Paleo-Indians
Paleo-Indians hunting a glyptodont Heinrich Harder (1858–1935), c. 1920. The Paleo-Indians, also known as the Lithic peoples, are the earliest known settlers of the Americas; the period's name, the Lithic stage, derives from the appearance of lithic flaked stone tools. |
Paleo-Indians were the
Traditional theories suggest that big-animal hunters crossed the
Stone tools, particularly projectile points and scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Archeologists and anthropologists use surviving crafted lithic flaked tools to classify cultural periods.[5] Scientific evidence links Indigenous Americans to eastern Siberian populations by the distribution of blood types, and genetic composition as indicated by molecular data, such as DNA.[6] There is evidence for at least two separate migrations.[7] From 8000 to 7000 BCE (10,000–9,000 BP) the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and lithic technology advances, resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle.
Migration into the Americas
Researchers continue to study and discuss the specifics of
The time range of the peopling of the Americas remains a source of substantial debate. Conventional estimates have it that humans reached North America at some point between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Periodization
Sites in Alaska (eastern Beringia) exhibit some of the earliest evidence of Paleo-Indians,[20][21][22] followed by archaeological sites in northern British Columbia, western Alberta and the Old Crow Flats region in the Yukon.[23] The Paleo-Indians would eventually flourish all over the Americas.[24] These peoples were spread over a wide geographical area; thus there were regional variations in lifestyles. However, all the individual groups shared a common style of stone tool production, making knapping styles and progress identifiable.[22] This early Paleo-Indian period's lithic reduction tool adaptations have been found across the Americas, utilized by highly mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 60 members of an extended family.[25][26] Food would have been plentiful during the few warm months of the year. Lakes and rivers were teeming with many species of fish, birds and aquatic mammals. Nuts, berries and edible roots could be found in the forests and marshes. The fall would have been a busy time because foodstuffs would have to be stored and clothing made ready for the winter. During the winter, coastal fishing groups moved inland to hunt and trap fresh food and furs.[27]
Late ice-age climatic changes caused plant communities and animal populations to change.[28] Groups moved and sought new supplies as preferred resources were depleted.[24] Small bands utilized hunting and gathering during the spring and summer months, then broke into smaller direct family groups for the fall and winter. Family groups moved every 3–6 days, possibly traveling up to 360 km (220 mi) per year.[29][30] Diets were often sustaining and rich in protein; clothing was made from a variety of animal hides that were also used for shelter construction.[31] During much of the early and middle Paleo-Indian periods, inland bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct megafauna.[24] Large Pleistocene mammals included the giant beaver, steppe wisent, giant muskox, mastodon, woolly mammoth and ancient reindeer.[32]
The Clovis culture, appearing around 11,500 BCE (c. 13,500 BP) in North America, is one of the most notable Paleo-Indian archaeological cultures.[33] It has been disputed whether the Clovis culture were specialist big-game hunters or employed a mixed foraging strategy that included smaller terrestrial game, aquatic animals, and a variety of flora.[34][35] Paleo-Indian groups were efficient hunters and carried a variety of tools. These included highly efficient fluted-style spear points, as well as microblades used for butchering and hide processing.[36] Projectile points and hammerstones made from many sources are found traded or moved to new locations.[37] Stone tools were traded and/or left behind from North Dakota and Northwest Territories, to Montana and Wyoming.[38] Trade routes also have been found from the British Columbia Interior to the coast of California.[38]
The glaciers that covered the northern half of the continent began to gradually melt, exposing new land for occupation around 17,500–14,500 years ago.
