Peopling of the Americas

Peopling of the Americas. . The people of Poverty Point were the ancestors of modern American Indians. But, people lived in North America long before Poverty Point. How and when did the first American Indians arrive on the continent?, For many years, archaeologists thought the Clovis culture was the oldest in the Americas. Clovis sites date to about 11,000 BC. They have distinctive stone points that are often found with the bones of extinct animals, especially mammoths. , Genetic studies show that American Indians descended from the people of northeast Asia. Based on the rate of genetic change, the two groups may have separated around 23,000 BC. Most scientists think people moved from Asia into the Americas by an inland path or by a coastal path. One route is from northeast Asia, across the Bering Land Bridge and through an ice-free corridor. The other route is along the West Coast of North America. , The timing of the earliest migration into America remains unsettled, but one thing is clear: the peopling of America didn't happen in a single migration event. Multiple groups, all descended from a northeast Asian population, moved into this new land at different times. , [Map caption] , Map showing possible migration routes of people entering North America from Siberia across the Bering Land Bridge. Thicker lines indicate earlier migrations, and thinner lines indicate later migrations.