Module 02 Lecture Who Were the First Americans

Module #02 Lecture: “Who Were the First Americans & When Did They Arrive? ”

Part One: Populating the Americas (i. e. , the Western Hemisphere)

The Western Hemisphere was the last part of the planet to be settled by humans, who first appeared in Africa. Old, dated, conventional “Clovis-first” Theory of human settlement in the Americas assumed: Clovis-First Theory (Route 1) -- Beringia (land bridge) now submerged but exposed 70, 000 to 11, 000 years ago -- Ice free corridor erroneously estimated to have appeared around 15, 000 yrs ago; Paleo-Indians migrated south & developed into the Clovis Group by 13, 500 years ago. That the first Americans were Clovis people was accepted as THE ONLY ANSWER until some began to challenge it in the late 1970 s. Scholars now believe the ‘ice-free corridor’ was a migration route, but not before 12, 500 y. a. (NOTES: 11, 800 radiocarbon years roughly equals 13, 500 calendar years; “y. a. ” = “years ago, ” before the present)

N. American Megafauna Ground Sloth Short-faced bear American Mastodon Saber-tooth Cat

Clovis points are found all over the Continenta USA & as far south as Belize, but NOT in Alaska or Siberia or anywhere else on Earth.

Clovis Points of the Southeast AR TN MS AL AR 6

The Case for Pre. Clovis People (Route 2) • Coastal Entry hypothesis: Early humans avoided ice sheet by hugging coastline in small watercraft -- Archaeological sites: Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, western PA (16, 000 -19, 000 y. a. ) – Monte Verde, Chile (at least 14, 800 y. a. ; 1000 yrs. before earliest N. American Clovis site) A migration route from Australia & N. Zealand to S. America could also have been possible.

Monte Verde, an archaeological site in southern Chile that is older than the ice-free corridor, presents a problem that advocates of the Clovis-first theory cannot explain. 8

The first humans migrating to North America arrived by water (yellow arrow). Traveling overland (orange arrow) would only have been possible from about 12, 600 years ago until around 11, 000 years ago. The ice-free corridor was open before then, but humans could not have used it until plants and animals were present in numbers sufficient to support them. 9

Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, PA Why is it so difficult to find evidence of pre-Clovis people? • Not many of them. • Things they used were mostly made of wood and fibers, which degrade w/ time. • Water has risen; coastlines have receded.

What DNA Tells Us about the Earliest Americans • Native Americans (“Indians”) are the closest living relatives of early Americans. • Within the contemporary Native American population, there are 4 haplo-groups (A, B, C, D) • A, C, & D’s nearest kin live near the border of Mongolia and Siberian Russia. (No surprise. ) • Group B’s nearest kin are in China and Southeast Asia. (No surprise. ) • Humans have been in the Americas more than 20, 000 years; Group B arrived about 15, 000 years ago. (Hence, both these dates point to a much earlier arrival than the Clovis-First timeframe. )

Surprise! Haplo-group X • ‘X’ is found among Algonqian-speaking Native Americans living around the Great Lakes. • ‘X’ had previously been found only in Europe among Druze, Italian, & Finnish populations. Long walk across Eurasia? How did a genetic marker from a European population enter the Native American gene pool in prehistoric times? Atlantic crossing?

First Americans Timeline/Summary • OLD ASSUMPTIONS BASED ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE: – Paleo-Indians probably arrived c. 14, 000 y. a. & developed Clovis points by 13, 500 y. a. – Na-Dene People arrived 10, 000 -11, 000 y. a. – Eskimo-Aleut people arrived 5, 000 -7, 000 y. a. • WHAT NEW DNA EVIDENCE ADDS TO THE STORY: – Paleo-Indians (a. k. a. Groups A, C, & D) must have left Northeast Asia as early as 20, 000 to 30, 000 y. a. – Na-Dene People (a. k. a. Group B) arrived as early as c. 15, 000 y. a. – European genetic markers (Group X) were also present in prehistoric Americans’ gene pool. How was this possible?

