It could be assumed that an accurate understanding of America’s ancient past has been fairly well established in 2010; but in truth, it continues to be unearthed and pieced together by scholars from various scientific disciplines. It seems that the deeper contemporary scientists dig, the earlier in time the first humans arrived in America.
Multi-disciplinary efforts
It is not just scholars in the field of archaeology that are at the forefront of major discoveries or elaborate theories regarding America’s oldest ancestors. Anthropologists, geneticists, micro-biologists, and even linguists are also involved in uncovering secrets about the ancient humans that initially inhabited America. While it is unlikely that we will know the complete reality of the original inhabitants, several theories proposing how and when they arrived on this continent have been based upon evidence thus far compiled by the various researchers.
"Beringia" was a gateway
The prevalent theory concerning the arrival of ancient peoples in the western world revolves around the crossing of a land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska. This land bridge, referred to as "Beringia" is estimated to have existed for a period of time about 35,000 years ago and then appeared again around 22,000 years ago. Today, the Bering Strait separates Asia and North America because the coastlines acquired their present shapes around 6,000 years ago. It is believed that people traveling from Asia used the land bridge to migrate into the Western Hemisphere.
The original pilgrims?
What is not conclusively known is where these pilgrims specifically originated, or what kind of people they were, and why they came to this land. Much of what we understand about these ancient people stems from scientific theories based upon physical evidence thus far compiled by researchers. Such little trace remains of these people it is surprising we even know of them at all, but most scholars agree that these wanderers were the earliest ancestors of more identifiable Native Americans such as the prehistoric pilgrims referred to as the Clovis peoples.
The Clovis Culture
Sprouting from the ancient ones a prehistoric, Paleo-Indian culture known as the "Clovis" culture has been identified through archaeological evidence. Many distinctively made "Clovis" spear points have been found in mammoth kill sites as these people hunted woolly mammoth living in North America at that time. Through radiocarbon dating, archaeologists' best estimates are that this culture existed in western North America around 13, 500 to 13,000 years ago.
Scholars are uncertain about much regarding these prehistoric humans, but speculation attributes to them characteristics similar to their hunter-gatherer descendants. They were extremely aware of their inhospitable surroundings. A focus on survival with real concerns about living and dying may have forced these people to value family and clan, possibly developing a primitive spirituality from necessity. Certainly, descendants of these ancient pilgrims were quite religious and sensitive to the environment.
Source: Examiner