Classification term given to the first peoples who entered the American continents
This article is about Paleolithic people of the Americas. For Paleolithic people of India, see
South Asian Stone Age. For other aspects of the prehistory of the Americas, see
Pre-Columbian era.
Paleo-Indians
Paleo-Indians hunting a
glyptodont Heinrich Harder (1858–1935),
c. 1920. The Paleo-Indians, also known as the
Lithic peoples, are the earliest known settlers of the
Americas; the period's name, the Lithic stage, derives from the appearance of
lithic flaked stone tools.
Traditional theories suggest that big-animal hunters crossed the
Bering Strait from
North Asia into the Americas over a land bridge (
Beringia). This bridge existed from 45,000 to 12,000
BCE (47,000–14,000
BP).[1] Small isolated groups of
hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large
herbivores far into
Alaska. From
c. 16,500 – c. 13,500 BCE (
c. 18,500 – c. 15,500 BP), ice-free corridors developed along the
Pacific coast and valleys of
North America.[2] This allowed land animals, followed by humans, to migrate south into the interior of the continent. The people went on foot or used boats along the coastline. The dates and routes of the
peopling of the Americas remain subjects of ongoing debate.[3] It is likely there were three waves of ancient settlers from the
Bering Sea to the America continent.[4]
Stone tools, particularly
projectile points and
scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Archeologists and anthropologists use surviving crafted
lithic flaked tools to classify cultural periods.[5] Scientific evidence links Indigenous Americans to eastern
Siberian populations by the distribution of blood types, and genetic composition as indicated by molecular data, such as DNA.[6] There is evidence for at least two separate migrations.[7] From 8000 to 7000 BCE (10,000–9,000 BP) the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and
lithic technology advances, resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle.
Migration into the Americas
Further information on theories of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas:
Settlement of the Americas
Researchers continue to study and discuss the specifics of
Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the dates and routes traveled.[9] The traditional theory holds that these early migrants moved into
Beringia between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska 17,000 years ago,[10] at a time when the
Quaternary glaciation significantly lowered sea levels.[11] These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct
pleistocenemegafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the
Laurentide and
Cordilleranice sheets.[12] An alternative proposed scenario involves migration, either on foot or using
boats, down the Pacific coast to South America.[13] Evidence of the latter would have been submerged by a
sea-level rise of more than a hundred meters following the end of the
Last Glacial Period.[14]
The time range of the peopling of the Americas remains a source of substantial debate. Conventional estimates have it that humans reached North America at some point between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago.[15][16][17][18] One of the few areas of agreement is the origin from
Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the Last Glacial Period, or more specifically what is known as the
late glacial maximum, around 16,000 to 13,000 years before present.[10][19]
Sites in Alaska (eastern Beringia) exhibit some of the earliest evidence of Paleo-Indians,[20][21][22] followed by
archaeological sites in northern
British Columbia, western
Alberta and the
Old Crow Flats region in the
Yukon.[23] The Paleo-Indians would eventually flourish all over the Americas.[24] These peoples were spread over a wide geographical area; thus there were regional variations in lifestyles. However, all the individual groups shared a common style of stone tool production, making
knapping styles and progress identifiable.[22] This early Paleo-Indian period's
lithic reduction tool adaptations have been found across the Americas, utilized by highly mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 60 members of an extended family.[25][26] Food would have been plentiful during the few warm months of the year. Lakes and rivers were teeming with many species of fish, birds and aquatic mammals. Nuts, berries and edible roots could be found in the forests and marshes. The fall would have been a busy time because foodstuffs would have to be stored and clothing made ready for the winter. During the winter, coastal fishing groups moved inland to hunt and trap fresh food and furs.[27]
