Posted on 09/24/2004 9:18:58 AM PDT by zide56
South Carolina dig could move habitation date back another 12,000 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Another few thousand years now, is it? *sigh*
I am suspicious of the Clovis interpretation, as I don't think that the early inhabitants could have entered the Western Hemisphere and then diffuse across so many ecosystems so quickly. How does one transition from, say, the Pacific Northwest with rain forests, to the semi-arid California coast, to the deserts of Mexico, to the rainforests of the Central American mountains, to the Andes, and on to Tierra del Fuego.
The survival skills which I would need for one environment would not be very useful somewhere else. Certainly, those people were pretty bright and "in tune" with the environment so that they could survive, and presuambly prosper, in harsh surroundings, but I just don't see how they can populate the Western Hemisphere as quickly as the Clovis model demands.
I admit that I don't know where pre-Clovis people would have come from. There apparently isn't much evidence of humans in east Siberia prior to about 18000 BC (or is that 18000 years ago), although I wonder how thoroughly the fossil record in Siberia is known.
Very interesting.
Maybe there were people here many thousands of years earlier than we think.
I hope the guy is right. Its fun to see "conventional wisdom" turned on its ear.
Please ping me, if any further info comes up. Thanks.
"How does one transition from, say, the Pacific Northwest with rain forests, to the semi-arid California coast, to the deserts of Mexico, to the rainforests of the Central American mountains, to the Andes, and on to Tierra del Fuego."
I'm not sure those conditions existed like that at that time.
ping
What if the dating methods are too extended and the tectonic plates made sea crossings shorter....
Good point. However, I WILL not let possible facts get in the way of my predispositions. I will continue to argue that the ecosystems were sufficiently varied that diffusion from proto-Alaska to proto-Tierra del Fuego and from the mountainous western half of North America across the proto-Great Plains would take longer than the 1000 or so years allotted by the Clovis model.
But your point is certainly well-taken. I don't enough about the ecosystems of North America ca 10,000 BC and 20,000 BC to be more specific.
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list worthy?
Since it was an Ice Age, my guesses were the climates of "cold" "colder" "coldest with ice" and "coldest with dirt[no ice]" and "daaaannnngggg".
Further, it occurs to me that certain locations such as Miami and Palm Springs have not been sufficiently explored for evidence of early snowbird migrations, especially from the northeast. I could be convinced by a find of primitive golf carts.
All kidding aside, transitioning over 1000 years might not be that hard, given that the average age was 40yrs [or less!!]. Thats over 20 generations, or more if you accept a lesser average age.
These folks were nomadic....who knows if the herds they followed migrated hundreds of miles or not?
If a tribe was successful, it would have to split and those splinter groups would have to move a sufficient distance away so as not to impact the hunting of each.
So I think it COULD be possible.
But I am certainly no expert.
Is there any evidence of a 'world wide' flood in those archeological digs?
Two areas I feel are often neglected are the depths of the earth and the depths of the sea. I would really like to have this new information rejuvenate the field of archeology and related fields.
The life expectancy was probably more like 35 years, I would guess (and I really don't know), so that's even more generations.
Still, I don't buy a migration from proto-Alaska to proto-Patagonia, or even proto-Palm Beach, over a 1000-year period. Some of those bands which are nomadically wandering around are going to die-off, for instance. Others are going to find a comfortable valley and, not knowing that an even more comfortable valley is on the other side of that high ridge, will stay put. I'm not convinced that the population pressures are sufficiently high to prompt migration out of that comfortable valley.
I don't have a good hard argument yet. The Clovis hypothesis just never has smelled quite right.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs -- Weekly Digest #9
PreColumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis
Sifting for Clues at W.Md. Dig
Posted by SunkenCiv
On General/Chat 09/15/2004 8:46:53 AM PDT · 4 replies · 71+ views
Washington Post ^ | Saturday, September 11, 2004 | Mary Otto
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal found elsewhere on this site has suggested people might have camped here and built fires by the north branch of the Potomac River, anywhere from 9,000 years ago to as much as 16,000 years ago... Some tools and bones have been found in Pennsylvania and Virginia that date well before the Clovis era, although scientists debate whether the dating is accurate.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Kennewick Man (9,300 years ago) as well as Spirit Cave Man (9,400 years ago and the oldest mummy ever found in the Americas) died in their mid-40's.
Also if you are being displaced by a stronger tribe to the north of you, you should head south.
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