Atlantic Coastal Route? The Atlantic Ocean was about 400 ft. lower & the Arctic ice sheets extended further south prior to the end of the last ice age. If Stone Age Europeans crossed the Atlantic and came to the Americas, the group most likely to have pulled off such a feat was the Solutreans of southern France & northern Spain, innovators of cave art & their own distinctive stone spear point.

Solutrean Cave Paintings ? ? Solutrean Stone Spear point One problem with the Atlantic Crossing theory is explaining why no Solutrean cave art exists in the Americas. Why would they bring their spearpoint technology but not their art?

Atlantic Coastal Route? (Route 3) The Solutrean Theory could explain why the distribution of Clovis points does not follow a north-to-south pattern, and more Clovis sites are found on the East Coast than any other part of the USA.

Clovis & Solutrean Clovis Different shapes, but similar technology. Might Solutrean points have been the predecessors of Clovis points?

Some archaeologists are convinced that this stone tool found at Cactus Hill, VA (center), represents the “missing link” between Solutrean & Clovis technologies. 16

OR…. Maybe the Clovis point was not based on any pre-existing technology. Maybe the Clovis point is the first great American invention.

Part Two: Who Was Kennewick Man? 18

Kennewick Man – 9500 yrs. old One of the oldest, most complete skeletons ever found in N. America was discovered in 1996 & quickly became the focus of disputes concerning his racial identity & which contemporary ethnic group should have custody of his remains. Scientists eventually convinced a judge that KM was old enough to be related to us all & should be studied for the benefit of everyone.

The legal battle pitted scientists against Native American tribes, with the former prevailing. After one anthropologist remarked on what he interpreted as KM’s “European features, ” white supremacists even claimed KM as their ancestor.

However, an analysis of Kennewick Man’s DNA completed in 2015 showed that his nearest living relatives were, in fact, Native Americans, though establishing a genetic link to any particular tribe was not possible. 23

Today there are individuals whose classification into a single so-called ‘racial’ category is problematic because of their multi-ethnicity. That being the case: How then is it possible to apply our contemporary racial classifications to individuals such as Kennewick Man, who lived thousands of years ago and are therefore related to us all? The answer is: We can’t. Former President Obama

Computer-generated, Multiethnic-Composite Woman, Time, 1993 Tiger Woods Vin Diesel Actor “The USA is a cross -breeding integration of humans from all the nations of the planet Earth…. . The North Americans [including Canadians and Mexicans] are evolutionarily cross-breeding into a single hybrid family of world humans. ”—Buckminster Fuller, 1981 News Anchor Soledad O’Brien

Part Three: Defining Race & Ethnicity 24

Race & Ethnicity • ‘Race’ is a modern idea based on perceived physical & biological differences. – The terms ‘race’ & ‘ethnicity’ are not interchangeable; each has a distinct meaning for social scientists. – Prior to DNA research, many wrongly assumed that huge differences existed among Earth’s various peoples due to their diverse appearances; racial hierarchies resulted. In the 21 st century, ‘race’ is useful only to describe an individual’s physical traits, such as skin color & the shapes of some facial features.

Race & Ethnicity • Slavery pre-dates the invention of ‘race. ’ – When I say that “race is a modern idea, ” it means that in the ancient world, peoples such as the Greeks & Romans believed themselves superior to other societies, but this sense of superiority was based on the achievements of their respective civilizations, not their skin color or a belief that they were biologically superior to other groups. – In the ancient world slavery was not based on the color of one’s skin; slaves & masters frequently shared the same skin color.

Race & Ethnicity • The idea of ‘race’ is not supported by genetic research & has no basis in science; only a tiny percentage of our genes (haplotype) determine our physical appearances. – From a DNA standpoint, it makes no sense for humans to think of themselves as divided into “races” b/c of skin color; DNA tells us that all humans are 99. 99% the same, no matter how different we may appear on the outside!

