PaleoIndians: First Inhabitants of the Americas

Introduction: The First Peoples of the Americas

One of the earliest known inhabitants of the New World — the Americas, which eventually became the United States of America — are said to be peoples who originated from Asia. Studies have shown that the first people of the Americas arrived during the end of the Ice Age. These first inhabitants came by way of a land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska "at the Arctic Ocean" (Kane and Keeton 1995). Known as the Bering land bridge, this passage emerged after the sheets of ice that had covered the Arctic Ocean melted as a result of the Ice Age's end. The people who crossed this bridge carried with them stone tools characteristic of the Paleolithic Period (Stone Age).

The Ice Age is also referred to as the Pleistocene Epoch, and the inhabitants of the Americas during this time period are called the PaleoIndians (Microsoft Encarta 2002). Because of the dominant presence of this particular group of settlers in early America, this period became popularly known as the PaleoIndian Era. Many archaeologists and geologists have found evidence that describes both the physical traits and the culture of the PaleoIndians. The central argument of this paper is that the first known inhabitants of the Americas were the PaleoIndians of the Ice Age. This thesis is supported by geological evidence and secondary scholarly sources. In addition to the geological findings, brief information about the life and culture of the PaleoIndians is discussed.

There has been considerable debate over when the first inhabitants arrived in the Americas. Many scholars argue that no human settlement could have occurred prior to the end of the Ice Age, since the Americas were not accessible during that period due to the large bodies of water surrounding the continent and the sheets of ice covering it. However, as the Ice Age neared its end, the Bering land bridge connecting Siberia (in Asia) to Alaska (in North America) is believed to have provided the route by which PaleoIndians reached the Americas.

Debate Over the Timing of Arrival

The Ice Age ended approximately 70,000 years ago, but many scholars contend that the PaleoIndians arrived in the Americas only about 10,000 to 28,000 years ago — a figure that stands in contrast to an earlier estimate placing their arrival between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago (Kane and Keeton 1995).

The Clovis Point and PaleoIndian Culture

Approximately 12,000 to 14,000 years ago, a radical environmental shift toward a warmer climate gave PaleoIndians "a clearer path to America" (Kane and Keeton 1995). However, the humid and wet conditions that accompanied warmer temperatures made it difficult for many artifacts of the PaleoIndian Era to survive and be preserved, due to the acidity of the soil. Despite this challenge, one important category of physical evidence has been found in numerous parts of the Americas and continues to support the theory that PaleoIndians inhabited the continent during the Ice Age.

The Clovis point is the most significant artifact associated with PaleoIndian presence. First identified in Siberia, similar examples of this tool were subsequently found in U.S. states including New Mexico, Montana, and Colorado (Rose 1997). These discoveries were made after geologists studied soil stratigraphy — the layering of soil deposits — as part of broader research aimed at locating important artifacts or preserved fossils relating to the first inhabitants of the Americas. The Clovis point is a crudely shaped hunting tool made of stone, often referred to as a spearpoint, and it became a key piece of evidence for understanding PaleoIndian culture.

One of the conclusions drawn from the Clovis point discovery is that PaleoIndians depended heavily on hunting as their primary source of food and clothing. During this period, the now-extinct woolly mammoth is believed to have roamed the Americas, and sustained hunting by PaleoIndians for food is thought to have contributed to its extinction. Woolly mammoths provided not only a rich supply of protein and fat — essential during the cold conditions of the Ice Age — but also skins that served as protection against the harsh climate. In addition to mammoths, PaleoIndians hunted a variety of other wild animals that existed during that era.

Conclusion

The physical traits of PaleoIndians closely resemble those of Asian populations. This connection is supported by fossil evidence that helped researchers determine the geographic and temporal origins of these people, both through analysis of bone structure development and through the use of radiocarbon dating (Microsoft Encarta 2002).

This paper has demonstrated through various secondary sources that the PaleoIndians inhabited the Americas during the near end of the Ice Age, and that the Bering land bridge made it possible for these peoples to travel from Asia to the North American continent. Furthermore, the discovery of fossils and artifacts dating to the relevant time periods confirms that PaleoIndians existed and lived in the Americas as hunters and nomads — a lifestyle necessitated by the changing weather and climate as the Ice Age drew to a close. Through an examination of geological and meteorological evidence, this paper supports the conclusion that the PaleoIndians are the first known inhabitants of the Americas, the landmass now known as the United States of America.