U.S. History INative America and Contact (1491 to 1607)D2.His.1.9-12

The First Peoples of the Americas

People reached the Americas from Asia at least 15,000 years ago, by land across Beringia, along the Pacific coast, or both; the exact dates and routes are still studied and debated.

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The story of America does not begin in 1492 or 1607. People had lived in the Americas for thousands of years before any European arrived. How do we know, when those first peoples left no writing? This is a good test of the skills from the last unit: historians and archaeologists reason from evidence such as stone tools, hearths, bones, footprints and DNA.

Key idea

People reached the Americas from northeast Asia during the last Ice Age, at least 15,000 years ago. They came by land across Beringia, along the Pacific coast, or both. Exactly when, and by which route, is still studied and debated.

Why it works

During the Ice Age, so much water was locked in glaciers that the sea was far lower than today. A wide land, Beringia, joined Siberia and Alaska where the Bering Strait is now. People and animals could live there and move east. As the ice melted, the sea rose and covered the land bridge, between about 13,000 and 11,500 years ago. Two routes south are proposed: an inland corridor that opened between melting ice sheets, and a coastal route by boat or on foot along the Pacific shore, with fish and shellfish for food.
Separate what is settled from what is still argued. Then Check.

Worked example: Using a dated site

Monte Verde, in southern Chile, has tools and hearths dated to at least 14,500 years ago. What does that tell us about when people first entered the Americas?
  1. Chile is at the far southern end of South America, thousands of miles from Beringia.
  2. People had to travel all that way before they could camp at Monte Verde.
  3. So people must have entered the Americas some time before 14,500 years ago.

Answer: People entered the Americas earlier than 14,500 years ago; a far-south site pushes the date of first arrival back.

Worked example: Why a route matters

Many coastal sites from the Ice Age would be under water today. How does that affect the debate over the coastal route?
  1. The sea rose as the ice melted, so the old shoreline is now offshore.
  2. Evidence of a coastal route would mostly be drowned.
  3. So a lack of coastal sites does not prove no one used the coast.

Answer: Missing evidence is weak evidence: the coastal route is hard to test, which is one reason it is still debated.

For many years, the Clovis culture (named for stone spear points found near Clovis, New Mexico, about 13,000 years old) was thought to be the first. Older sites such as Monte Verde changed that view. Many Native nations also hold their own origin accounts, passed down for generations, which carry deep meaning for those nations; this course describes the archaeological evidence.

Common mistake

Students often learn one date and one route as if they were settled. Archaeologists agree that people came from northeast Asia over thousands of years; they debate the earliest date and the routes, and each newly dated site can shift the picture. When you write about it, say "at least 15,000 years ago" and name the debate.

Practice

Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 1 XP.

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