Native Americans in the Americas: The Surprising Antiquity

New archaeological discoveries indicate that the earliest human migrations from Asia to the Americas began much earlier than we previously believed. Although the Bering Land Bridge migratory path has been expanded to include a Pacific Coast sea route, the entrada was always presumed to have begun about 13,000 years ago. New discoveries and DNA data push this date back to at least 22,000 years ago. This surprising antiquity means that we must reconsider the human role in the extinction of the Ice Age megafauna as well as the identity of the (possibly multiple) Asiatic peoples who populated the Americas.

Maria Smith is Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology and Anthropology (Biological Anthropology), Illinois State University. Her primary research focuses on pre-Contact health status (bioarchaeology) as it relates to subsistence, social status, age, and biological sex. Research areas are the Eastern and Western Tennessee Valley, Central Illinois, and Cochiti Reservoir (New Mexico).