Migration to the Americas

Atlantic Route Theory

Land Bridge

Theory

15,000 - 12,000 years ago

Pacific Coast Theory

Who Were the Paleo Indians?

This map of the Americas shows

FOUR possible routes that humans took.

ANIMALS of this TIMEDuring the Paleoindian period, people hunted large animals that are now extinct (causes: over hunting, climate change, disease), including mammoths, mastodons, and an ancient form of bison. People during the Paleoindian period also ate a variety of wild nuts, fruits, and greens (leaves).

The artifacts generally consist of hunting tools such as stone spear points, scrapers, and flakes of stone produced in the production or repair of spear points and other tools.

Clovis stone tool Tools

THE CONDITIONS: Around 20,000 years ago small groups of Asian hunter- gatherers (FORAGERS) lived in the East Asian Arctic (Siberia) during the Last Glacial Maximum (Ice Age). The early populations of people who migrated into the Americas are commonly called Paleo (old) Indians.

Siberia, Russia

Alaska

human

Key words, places and terms: Route, Hearths, Mastodons, Paleo Indian, Naia, Clovis, Last Glacial Maximum, Siberia, Alaska, Pacific Coast Theory, Land Bridge Theory, projectile, Mammoths,

14,000 - 6,000 BCE

Paleoindian people hunted and gathered food. They depended on foods available seasonally, but may have supplemented their winter diet with dried foods. To the best of our knowledge, they did not cultivate plants.

The Paleoindians may have moved every 3–4 days and covered 150 to 200 miles a year [10 501-502]. A thin population of humans spread over both Americas by 11,000 when the Clovis culture appeared.

What about Belize? For a long time we had no evidence to suggest that Paleoindians were ever present in Belize. The first clue came to light in the early 1960’s. Two bones discovered by farmers near Santa Familia, Cayo District were identified as those of an extinct giant sloth.

Conclusive evidence for Paleoindian presence in Belize, however, was not recovered until the mid 1980’s, when a farmer near Ladyville discovered the first fluted projectile point in the country.

A few years later a farmer in the Toledo District found another fragment of a similar spear point. Since then, teeth of an extinct mastodon have been discovered in Bullet Tree Falls and simple stone tools associated with extinct horse remains have been recovered in a cave in the Cayo District.

What these scant pieces of evidence tell us is that here too in Belize early humans arrived between 10,000 and 7,000 B.C.

Fluted projectile tool found near Lamanai, Orange Walk, Belize

Girl looking at a Mastodon bone found in Belize

BELIZE

Cueva de las Manos (Spanish for Cave of Hands) is a cave or a series of caves located Santa Cruz, Argentina,. The art in the cave dates from 13,000 to 9,000 years ago.

• Arlington Springs Man – (Human remains)• Blackwater Draw – (Archeological site)• Borax Lake Site – (Archeological site)• Buhl woman – (Human remains)• Calico Early Man Site – (Archeological site)• Caverna da Pedra Pintada – (Archeological site)• Cody complex - (Culture group)• Cueva de las Manos – (Cave paintings)• East Fork Site – (Archeological site)• Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site – (Archeological site)• Lindenmeier Site – (Archeological site)• Luzia Woman – (Human remains)• Marmes Rockshelter - (Archeological site)• Mastodon State Historic Site – (Archeological site)• Mummy Cave – (Archeological site)• Naia – (Human remains)• Paisley Caves – (Archeological site)• Peñon woman – (Human remains)• Post Pattern – (Archaeological culture)• San Dieguito Complex – (Archeological site)• Upward Sun River site – (Archeological site)• X̲á:ytem – (Archeological site)

Sample Paleo Indian Sites for further investigation

Most Paleoindian houses were small, circular structures. They were made of poles that leaned in at the top, tipi-style.Fire hearths were used for cooking. They also provided heat and light.

Naia’s (found in a cenote north of Tulum, Mexico.Buried for 12,000 or 13,000 years, she is one of the oldest and perhaps the most complete ancient American skeleton ever found.

Trans

Pacific

Theory