Late ice-age climatic changes caused plant communities and animal populations to change.[28] Groups moved and sought new supplies as preferred resources were depleted.[24] Small bands utilized hunting and gathering during the spring and summer months, then broke into smaller direct family groups for the fall and winter. Family groups moved every 3–6 days, possibly traveling up to 360 km (220 mi) per year.[29][30] Diets were often sustaining and rich in protein; clothing was made from a variety of animal hides that were also used for shelter construction.[31] During much of the early and middle Paleo-Indian periods, inland bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct
megafauna.[24] Large Pleistocene mammals included the
giant beaver,
steppe wisent,
giant muskox,
mastodon,
woolly mammoth and
ancient reindeer.[32]
The
Clovis culture, appearing around 11,500 BCE (
c. 13,500 BP) in North America, is one of the most notable Paleo-Indian archaeological cultures.[33] It has been disputed whether the Clovis culture were specialist
big-game hunters or employed a mixed foraging strategy that included smaller terrestrial game, aquatic animals, and a variety of flora.[34][35] Paleo-Indian groups were efficient hunters and carried a variety of tools. These included highly efficient
fluted-style spear points, as well as
microblades used for butchering and hide processing.[36] Projectile points and
hammerstones made from many sources are found traded or moved to new locations.[37] Stone tools were traded and/or left behind from
North Dakota and
Northwest Territories, to
Montana and
Wyoming.[38] Trade routes also have been found from the
British Columbia Interior to the coast of
California.[38]
The glaciers that covered the northern half of the continent began to gradually melt, exposing new land for occupation around 17,500–14,500 years ago.[28] At the same time as this was occurring, worldwide extinctions among the large mammals began. In North America,
camelids and
equids eventually died off, the latter not to reappear on the continent until the
Spanish reintroduced the
horse near the end of the 15th century CE.[39] As the
Quaternary extinction event was happening, the late Paleo-Indians would have relied more on other means of subsistence.[40]
From
c. 10,500 – c. 9,500 BCE (c. 12,500 – c. 11,500 BP), the broad-spectrum big game hunters of the
Great Plains began to focus on a single animal species: the
bison (an early cousin of the
American bison).[41] The earliest known of these bison-oriented hunting traditions is the
Folsom tradition. Folsom peoples traveled in small family groups for most of the year, returning yearly to the same springs and other favored locations on higher ground.[42] There they would camp for a few days, perhaps erecting a temporary shelter, making and/or repairing some stone tools, or processing some meat, then moving on.[41] Paleo-Indians were not numerous, and population densities were quite low.[43]
Paleo-Indians are generally classified by lithic reduction or
lithic core "styles" and by regional adaptations.[22][44]Lithic technology fluted spear points, like other spear points, are collectively called
projectile points. The projectiles are constructed from chipped stones that have a long groove called a "flute". The spear points would typically be made by chipping a single flake from each side of the point.[45] The point was then tied onto a spear of wood or bone. As the environment changed with the ice age ending around 17–13
KaBP on short, and around 25–27 Ka BP on the long,[46] many animals migrated overland to take advantage of the new sources of food. Humans following these animals, such as bison, mammoth and mastodon, thus gained the name big-game hunters.[47] Pacific coastal groups of the period would have relied on fishing as the prime source of sustenance.[48]
Archaeologists are piecing together evidence that the earliest human settlements in North America were thousands of years before the appearance of the current Paleo-Indian time frame (before the late glacial maximum 20,000-plus years ago).[49] Evidence indicates that people were living as far east as Beringia before 30,000 BCE (32,000 BP).[50][51] Until recently, it was generally believed that the first Paleo-Indian people to arrive in North America belonged to the Clovis culture. This archaeological phase was named after the city of
Clovis, New Mexico, where in 1936 unique
Clovis points were found in situ at the site of
Blackwater Draw, where they were directly associated with the bones of Pleistocene animals.[52]
In South America, the site of
Monte Verde indicates that its population was probably territorial and resided in their river basin for most of the year. Some other South American groups, on the other hand, were highly mobile and hunted big-game animals such as
gomphotheres and
giant sloths. They used classic bifacial projectile point technology, such as
Fishtail points.
