Late Pleistocene exploration and settlement of the Americas by modern humans.
review · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31296740.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aat5447.
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Abstract
North and South America were the last continents to be explored and settled by modern humans at the end of the Pleistocene. Genetic data, derived from contemporary populations and ancient individuals, show that the first Americans originated from Asia and after several population splits moved south of the continental ice sheets that covered Canada sometime between ~17.5 and ~14.6 thousand years (ka) ago. Archaeological evidence shows that geographically dispersed populations lived successfully, using biface, blade, and osseous technologies, in multiple places in North and South America between ~15.5 and ~14 ka ago. Regional archaeological complexes emerged by at least ~13 ka ago in North America and ~12.9 ka ago in South America. Current genetic and archaeological data do not support an earlier (pre-17.5 ka ago) occupation of the Americas.
Medical subject headings
- Emigration and Immigration
- Gene Flow
- Indians, North American