Alternatives to the Clovis First theoryAlternative theories on the peopling of the Americas The theory known as Clovis First was the predominant hypothesis among archaeologists in the second half of the 20th century to explain the peopling of the Americas. According to Clovis First, the people associated with the Clovis culture were the first inhabitants of the Americas. This hypothesis came to be challenged by ongoing studies that suggest pre-Clovis human occupation of the Americas.
Clovis culturePrehistoric culture in the Americas c. 11,100–10,800 BCEThe Clovis culture is an archaeological culture from the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years Before Present (BP). The type site is Blackwater Draw locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, where stone tools were found alongside the remains of Columbian mammoths in 1929. Clovis sites have been found across North America.
Monte VerdeMonte Verde is a Paleolithicarchaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region. The site is primarily known for Monte Verde II, generally suggested to date to 14,500 years ago, which has been largely accepted (though not without dissent) as showing that the human settlement of the Americas pre-dates the Clovis culture by at least 1,000 years, contrary to the now discredited "Clovis first" paradigm.
Peopling of the AmericasPrehistoric migration from Asia to the AmericasMap of early human migrations based on the Out of Africa theory; figures are in thousands of years ago (kya).It is believed that the peopling of the Americas began when Paleolithichunter-gatherers (Paleo-Indians) entered North America from the North AsianMammoth steppe via the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska due to the lowering of sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum (26,000 to 19,000 years ago).
AmericasLandmass comprising North and South AmericaThe Americas, also collectively known as America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America. When viewed as a single continent, the Americas are the second largest continent by area after Asia and the third largest continent by population. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and constitute the "New World", in contrast to the "Old World" of Afro-Eurasia.
Clovis, New MexicoClovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The population was 38,567 at the 2020 census. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the eastern part of the state. A largely agricultural community, close to the border with Texas, it is noted for its role in early rock music history and for nearby Cannon Air Force Base, current home to the 27th Special Operations Wing which is also known as "The Steadfast Line".
BeringiaBeringia is a prehistoric geographical region, defined as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south by the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It includes the Chukchi Sea, the Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi and Kamchatka peninsulas in Russia as well as Alaska in the United States and Yukon in Canada.
Indigenous peoples of the AmericasThe Indigenous peoples of the Americas, also called Indians, Amerindians, Indigenous Americans, American Indians, or simply Natives, are the peoples who are native to the Americas or the Western Hemisphere. Their ancestors are among the pre-Columbian population of South or North America, including Central America and the Caribbean. Indigenous peoples live throughout the Americas.
Cordilleran ice sheetThe Cordilleran ice sheet was a major ice sheet that periodically covered large parts of North America during glacial periods over the last ~2.6 million years. ExtentThe ice extent covered almost all of the continental shelf north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and south from approximately the southwestern third of the Yukon Territory. This included all of mainland British Columbia, South Central Alaska, the Alaska Panhandle, and peninsula.
Pre-Columbian eraIn the history of the Americas, pre-Columbian era, also known as pre-contact era, pre-Hispanic or as pre-Cabraline era (the latter specifically framed in Brazil), spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492.
Laurentide ice sheetThe Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glaciation epochs, from 2.58 million years ago to the present.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.