From c. 10,500 – c. 9,500 BCE (c. 12,500 – c. 11,500 BP), the broad-spectrum big game hunters of the Great Plains began to focus on a single animal species: the bison (an early cousin of the American bison).[41] The earliest known of these bison-oriented hunting traditions is the Folsom tradition. Folsom peoples traveled in small family groups for most of the year, returning yearly to the same springs and other favored locations on higher ground.[42] There they would camp for a few days, perhaps erecting a temporary shelter, making and/or repairing some stone tools, or processing some meat, then moving on.[41] Paleo-Indians were not numerous, and population densities were quite low.[43]
Classification
Paleo-Indians are generally classified by lithic reduction or
Archaeologists are piecing together evidence that the earliest human settlements in North America were thousands of years before the appearance of the current Paleo-Indian time frame (before the late glacial maximum 20,000-plus years ago).[49] Evidence indicates that people were living as far east as Beringia before 30,000 BCE (32,000 BP).[50][51] Until recently, it was generally believed that the first Paleo-Indian people to arrive in North America belonged to the Clovis culture. This archaeological phase was named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico, where in 1936 unique Clovis points were found in situ at the site of Blackwater Draw, where they were directly associated with the bones of Pleistocene animals.[52]
Recent data from a series of archaeological sites throughout the Americas suggest that Clovis (thus the "Paleo-Indians") time range should be re-examined. In particular, sites such as
South America
In South America, the site of Monte Verde indicates that its population was probably territorial and resided in their river basin for most of the year. Some other South American groups, on the other hand, were highly mobile and hunted big-game animals such as gomphotheres and giant sloths. They used classic bifacial projectile point technology, such as Fishtail points.
The primary examples are populations associated with El Jobo points (Venezuela), fish-tail or Magallanes points (various parts of the continent, but mainly the southern half), and Paijan points (Peru and Ecuador) at sites in grasslands, savanna plains, and patchy forests.[65]
The dating for these sites ranges from c. 14,000 BP (for Taima-Taima in Venezuela) to c. 10,000 BP.[66] The bi-pointed El Jobo projectile points were mostly distributed in north-western Venezuela; from the Gulf of Venezuela to the high mountains and valleys. The population using them were hunter-gatherers that seemed to remain within a certain circumscribed territory.[67][68] El Jobo points were probably the earliest, going back to c. 14,200 – c. 12,980 BP and they were used for hunting large mammals.[69] In contrast, the fish-tail points, dating to c. 11,000 B.P. in Patagonia, had a much wider geographical distribution, but mostly in the central and southern part of the continent.[70][71]
Archaeogenetics
The
Human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the
Evidence from full genomic studies suggests that the first people in the Americas diverged from Ancient East Asians about 36,000 years ago and expanded northwards into Siberia, where they encountered and interacted with a different Paleolithic Siberian population (known as
Transition to archaic period
The Archaic period in the Americas saw a changing environment featuring a warmer, more arid climate and the disappearance of the last megafauna.[88] The majority of population groups at this time were still highly mobile hunter-gatherers, but now individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. Thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization like the Southwest, Arctic, Poverty, Dalton, and Plano traditions. These regional adaptations would become the norm, with reliance less on hunting and gathering, and a more mixed economy of small game, fish, seasonally wild vegetables, and harvested plant foods.[30][89] Many groups continued to hunt big game but their hunting traditions became more varied and meat procurement methods more sophisticated.[28] The placement of artifacts and materials within an Archaic burial site indicated social differentiation based upon status in some groups.[90]
See also
- Adams County Paleo-Indian District – (Archeological site)
- 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)
- Folsom Tradition- (Culture group)
- Fort Rock Cave – (Archeological site)
- Hiscock Site – (Archeological site)
- Kennewick Man – (Human remains)
- Leanderthal Lady – (Human remains)
- 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)
- Sandia Man Cave – (Archeological site)
- Upward Sun River site – (Archeological site)
- Witt Site – (Archeological site)
- X̲áːytem– (Archeological site)
- Quad site – (Archeological site)
Indigenous peoples of the Americas portal
Notes
- ^ Paleolithic specifically refers to the period between c. 2.5 million years ago and the end of the Pleistocene in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is not used in New World archaeology.
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Further reading
- Jablonski, Nina G. (2002). The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World. California Academy of Sciences. ISBN 978-0-940228-49-8.
- Peter Charles Hoffer (2006). The Brave New World: A History of Early America. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8483-2.
- Meltzer, David J (2009). First peoples in a new world: colonizing ice age America. University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 978-0-520-25052-9.
External links
- Atlas of the Human Journey, Genographic Project, National Geographic
- Journey of Mankind – Genetic Map – Bradshaw Foundation
- The Paleoindian Period – United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Alabama Archaeology: Prehistoric Alabama – The University of Alabama, Department of Archaeology
- The Paleoindian Database – The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology.
- Paleoindians and the Great Pleistocene Die-Off – American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Humanities Center