Everything about Paleo-indians totally explained
Paleo-Indians or
Paleo-Americans were the ancient peoples of the
Americas who were present at the end of the last
Ice Age. The prefix "paleo" comes from the
Greek palaios meaning "ancient", and refers to the
Upper Paleolithic time period. The best known of these peoples were part of the
Clovis culture. However, credible evidence of pre-Clovis Paleo-Indian cultures don't yet exist. Although many claims have been made of the existence of Pre-Clovis Paleo Indians in the Americas, none have as of yet been verified.
Paleo-Americans are believed to be the first people to have inhabited a large number of areas in the Americas, though they didn't inhabit the continent as a whole. The current prevailing theory postulates that Paleo-Indians entered the Americas from
Asia via a land bridge (
Beringia) connecting eastern
Siberia with present-day
Alaska when sea levels were significantly lower because of a widespread glaciation period ending about 10,000 years ago. However, evidence suggestive of even earlier human occupation in South America at sites like
Monte Verde in
Chile (35,000 years), or in North America at
Topper (50,000 years ago), have generated an alternative theory that Paleo-Indians, or at least some groups of them, may have come from the
Pacific Islands or mainland Asia by watercraft.
Paleo-Americans are believed to have been
nomadic
hunter-gatherers (They hunted a type of
huge sloth, a type of
bison, various species of mammoths and
camels) whose following of animal migrations dictated where they camped. As the glaciers that covered much of North America receded in the warming climate following the most recent glacial maximum,
tundra foliage was the main plant growth. Paleo-Indians living in the tundra hunted both large mammals like prehistoric
bear, bison, and
caribou, as well as smaller mammals like
hare and
arctic fox. Paleo-Indians also lived in the
taiga, forested steppe, semi-arid temperate woodlands, and other
ecozones. Paleo-Americans are known to have hunted with both fluted stone-pointed wooden lancing spears and shorter spears thrown using an
atlatl; they probably also foraged for edible plants.
Paleo-Americans likely traveled in small groups of approximately 20 or 50 members of an extended family. Archaeological evidence of particular kinds of fluted stone have been uncovered, suggesting trade occurred between such groups.
Archaic stage inhabitants of the Americas are believed to be direct descendants of Paleo-Americans.
Recent research
An article in the American Journal of Human Genetics states "Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Native American haplogroups, including haplogroup X, were part of a single founding population, thereby refuting multiple-migration models."
Further Information
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