Peopling of the Americas

Terms Aboriginal peoples is a collective name for the original peoples of Canada and their descendants. Archaeologists are persons who study the people, customs and life of earlier times by examining the remains of earlier cultures. BP is an acronym standing for “Before the Present.” Beringia is a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska believed to have existed during the last Ice Age.

World View refers to one’s view of the world and relationship to it, which dictates the way one relates to people and the environment. Artifacts are human made objects or products of human skill or activity. Radiocarbon dating is a method for determining the age of ancient organic materials based on the amount of carbon that still exists in the materials. Paleoindians is a term used for the first peoples of North America.

DNA – molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid that contain the genetic information for each living being Clovis people – refers to an ancient hunting people based upon spear projectile points that were uncovered at an archaeological site at Clovis, New Mexico Solutrean people – refers to an ancient culture of hunting people from western Europe (Spain’s northern coast) Linguistics is the study of the structure of languages. Debert is the oldest archaeological site (10600 years BP) and the only Paleoindian site in Nova Scotia. (p. 16)

A flint knapper is an individual who uses stone to create stone tools. The Plano period featured people who descended from the Paleoindians. They were hunters of bison. Paradigm Bias refers to the inclination to accept without question a set of related assumptions and values __________________________________________________ Aboriginal Creation beliefs (refer to p of text)

Migration Theories (refer to p of text) : Land Route : Pacific Route : Atlantic Route

C. Loring Brace, a professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Members of the Chipewa and Omaha tribes are linked with the Jomon, the people of early Japan. /

Brace proposed a dendogram which links the people of the old and New Worlds according to greatest physical similarities of the skull.

The Jomon people is what archaeologists have called fisher-hunter-gatherers who lived on the islands of what is now Japan between about 14,000 BC and AD 500.

Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley

Archaeological Sites (map – p.18 of text) Debert, NS Folsom, New Mexico Clovis, New Mexico Cactus Hill, Virginia Monte Verde, Chile Tiama-Tiama, Venezuela Gault, Texas pages/2009novembercactushillpage1.htm

Dr. Michael Collins, research professor in anthropology at Texas State University, pictured at the Gault, Texas site.

Undergraduate students from Texas A&M University at work at the Gault site.

Gault Clovis Site, Texas

Migration Theories Web Sites

Aboriginal Remains Bones of Contention – Refer to the accompanying article to answer the following questions. 1. a) Fully explain what has caused the Aboriginal people to be so upset. b) Describe the basic arguments used by both sides in this controversy. 2. Describe the incident that showed “how low” some early anthropologists would go in searching for answers. 3. Do you believe that scientists should be able to use ancient human remains for research purposes? If so, how and why? If not, why not?

Kennewick is a city in southeastern Washington. It was here in 1996 where a set of human remains were found, leading to an ongoing legal controversy between scientists and local Aboriginal groups. Go to page 18 of your text to answer the following questions regarding this controversy. 1. a) Who is Kennewick Man? b) How old are his remains believed to be? 2. Describe the legal controversy that has evolved regarding his remains