During the 1930’s, proof of a culture predating any other known at the time in the Americas was discovered. This culture was dubbed the Clovis culture, after the site’s location in Clovis, New Mexico, and existed about 11,000 years ago. Since then, there has been numerous sites found that contain evidence of people in America before Clovis, and they are known as the pre-Clovis culture. The existence of a pre-Clovis culture is still highly debated, with people sticking to the Clovis model of population, but there is a profusion of evidence that suggests the people of the Clovis culture were not the first ones to occupy the Americas. Whenever evidence is found in the archaeological world that suggests something newly discovered, or that an …show more content…
During the late 1970’s a mastodon bone was found at the Manis site in Washington, and through a reexamination of the bone in 2011, the tip of a bone projectile was seen embedded into the mastodon rib. Both pieces of bone were tested and are dated at 13,800 years old, over 2,000 years before the Clovis culture appeared. If the dating on these bones is valid, the Clovis model cannot be true, this find is “prompting archaeologists to consider that there might have been earlier migrations of settlers.” (Swaminathan 9). Michael Waters, who is responsible for the reevaluation of the mastodon bone, has also found convincing evidence at the Buttermilk Creek site in Texas. The oldest layer of sediment at this site held 20,000 pieces of tools, and is dated to be around 15,500 years old. Besides the sheer age of these finds, none of the tool resemble any found at other pre-Clovis sites. However, they are not exactly of Clovis origins either. The Buttermilk Creek tools’ “incorporation of bifacial and bladelet technology does recall Clovis culture, suggesting a lineage between the two.” (Swaminathan 9). Due to this suggested lineage, archaeologists are expecting to find something they call, proto-Clovis. Finding this would poke even more holes in the Clovis model, because it would suggest that Clovis evolved from the proto-Clovis
There are three parts in West’s book; the first part focuses on the sociological, ecological and economic relationships of the plains Indians, starting with the first establish culture of North America, the Clovis peoples. Going into extensive detail pertaining to early geology and ecology, West gives us a glimpse into what life on the early plains must have looked to early peoples. With vastly differing flora and fauna to what we know today, the early plains at the end of the first ice age, were a different place and lent itself to a diverse way of life. The Clovis peoples were accomplished hunters, focusing on the abundance of Pleistocene megafauna such as earlier, larger forms of bison. Though, little human remains were found, evidence of their s...
7. MacLachlan, Colin M. and Jamie E. Rodriguez O. The Forging of the Cosmic Race: A Reinterpretation of Colonial Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
"Creole Materialities: Archaeological Explorations Of Hybridized Realities On A North American Plantation. " Journal of Historical Sociology 23.1 (2010): 16-39. Academic Search Complete. 27 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Web.
-New Evidence Puts Man in North America 50,000 Years Ago. Sciencedaily. 2004. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041118104010.htm
In the article written by Heather Pringle, “The First Americans,” she combines findings of various archaeologists across the globe that have aimed to debunk a popular theory of migration to the Americas. As stated in the article, it is commonly believed that the first to arrive in the New World traveled across the Bering Straight, a passageway far north connecting the northeastern tip of Asia and Alaska. 13,000 years ago, these hunters were said to have followed the mammals and other large prey over the ice-free passageway. Evidence of their stone tools being left behind has led them to be called the Clovis people. This article uncovers new evidence presented by archaeologists that people migrated to the Americas in a different way, and much earlier.
“To discover, understand, and encounter the cultures and intricate natures of the California Indian people, it is necessary to search the past” –Nancy Wahl. Tracing back in California history, Spanish explorers, commanded by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, found the tip of what is now Baja California in the year 1533 and named it "California" after a mythical island in a popular Spanish novel. It is evident that from the time Spanish monarchs set foot in California, the world as Native Americans knew it was never the same again. The late 1700s initiated and marked the colonization of Spaniards in the “Golden State” which in turn provoked the massive persecution and extermination of Native American population as well as the disappearance of Native heritage and culture. As a result, the recurring despairs and adversities of the Indian population began.
Early Puebloan peoples moved into the Salinas Valley around the A.D. 1200s, and based on artifacts found at the site, began living ...
Another discovery was a Clovis blade which could have been used to cut grass for basketry, bedding or to make roofs for huts. A seven by seven foot square of gravel (which seems like the floor of a house) and tool fragments also supports the idea that the Clovis people might have stayed at the Gault for a long time. All these contradict the view of the Clovis people as hunters who led a nomadic lifestyle. Although the lifestyle of the Clovis people in the Gault seems to pose a little contradiction to the standard beliefs of Clovis people, where they were from and how they got there was much more controversial. The first explanation discussed in the article focused on the journey from Siberia, then in pursuit of their preys passed through ice-free corridors, reached the Great Plains and soon made extinct about 35 genera of big animals.
Edu/LA260/Aztecs.htm> Benson, Sonia. The “Aztec Religion” Culture, and Daily Life.” Early Civilizations in the Americas: Almanac Vol.2.Ed. Deborah J. Baker, Ph.D. Michigan: Farmington Hills, 501-527. Print.
Parada, P., & Pando, E. De. (2006). America ’ s First City ? The Case of Late Archaic Caral. In Andean Archaeology III North and South (Vol. 3, pp. 28–67). doi:10.1080/08858198809527931
This article also discusses the Clovis Culture, linking it to the First Americans through genetics. Feder also talks about the Clovis Culture in his book and points out the debate over its origins. However, it seems through genetic proof that shows a young-boy in the Clovis Culture shared DNA with first Americans this debate will end.
Since the beginning of discovery, the Maya have always been known as “an indigenous people from Mexico and Central America” in 1800 B.C. to about 800 A.D. (“The Maya Civilization,” 1/1). One of the most dominant societies of Mesoamerica, the Maya geographically centralized in one “block”: the Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala, Belize, Tabasco and Chiapas (Mexico), and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador (“Maya,” 1/1). Their constant location, over a period of almost 3000 years, shows that the Maya stayed safe from invasion by other peoples. The Maya Empire peaked at 600-800 A.D. and suffered a decline when the Spanish conquistadors rose.
Fagan, Brian M. (2001) "Mesoamerican Civilizations." The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of past Civilizations. New York: Thames & Hudson, 491-509.
This paper explores information gather from several articles that report on the Mayan Civilization throughout the years of their rise, their conquering, and their fall, as well as their interactions with other civilizations, specifically the Spanish. The Mayan civilization dates back before the 16th century, before they were conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors and the civilization diminished. During their reign, the Maya civilization thrived in what is now parts of Southern Mexico and Central America. However, their supremacy was struck down when the Spanish and their beliefs
...anges which occurred over a period of time and why these changes occurred but who was responsible for them. Archaeological findings are essential especially when there is a lack of written primary sources. The most common findings in this field include; cave art, pottery, and weaponry used for both hunting and fighting. In later cases of archaeological excavations written evidence was well provided and artifacts recovered at the site were used as an aid in studying a particular culture. Moreover, it is quite obvious that all of the following elements pertaining to archaeology have positively contributed to our further understanding of human culture in previous centuries. Discoveries by archeologists not only give us significant insight into our past but they also give us essential information necessary for a comprehensive understanding of our present and our future.