Alternatives to the Clovis First theory

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.[1] In 2011, following the excavation of an occupation site at Buttermilk Creek, Texas, a group of scientists identified the existence "of an occupation older than Clovis."[2][3] At the site in Buttermilk, archaeologists discovered evidence of hunter-gatherer group living and the making of projectile spear points, blades, choppers, and other stone tools. The tools found were made from a local chert and could be dated back to as early as 15,000 years ago.[3]

The primary support for this claim was that no solid evidence of pre-Clovis human habitation had been found. According to the standard accepted theory, the Clovis people crossed the Beringia land bridge over the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska during the ice age when there was a period of lowered sea levels, then made their way southward through an ice-free corridor east of the Rocky Mountains, located in present-day Western Canada, as the glaciers retreated.[4]

According to researchers Michael Waters and Thomas Stafford of Texas A&M University, new radiocarbon dates place Clovis remains from the continental United States in a shorter time window beginning 450 years later than the previously accepted threshold (13,200 to 12,900 BP).[5]

Since the early 2010s, the scientific consensus has changed to acknowledge the presence of pre-Clovis cultures in the Americas, ending the "Clovis first" consensus.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Fagundes, Nelson J.R.; et al. (2008). "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): 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013. PMC 2427228. PMID 18313026.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Waters2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Wilford, John (24 March 2011). "Arrowheads Found in Texas Dial Back Arrival of Humans in America". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  4. ^ Flannery, T. (2001). The Eternal Frontier: an ecological history of North America and its peoples. New York: Grove Press. pp. 173–185. ISBN 978-0-8021-3888-0.
  5. ^ Waters, Michael R.; Stafford, Thomas W. Jr. (2007). "Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas". Science. 315 (5815): 1122–1126. Bibcode:2007Sci...315.1122W. doi:10.1126/science.1137166. PMID 17322060. S2CID 23205379.
  6. ^ Waters, Michael; Stafford, Tom (2014). "The First Americans: A Review of the Evidence for the Late-Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas". Paleoamerican Odyssey. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-62349-192-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Chilean site verified as earliest habitation of A mericas; findings show Monte Verde dates back 12,500 years" (Press release). Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  8. ^ Swaminathan, Nikhil. "Destination: The Americas" (Press release). Archaeology.org. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.