar to those produced by the Solutrean culture of Spain and France 20 000 years ago Solutrean people possessed navigational skills Did Clovis culture originate in Europe?

"PRE-CLOVIS" EVIDENCE - PACIFIC Monte Verde, Chile

- Artifacts dated to 14 500 years ago discovered by archaeologist Tom Dillehay

Were humans at the tip of South America 500 years BEFORE the North American ice sheet began to melt?

PRE-CLOVIS EVIDENCE - PACIFIC A handful of human remains

dating back more than 9000 years found in America - Wizards Beach Man, Spirit Cave mummy, Kennewick Man

Features do not resemble the "broad faces, prominent cheek bones and round cranial vaults" typical of today’s native peoples

Was there more than one migration? Did some cross the Pacific by water?

Oldest American bones resemble Polynesians, Ainu of Japan or even Europeans more than modern American natives

KENNEWICK MAN'S TRUE ORIGINS?

PRE-CLOVIS EVIDENCE – PACIFIC According to

anthropologist Walter Neves, the oldest South American skull has "fine African features"

Other skulls closer in features to Australian aborigines Neves argues the original South Americans were displaced or absorbed by an influx of "Mongoloids" from North AmericaDid South America's earliest inhabitants cross the Pacific from Australia?Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon Tiki" & “Ra” expeditions

WHAT DO WE KNOW? There is no evidence to

conclusively prove that the first North Americans arrived by the traditional Bering Strait (Beringia) route

There were likely several waves of migration to North and South America at different times and in different ways (land and sea), from several different places of originIt is highly unlikely that there was ONE migration from ONE place

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

By 11 000 BP, humans were living across the entire North and South American continents

Population was most dense along the marine-rich west coast and south-central lowlands of North America (fertile soil and climate)

WHAT DO WE KNOW? Disappearance of large

mammals (mammoth, mastodon) around 10 000 BP led to dramatic change in lifestyle - move to hunting smaller mammals (bison), smaller projectile points (Plano Period - 10 000 - 7000 BP)Plano technology most

common in the central plains of North AmericaDomestication of some plants (corn) led to beginnings of agricultural lifestyle in some areas