Race & Ethnicity • ‘Race’ is an illusion, but historically societies have used ‘race’ to serve the interests of a dominant group. Unfortunately, the racism they create is real. – “For a long time, people have tried to use the physical differences among groups to divide human beings into. . . ‘races’. Many schemes have been proposed; none has worked. There are too many exceptions, too much overlap among groups. Humans just don’t sort neatly into biological categories, despite all the attempts of human societies to create and enforce such distinctions. ”--Steve Olson, Mapping Human History

Race & Ethnicity • Because social scientists no longer consider “race” to be a useful concept, the focus of analysis has shifted to “ethnicity, ” i. e. , an emphasis on a cultural, linguistic, religious, and/or territorial community. – Today it is possible, particularly for white Americans, to enjoy some degree of “situational ethnicity, ” in their ethnic selfidentifications. Ex. Greek to friends & family, Polish at work, Welsh on official documents. – Skin color can be one ethnic indicator, but not necessarily. Ex. Black Caribbean Hispanics

Race & Ethnicity • We all share the same ancestors; here’s why: – “With each generation going back through time, the number of our ancestors doubles. [If we use 20 years as the measure of a human generation, ] just ten generations [200 yrs. ] ago, each of us had 1, 024 [direct ancestors]. 20 generations ago = more than 1 million ancestors; 30 generations ago (circa the year 1400) = more than 1 billion ancestors. EXCEPT, there were only around 375 million people on earth in 1400, which means the exponential rise in the number of our ancestors must break down at some point, & all our family trees must link up. ”-- Steve Olson, Mapping Human History

Racism, the belief that some groups of people are genetically superior to others, has no basis in science.

Part Four: Early Native Cultures of North America 32

In an early feat of genetic engineering, Native Americans developed maize (corn) from a wild grass, selectively cultivating its special characteristics over thousands of years. Beginning about 7000 yrs. ago, maize (corn), beans, squash, (and chilies, not pictured) revolutionized N. American agriculture and led to more settled existences for some Native American peoples.

Native American agriculture was superior to that of Europeans, which meant more people were freed from the land to live in cities. A number of impressive civilizations had risen and fallen in the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans. Corn Beans Squash

The Classic Maya (600 -800 CE) The Maya were the cultural innovators of Mesoamerica, developing the most impressive literature, mathematics, & art in the New World. Southern Mexico and Central America

The Mississippian (850 -1250 CE) Pyramid mounds were the chief characteristic of Mississippian culture. Most mounds did not contain burials but were used instead to denote the status of important residents & for ceremonial purposes. Monks Mound (Cahokia, IL) extends over an area larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.

Cahokia was the center of a vast riverine trading network. Artifacts such as turquoise & copper, which could only have come from hundreds of miles away, have been found there.

The Anasazi, (900 -1350 CE) Pueblo Bonito New Mexico In the American Southwest, the Anasazi managed for a time to successfully irrigate & farm the challenging desert environment. They also engaged in extensive road construction & turquoise mining/trading. A combination of climate change, environmental collapse, & hostile invaders most likely explains the abandonment of their early population centers. Their descendants were the cliffdwelling Native Americans encountered by the Spanish, who called them “Pueblo, ” meaning “village. ”

“The largest [planned village], at Pueblo Bonito, in Chaco Canyon, contained about 800 rooms and may have housed as many as 1200 persons. No larger apartment-house type construction would be seen on the continent until the late nineteenth century in New York City. ” -- Gary Nash, Red, White & Black: The Peoples of Early North America Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Late-period Anasazi villages were frequently built on sites easily defended against hostile northern invaders, such as the ancestors of the Navajo. In fact, the word “Anasazi” is a Navajo term that means “ancestral enemies. ” Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde, CO

Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, as it probably looked at the time the Spanish arrived in the fall of 1519.

“ 500 Nations” At least 20 -25 million people (& perhaps significantly more) were living in N. America at the time of European contact Each native group had developed a distinct culture because of specific adaptations made to their local environments.