Clovis culture
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A Clovis point or Clovis projectile point
The Clovis culture was one of the first well documented Native cultures in the Americas. The Clovis people lived in the Americas about 13,000 years ago. They lived there for between 200 and 800 years. Different sources list different lengths of time in that range.
They had a special way of making tools like spear tips and knives from stones. The flint tips are called Clovis points. Artifacts that they made in this way can be found in many places in North America. The Clovis way of making tools only lasted between 500 and 1000 years. After that, other similar ways became more popular.
They are called "Clovis culture" because archaeologists first found their artifacts at Clovis, New Mexico.
The end of the Clovis culture
A decline in the availability of megafauna, together with the population becoming less and less mobile, led to local differentiation of lithic and cultural traditions across the Americas.[1][2] After this time, Clovis-style fluted points were replaced by other fluted-point traditions (such as the Folsom culture).[3]
Clovis First (a theory)
The Clovis First theory says that the Clovis people crossed the Beringia land bridge over the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska during the period of lowered sea levels during the ice age, then made their way towards the south, through an ice-free corridor east of the Rocky Mountains in present-day Western Canada as the glaciers retreated.[4]
Things that point to earlier settlement of the Americas
"Clovis First" is one of the theories about the Settlement of the Americas. There are other ideas and research that go against "Clovis First".
- Evidence of human habitation before Clovis
- Idea about a coastal migration route: Research on the mitochondrial DNA of First Nations/Native Americans, was published in 2007. It suggests that the people of the New World may have diverged (or went away from each other and stayed away), genetically from Siberians as early as 20,000 years ago.[5] One theory says that the Pacific coast of North America may have been free of ice, and maybe the first peoples in North America came down this route before the formation of the ice-free corridor.[6]
- Solutrean hypothesis
- Genetic history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas: Research on mitochondrial DNA in 2014 has found that members of some native North American tribes have a maternal ancestry (called haplogroup X) that has a link to the maternal ancestors of some present-day individuals in western Asia and Europe - but the link is not strong. A variant of mitochondrial DNA called X2a found in many Native Americans has been traced to (or research shows that the variant comes from) western Eurasia, while not being found in eastern Eurasia.[7]
Research that shows human habitation before the Clovis culture
Archaeological sites that have been shown to be older than the Clovis culture:
- Hartley mammoth butcher site, Colorado (38,900–36,250 cal BP by AMS 14C analysis of hydroxyproline from bone collagen)[8]
- Bluefish Caves, Yukon, Canada (24,000 years BP)[9]
- White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA; (21,000-23,000 BP)[10][11][12]
- Pedra Furada, Piauí, Brazil (10,500–12,000 yr BP; possibly older than 50,000 yr BP)[13][14]
- Topper, South Carolina, US (16,000–20,000 yr BP; possibly 50,000 yr BP)[15][16][17]
- Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Pennsylvania, US (16,000 yr BP)[18]
- Buttermilk Creek Complex, Salado, Texas, US (15,500 14C yr BP)[19][20][21]
- Cactus Hill, Virginia, US (15,070 14C yr BP)[22]
- Monte Verde, Chile (18,500 to 14,800[23] 14C yr BP)[24][25]
- Saltville (archaeological site), Virginia, US (14,510 14C yr BP)[26]
- Taima-Taima, Venezuela (14,000 yr BP)[27]
- Manis Mastodon Site, Sequim, Washington, US (13,800 yr BP)[28]
- Connley Caves, Oregon, US (13,000 yr BP)[29]
- Page-Ladson, Florida, US (14,550 cal yr BP])[30]
- Lapa do Boquete, Brazil (12,070 ±170 14C yr BP)[24][31]
- Paisley Caves, Oregon, US (14,300 cal yr BP)[32]
- Tanana Valley, Alaska, US (13,000–14,000 cal yr BP)[33]
- El Abra, Colombia (12,460 ±140 14C yr BP)[24]
- Nenana Valley, Alaska, US (12,000 yr BP)[34]
- Tibitó, Colombia (11,740 ±110 14C yr BP)[24]
- Tagua-Tagua, Chile (11,380 ±380 14C yr BP)[35]
Clovis Culture Media
Environment of what is now White Sands National Park in New Mexico, with Columbian mammoths, a ground sloth, dire wolves, lions, camels, and saber-toothed cats.
Approximate location of the ice-free corridor and specific Paleoindian sites
References
- ↑ Haynes, Gary. The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era (2002). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-521-52463-6.
- ↑ Southeastern Prehistory: Paleoindian PeriodNational Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ↑ Lepper, Bradley T.. Ice Age People of North America (1999). Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. p. 362–394.
