The first Americans | Sophie's Soapbox

The accepted theory is that homo sapiens originated in Southern Africa circa 200,000 BCE and that they very slowly migrated North. As they did skin tone slowly lightened from black to brown and eventually to Caucasian in latitudes above 30 degrees. Earliest estimates are they arrived in Europe about 60,000 BCE then migrated East into Asia & Australia about 20,000 years later. Inhabitants of Northern Asia (current Siberia) then migrated over the ice to what is now Alaska and then continued South to warmer climes. Until recently the oldest settlement was in Clovis New Mexio. [from Wikipedia]“Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican archaeological culture, named for distinct stone and bone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna, particularly two Columbian mammoths, at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in 1936 and 1937, though Paleoindian artifacts had been found at the site since the 1920s. It existed from roughly 11,500 to 10,800 BCE (≈13,500-12,800 years Before Present) near the end of the Last Glacial Period.” Obviously, the ancestors of the inhabitants must have crossed the ice sheet much earlier.

However, more recently and even older settlement has been discovered in Monte Verde, Chili. [again from Wikipedia] Monte Verde is a Paleolithic archaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region. It contains two separate layers, the younger Monte Verde II, dating to 12,500 BCE, and an older, much more controversial layer (Monte Verde I) suggested to date to 16,500 BCE. The Monte Verde II site has been considered key evidence showing that the human settlement of the Americas pre-dates the Clovis culture by roughly 1,000 years (or 5,000 years if the controversial 18,500 BCE dates are confirmed). This contradicts the previously accepted “Clovis first” model which holds that settlement of the Americas began after 13,500 BCE. The Monte Verde findings were initially dismissed by most of the scientific community, but the evidence then became more accepted in archaeological circles.

Keep in mind that this site is 6,360 miles South of Clovis and 9,010 miles South of Alaska. Even at accelerated rates of migration, it would be reasonable to assume that the first American immigrants arrived about 20,000 BCE.

What is interesting is that the route to the Americas is largely above 60 degrees which is similar to the Scandinavian regions and yet there is no evidence the initial immigrants possessed light skin tone. I have many questions. When migrants reached the California & Baja areas why did they leave this ideal climate for warmer areas South? Why have the indigenous inhabitants )above 60 degrees latitude) not seen a lightening of their skin tone?

The first Americans

The accepted theory is that homo sapiens originated in Southern Africa circa 200,000 BCE and that they very slowly migrated North. As they did skin tone slowly lightened from black to brown and eventually to Caucasian in latitudes above 30 degrees. Earliest estimates are they arrived in Europe about 60,000 BCE then migrated East into Asia & Australia about 20,000 years later. Inhabitants of Northern Asia (current Siberia) then migrated over the ice to what is now Alaska and then continued South to warmer climes. Until recently the oldest settlement was in Clovis New Mexico. [from Wikipedia]“Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican archaeological culture, named for distinct stone and bone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna, particularly two Columbian mammoths, at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in 1936 and 1937, though Paleoindian artifacts had been found at the site since the 1920s. It existed from roughly 11,500 to 10,800 BCE (≈13,500-12,800 years Before Present) near the end of the Last Glacial Period.” Obviously, the ancestors of the inhabitants must have crossed the ice sheet much earlier.

Remember that this site is 6,360 miles South of Clovis and 9,010 miles South of Alaska. Even at accelerated rates of migration, it would be reasonable to assume that the first American immigrants arrived about 20,000 BCE.