The primary examples are populations associated with El Jobo points (
Venezuela), fish-tail or Magallanes points (various parts of the continent, but mainly the southern half), and
Paijan points (
Peru and
Ecuador) at sites in grasslands, savanna plains, and patchy forests.[65]
The dating for these sites ranges from
c. 14,000 BP (for
Taima-Taima in Venezuela) to c. 10,000 BP.[66] The bi-pointed El Jobo projectile points were mostly distributed in north-western Venezuela; from the
Gulf of Venezuela to the high mountains and valleys. The population using them were hunter-gatherers that seemed to remain within a certain circumscribed territory.[67][68] El Jobo points were probably the earliest, going back to c. 14,200 – c. 12,980 BP and they were used for hunting large mammals.[69] In contrast, the fish-tail points, dating to c. 11,000 B.P. in
Patagonia, had a much wider geographical distribution, but mostly in the central and southern part of the continent.[70][71]
Human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the
Bering sea coast line, with an initial layover on Beringia for the
founding population.[77][78][79][80] The
micro-satellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region.[81] The
Na-Dené,
Inuit and
Indigenous Alaskan populations, however, exhibit
haplogroup Q (Y-DNA) mutations that are distinct from other Amerindians with various mtDNA mutations.[82][83][84] This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and
Greenland derived from later migrant populations.[85]
Evidence from full genomic studies suggests that the first people in the Americas diverged from Ancient East Asians about 36,000 years ago and expanded northwards into Siberia, where they encountered and interacted with a different Paleolithic Siberian population (known as
Ancient North Eurasians), giving rise to both
Paleosiberian peoples and
Ancient Native Americans, which later migrated towards the Beringian region, became isolated from other populations, and subsequently populated the Americas.[86][87]
Transition to archaic period
The
Archaic period in the Americas saw a changing environment featuring a warmer, more arid climate and the disappearance of the last megafauna.[88] The majority of population groups at this time were still highly mobile hunter-gatherers, but now individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. Thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization like the
Southwest,
Arctic,
Poverty,
Dalton, and
Plano traditions. These regional adaptations would become the norm, with reliance less on hunting and gathering, and a more mixed economy of small game, fish, seasonally wild vegetables, and harvested plant foods.[30][89] Many groups continued to hunt big game but their hunting traditions became more varied and meat procurement methods more sophisticated.[28] The placement of artifacts and materials within an Archaic burial site indicated social differentiation based upon status in some groups.[90]
^Paleolithic specifically refers to the period between
c. 2.5 million years ago and the end of the
Pleistocene in the
Eastern Hemisphere. It is not used in New World archaeology.
^Viegas, Jennifer.
"First Americans Endured 20,000-Year Layover". Discovery News. Archived from
the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2009. Archaeological evidence, in fact, recognizes that people started to leave Beringia for the New World around 40,000 years ago, but rapid expansion into North America didn't occur until about 15,000 years ago, when the ice had literally brokenpage 2Archived 13 March 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
^Pitblado, B. L. (2011-03-12). "A Tale of Two Migrations: Reconciling Recent Biological and Archaeological Evidence for the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas". Journal of Archaeological Research. 19 (4): 327–375.
doi:
10.1007/s10814-011-9049-y.
S2CID144261387.
^deFrance, Susan D.; Keefer, David K.; Richardson, James B.; Alvarez, Adan U. (2010). "Late Paleo-Indian Coastal Foragers: Specialized Extractive". Latin American Antiquity. 12 (4): 413–426.
doi:
10.2307/972087.
JSTOR972087.
S2CID163802845.
^Bradley, Bruce;
Stanford, Dennis (2004). "The North Atlantic ice-edge corridor: a possible Palaeolithic route to the New World". World Archaeology. Vol. 34.
^Saillard, Juliette; Forster, Peter; Lynnerup, Niels; Bandelt, Hans-Jürgen; Nørby, Søren (2000).
"mtDNA Variation among Greenland Eskimos. The Edge of the Beringian Expansion". Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, University of Hamburg, Hamburg. Retrieved 2009-11-22.