Knowra Peopling of the Americas Peopling of the Americas The prehistoric migration and settlement of North and South America by human populations. Archaeological, genetic, and environmental evidence trace multiple routes and periods of movement.
Beringia : The land and coastal region linking northeastern Asia and northwestern North America during periods of low sea level. It formed the main land corridor between Asia and North America during much of the last ice age.
Monte Verde : An archaeological site in southern Chile with evidence of human occupation dating to about 14,500 years ago. Its age places people far south before the traditional Clovis-first chronology.
Ancient DNA : Genetic material recovered from ancient human remains and other archaeological specimens. It reveals ancestry and population relationships that artifacts alone cannot establish.
Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site : A Siberian archaeological site with human occupation dating to about 32,000 years ago. It documents people in northeastern Siberia well before the earliest known American settlements.
Pleistocene megafauna extinction : The disappearance of many large animal species near the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Human arrival coincided with these losses, prompting debate over hunting, climate, and their interaction.
Bering land bridge : The exposed continental shelf that connected Siberia and Alaska when sea levels fell. It offered a terrestrial route into Alaska before rising seas submerged it.
Clovis culture : A widespread North American archaeological culture known for distinctive fluted stone projectile points, dating mainly to about 13,000 years ago. Clovis artifacts once defined the earliest accepted settlement horizon across much of North America.
Population genetics : The study of genetic variation within and between populations and how it changes over time. It helps reconstruct ancestral relationships, bottlenecks, and later population movements.
Ancient Beringians : An ancient genetic lineage identified from a roughly 11,500-year-old infant burial in Alaska. Their genome supports an early branching population history within Beringia.
Paleo-Indians : The earliest known human populations and archaeological traditions in the Americas during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The term covers the early societies formed after migration and settlement began.
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