[Coyoteman]

Wasn’t the ocean level lower during the period of initial migration? I’ve heard that mentioned from several sources but I’m not a sciencer so no real clue what’s valid or not.

Yes. That is why there was land between Siberian and Alaska, where now there is the Bering Straight. Sea levels were lower by some 400+ feet at the height of the last ice age.

If it is true, then all this back and forth about when and how in the migration is just the yammering of prancing dilettantes. If archaeologists wont go to where the evidence is, then they’re just pretending to be sciencers.

False. (I am a "sciencer" so I do have a clue).

The standard theory of human migration to the Americas has involved the land bridge. As research progressed, and dating became more accurate, the date of that land bridge grew younger, while the dates of archaeological sites in South American grew older. Pretty soon these two events merged, showing that there had to be other sources of humans coming into the Americas.

The early coastal migration is one such source; people came from the vicinity of Alaska and traveled down the west coasts of both North and South America before the poor folks trudging through Canada got very far. The current discussions of Clovis and connections to Europe are still another possibility for migration to the east coast. And there are other possibilities as well.

As far as "yammering of prancing dilettantes," "if archaeologists wont go to where the evidence is," and "they’re just pretending to be sciencers" -- I strongly suggest you put a cork in it. I have been a professional archaeologist for a lot of years and we're doing the best we can.

But if you think you can do better, get out there and do something. Maybe you could be a "sciencer" someday too!

[Grimmy]

Nope. I’ll never be a scientist. And, for exactly the reasons you point out in replying to my comment. I’m way too impatient, not willing to dig deeply into background info, etc etc.

Now, an attempt at a serious question...

If the land bridge was a result of the massive ice caps, how did those traveling across reach the land bridge through the ice fields?

The question comes from vague recollections of descriptions of the ice fields extending all the way down to the current New York city area in the North America region. Also, some about the ice fields being massive enough to gouge out the great lakes basins.

Was that a different ice age? Or did I get wires crossed somewhere?

[Caramelgal]

The early coastal migration is one such source; people came from the vicinity of Alaska and traveled down the west coasts of both North and South America before the poor folks trudging through Canada got very far.

Since sea levels were lower during this period due to heavy glaciation it would make sense that the overland route across Canada would have been a very arduous and slow going journey to say the least. And there is some evidence based on the study of coast marine and fauna life dating to the period of the earliest American and South American human settlements found thus far, that suggests that due to warmer and favorable ocean currents, the coastal route would have been much more hospitable and very feasible.

"People coming down the coast could have been doing the coastal equivalent of island-hopping," he says. "We are not envisioning a coastline bordered by towering walls of well-established ice. Conditions were highly variable along the coast and I think that there were some significant open areas. Early travellers were familiar with such environments in areas to the north, so this was nothing new."

Such “island hopping” would not have required sophisticated boat building or navigational skills. And given the choice between trudging across thousands of miles of frozen glaciers on foot and tracking Mammoth or Bison over such harsh terrain or going by boat; hugging the warmer coastline and hunting in grasslands and fishing and gathering abundant marine life, I think I’d rather take the boat.

[gleeaikin]

Re “yammering.”

It seems that European trained anthropologists and paleontologists have tended to ignore the possibilities of underwater research for the Ice Age periods. I don’t know whether this is tunnel vision or lack of grant money to explore under water which can be quite expensive. Graham Hancock has done a lot to spark interest in searching underwater with his books and he has a Graham Hancock Forum. I think that treasure hunter Ballard has gone in with some academic types on a project to explore off shore of Texas in the Caribbean.