- ↑ Flannery, T.. The Eternal Frontier: an ecological history of North America and its peoples (2001). New York: Grove Press. p. 173–185. ISBN 978-0-8021-3888-0.
- ↑ Fagundes, Nelson J.R.. Mitochondrial Population Genomics Supports a Single Pre-Clovis Origin with a Coastal Route for the Peopling of the Americas. The American Journal of Human Genetics 82 (3) (2008). p. 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013.
- ↑ Meltzer, David J. First Peoples in a New World, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009, p. 129
- ↑ "Ancient native boy's genome reignites debate over first Americans" Archived 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters
- ↑ Rowe, Timothy B.. Human Occupation of the North American Colorado Plateau ∼37,000 Years Ago. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 (2022). doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.903795.
- ↑ "What Happens When an Archaeologist Challenges Mainstream Scientific Thinking?". Smithsonian. 8 March 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/jacques-cinq-mars-bluefish-caves-scientific-progress-180962410/.
- ↑ Maya Wei-Haas. Stunning footprints push back human arrival in Americas by thousands of years (2021-09-23)National Geographic. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ↑ Ancient Footprints Suggest Humans Lived In The Americas Earlier Than Once Thought; by SCOTT NEUMAN; September 24, 2021, at https://www.npr.org/2021/09/24/1040381802/ancient-footprints-new-mexico-white-sands-humans
- ↑
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.
- ↑ Pedra Furada. Journey To A New Land (2005)SFU Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ The Rock Art of Pedra Furada (2011)Bradshaw Foundation. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ Goodyear, Albert C.. Evidence of Pre-Clovis Sites in the Eastern United States. Scholar Commons (1 January 2005)University of South Carolina. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ Scientist: Man in Americas earlier than thought. Articles.cnn.com. 2004-11-18. http://articles.cnn.com/2004-11-17/tech/carolina.dig_1_oldest-radiocarbon-topper-site-human-sites?_s=PM:TECH. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ New Evidence Puts Man In North America 50,000 Years Ago (2004-11-18)Sciencedaily.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Homepage – Rockshelter ArtifactsHeinz History Center. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Waters, Michael R.. The Buttermilk Creek Complex and the Origins of Clovis at the Debra L. Friedkin Site, Texas. Science 331 (25) (2011). p. 1599–1603. doi:10.1126/science.1201855. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ↑ First Americans arrived 2500 years before we thought. New Scientist (24 March 2011). Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Hanna, Bill. Texas artifacts 'strongest evidence yet' that humans arrived in North America earlier than thought (2010-08-28)Star-telegram.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Athena Review 2,3: Recent Finds in Archaeology: Pre-Clovis occupation on Virginia's Nottoway RiverAthenapub.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Dillehay, Tom D.. New Archaeological Evidence for an Early Human Presence at Monte Verde, Chile. PLOS ONE 10 (11) (18 November 2015). p. e0141923. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141923.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Madsen 157
- ↑ Cavernas do Peruaçu Federal Environmental Protection Area (APA) / Veredas Do Peruaçu State Park – UNESCO World Heritage Centre (1998-09-16)Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Madsen 152
- ↑ Taima TaimaBradshawfoundation.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Waters, Michael R.. Pre-Clovis Mastodon Hunting 13,800 Years Ago at the Manis Site, Washington. Science 334 (6054) (21 October 2011). p. 351–353. doi:10.1126/science.1207663.
- ↑ Northern Great Basin Prehistory Project, Archaeological and Geoarchaeological Field School, University of Oregon, Summer SessionsPages.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Halligan, Jessi J.. Pre-Clovis occupation 14,550 years ago at the Page-Ladson site, Florida, and the peopling of the Americas. Science Advances 2 (5) (2016). p. e1600375. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600375.
- ↑ Early hunter-gatherers in the Americas: perspectives from central Brazil – page 3 | Antiquity. Findarticles.com. 1998. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3284/is_n277_v72/ai_n28711513/pg_3/. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Researchers, Led by Archaeologist, Find Pre-Clovis Human DNA (2008-02-04)Newswise.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ↑ Tanana River Valley Archaeology circa 14,000 to 9000 B.P.. Charles E. Holmes. Arctic Anthropology. Vol. 38, No. 2, Between Two Worlds: Late Pleistocene Cultural and Technological Diversity in Eastern Beringia (2001), pp. 154–170
- ↑ Late Pleistocene Settlement in the Nenana Valley, Central Alaska William R. Powers and John F. Hoffecker. American Antiquity Vol. 54, No. 2 (Apr., 1989), pp. 263–287
- ↑ Weber, George. Laguna Tagua Tagua site (Liberador, Chile)Andaman.org. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
