archaeologists discount the theory, citing the lack of resources to support
travelers on the ice sheet and the 5,000 years between the Solutrean and
Clovis cultures. Genetic studies of indigenous peoples across the Americas
also show the Solutrean hypothesis to be unlikely, as mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) and DNA haplogroups show evidence of multiple migrations from
Asia, starting at about 30,000 BP.
3
In contrast, no study has ever shown
conclusive proof of European genetic markers among the Native American
population before 1492.
Finally, a handful of sites across the Americas have unearthed portions
dating 50,000-33,000 BCE, tens of thousands of years before the earliest
coastal migration sites were established. These sites, including the earliest
components of the Monte Verde site in Chile and the Topper site in South
Carolina, are hotly contested by many archaeologists, who claim that the
stone tools from the levels attributed to these early dates are not man-made,
but natural formations. Moreover, 50,000 years BP stretches the boundaries
of radiocarbon dating: as dates go further back in time, dating becomes less
and less accurate, leading many more to call these early dates into further
CHAPTER ONE: UNITED STATES HISTORY BEFORE COLUMBUS
Pa
Page | 7
question. For now, these early radiocarbon dates are largely seen as
aberrations, which offer no conclusive proof of human existence in the
Americas before about 20,000 years ago.
1.2.3 Before You Move On...
Key Concepts
Current estimates hold that 43-65 million people inhabited the
Western hemisphere at contact. There was a great deal of cultural
diversity amongst this population, including languages, social and
political structures, religious rituals, and deity worship. Each of these
hundreds of groups had one or more creation or origin story explaining
where they came from as a people as well as their relationship to the
world around them. Origin stories help to define groups as a people and
form an important part of the culture.
Scientific explanations of the origin of humans in the Americas focus
on ways that the first people migrated to the Americas. The two most
important and well-accepted of these theories are the Bering Land
Bridge and the coastal migration. Most archaeologists now accept that
both theories are correct, and date the earliest arrival of humans in the
Americas to 20,000-14,000 BP. Each of these theories supports human
migration from Asia. The Solutrean hypothesis, a more controversial
theory, argues that the first humans of the Americas descended from
the Solutrean culture of Europe. Genetic studies of indigenous peoples
across the Americas, however, show the unlikelihood of this hypothesis.
CHAPTER ONE: UNITED STATES HISTORY BEFORE COLUMBUS
Pa
Page | 8
1.3 THE PALEO-INDIAN ERA THROUGH THE
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
This earliest period, from the time that humans entered the Americas
until about 8,000 BCE, is known as the Paleo-Indian period. During this
time, humans spread throughout the Western hemisphere, supporting
themselves with similar subsistence patterns and technologies. Paleo-
