Origins of Prehistoric People in North and South America Essay

Introduction Researches on the beginnings of coastal adaptation and exploitation of maritime adaptations have been carried out by John Erlandson and colleagues. There are existing anthropological theories which are over 10, 000 BP but Erlandson believes that the societies of hunter-gather used aquatic resources and among them were popular terrestrial hunter-gatherers (Slaymaker, 2007). This has been challenging since it is difficult to define exactly constitutes of fully maritime culture. There is also the change in environment in which there are rise and fall of sea levels and erosion of coastal environments. This paper discusses different theories that have emerged on the origin of early Americans. It looks at the Clovis first model, coastal migration theory which is based on Kelp Highway Hypothesis. Further it describes the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets that might have facilitated the migration of early Americans. Finally it explains the scientific method and the reason why this metho d cannot be applied in determining the origin of the first Americans. The origin of the North and South America has raised concerns for many years. Archaeologists in 1927, who was working near Folsom, New Mexico found a stone spear point embedded in the rib cage of an extinct bison. This gave a hint of the existence of mammals and that humans had arrived in North America in the late Pleistocene. This was about 11000 years ago. Years later, a long spear was also discovered near Clovis in New Mexico that was believed to have existed 11200 years ago (Straus, 1996). Clovis first theory At this time of the discovery of Clovis and Folsom, Clovis first theory with little evidence developed and was accepted as fact. The theory claimed... ... References Grandson, J. (1994). Early hunter-gatherers of the California coast. New York: Plenum Press. Erlandson, J., Rick, T. C., & Vellanoweth, R. L. (2008). A canyon through time: Archaeology, history, and ecology of the Tecolote Canyon area, Santa Barbara County, California. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. Goudie, A., & Parker, A. (2013). Global environments through the Quaternary: Exploring environmental change. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lucassen, J., Lucassen, L., & Manning, P. (2010). Migration history in world history: Multidisciplinary approaches. Leiden: Brill. Slaymaker, O., & Kelly, R. E. J. (2007). The cryosphere and global environmental change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. Straus, L. G. (1996). Humans at the end of the Ice Age: The archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. New York [u.a.: Plenum Press.