For centuries, scientists have debated the origins of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, commonly known as Native Americans. Where did these diverse groups come from, and how did they arrive in the Americas? In recent decades, archaeological discoveries and advancements in genetics have shed light on their complex migration histories.
When did humans first arrive in the Americas?
Humans first arrived in the Americas during the last ice age, at least 15,000 years ago. Some archaeological sites document human presence even earlier, as far back as 20,000 years ago. Traditional Native American creation stories speak of people being on the land since time immemorial. However, most scientists agree that the first people migrated from Asia to Alaska across an ancient land bridge called Beringia. As the glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age, Beringia was flooded with sea water and disappeared beneath the Bering Strait.
The earliest well-established archaeological sites documenting the first settlers are found throughout North and South America, dating to around 15,000-14,000 years ago. Some of the most significant sites are:
- Monte Verde, Chile – 14,800 years ago
- Paisley Caves, Oregon – 14,300 years ago
- Buttermilk Creek, Texas – 15,500 years ago
- Page-Ladson, Florida – 14,550 years ago
- Pendejo Cave, New Mexico – 12,400 years ago
These early sites contain stone tools and sometimes bones of extinct Ice Age animals like mammoths and mastodons. The wide distribution shows that humans had spread quickly down the west coasts of North and South America.
How did Native Americans migrate to and settle the Americas?
There were likely multiple waves of migration into the Americas over thousands of years. The initial migrations likely followed a Pacific coastal route, with people subsisting on rich marine resources. Other groups migrated through an interior continental route, as evidenced by sites like Buttermilk Creek. Scholars group the early Native American peoples into archaeological complexes based on tool technology:
- Clovis – 13,500-12,800 years ago. Named after Clovis, New Mexico. Distinctive fluted projectile points.
- Fishtail/Folsom – 12,800-12,200 years ago. Named after Folsom, New Mexico. Fluted points
- Plainview – 12,200-10,900 years ago. Named after Plainview, Texas. Unfluted lanceolate points.
These Paleoindian groups were highly mobile hunter-gatherers. They hunted Pleistocene megafauna, including mammoths, mastodons, camels, horses, and giant bison. Over time, they expanded across North and South America. By around 11,000 years ago, humans had settled throughout the Americas, from Alaska to Chile.
After the extinction of the megafauna, Native Americans transitioned to hunting smaller game like deer, rabbits, and birds, as well as gathering wild plants. This led to diversification into many distinct cultures and ways of life.
Archaic Period (8,000 – 1,000 BCE)
The Archaic period was characterized by specialized regional adaptations and increased sedentism in some areas. In the Great Basin region, Archaic peoples perfected hunting techniques and created Lake Mohave and Pinto projectile points. On the west coast, rich marine resources led to the development of permanent villages. In the Eastern Woodlands, trade networks emerged connecting many far-flung groups. Major cultural complexes of this era include:
- Old Copper Complex – Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi (5,000 – 3,000 BCE). Used native copper tools.
- Poverty Point – Lower Mississippi Valley (1,700 – 1,100 BCE). Massive earthworks.
- Archaic Southwest – Basketmakers (1,500 BCE – 1 CE). Predecessors to Pueblos.
Woodland Period (1,000 BCE – 1,000 CE)
During the Woodland period, Native Americans adopted pottery and the bow and arrow, enabling more efficient food storage and hunting. Mound building cultures became widespread across eastern North America. Major cultural complexes include:
- Adena (1,000 – 200 BCE) – Ohio River Valley mounds
- Hopewell (200 BCE – 500 CE) – Ohio and Illinois River Valley mound builders
Innovations of the later Woodland Period included tobacco cultivation and widespread trade networks. The Adena, Hopewell and Mississippian mound builders are considered precursors to tribes encountered by European settlers, like the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muskogee Creek, and Natchez.
Mississippian Period (800 – 1600 CE)
The Mississippian period represents the pinnacle of mound building cultures and the transition to more complex, hierarchical Native American societies across the Midwest, South, and Southeast. Major Mississippian settlements include Cahokia in Illinois, Spiro in Oklahoma, and Etowah in Georgia. Mississippian peoples were the first farmers of corn, beans, and squash and participated in far-flung trade networks. By the time Europeans arrived, many major Mississippian sites had been abandoned but their descendants kept their cultural traditions alive, including the Muskogee, Chickasaw, Alabama, Koasati, and Natchez peoples.
Genetic insights into Native American origins
In recent decades, advances in genetics have greatly contributed to knowledge about how Native Americans populated the Americas. Here are some key findings:
- Native Americans descend primarily from Siberian populations who share ancestry with moden indigenous groups like Kets, Nganasans, and Yukaghirs.
- Ancient Beringian groups, like those found at Upward Sun River, split into two main genetic branches about 20,000 years ago:
- Northern Native Americans, ancestral to tribes throughout North America and northern South America.
- Southern Native Americans, ancestral to tribes south of the Amazon Basin down to southern Chile and Argentina.
- After initially populating the Americas, ancestry diversified through local evolution and admixture between groups over thousands of years.
- Modern Native Americans show ancestry from three major streams – North, Central, and South America.
Overall, genetics supports archaeological models showing ancestral Native Americans migrated from Siberia in multiple successive waves. DNA analysis also sheds light on post-Ice Age population movements and relationships between different tribes across the Americas.
Conclusion
In summary, Native Americans are indigenous peoples who have inhabited the Americas for at least 15,000 years. The earliest Americans were Siberian populations who crossed the ancient Beringia land bridge during the last ice age and spread rapidly down the west coasts of North and South America. Over thousands of years, Native American culture diversified into a variety of distinct ways of life, from the hunter-gatherers of the Great Basin to the mound building societies of the Eastern Woodlands and American Bottom. Advances in archaeology and genetics continue to provide insights into the origins, migrations, and relationships between the many diverse Native American peoples. While debates remain, most scholars agree the ancestors of Native Americans were tenacious explorers who made an epic journey from Siberia to populate the Americas. Their descendants carry on their legacy as the original inhabitants of these lands.