1. Peopling of Mesoamerica
When did people first appear in the Americas?
Where did they come from?
What did they look like?
Early Mesoamerican Sites

2. Geological Background
50, ± Wisconsin Glacial Period
The presence of land corridors from Beringia allows the possibility of human passage, but convincing evidence is still wanting.
>11,500 Cary Advance
11,000-10,000 Mankato Advance (humid)
10, Two Creeks Interval (dry)

3. Map

4. When did people first appear in the Americas?
Part of a larger debated centered around two issues:
The traditional, undisputed evidence for the presence of a fluted point manufacturing Clovis culture throughout most of the inhabitable continent between about 13,500-12,000 cal. (clovis/short chronology)
New evidence of sites in Americas dating to 19 and 15 kya. (pre-clovis/long chronology)

5. Climatological/Migration evidence for Modern Humand
Earliest modern humans outside Africa ca. 100,000
The last lands to inhabit:
Sumatra and Borneo
before 20,000 B.P. connected by land bridge to SE Asia
People could walk to new areas.
Sea level was much lower because water taken up in polar ice.
Approximately 120 meters lower than at present.
Oldest Australians-35 kya (some argue 55 kya)

6. How did they get there and where did they come from?
Invention of water transport (boats), modern computer simulations have shown that at certain times of the year it would take seven days to go from Borneo/Java to Australia/New Guinea (55 miles of open water).
No boats recovered from Australia which date to this time period.

7. Mesoamerica Peaks of glacial max-lower sea levels
Siberia and Alaska connected by Bering Land Bridge
Ca. 50 kya during the “Happy” interval of Pleistocene (level 200 ft lower)
Ca. 20 kya during the Duvanny Yar Interval (level 300 ft lower)

8. Two Conflicting Theories
The antiquity of the earliest Americans is controversial, much debate
Short Chronology (Clovis)
No evidence of humans in New World before kya.
Long Chronology (Pre-Clovis)
Humans in many migrations in New World, as early as 20 kya (or even earlier).

9. Short Chronology (Clovis)
No evidence of humans in New World before kya.
Crossed Bering Land Bridge during last glacial maximum, moved between major ice sheets-Laurentide (C. Canada), Labrador (E. Canada), and Cordilleran (W. Canada). All touched at glacial maximum.
Ice free areas developed during last periods (20-12 kya) and people crossed Beringia, following larger herds of bison, Mammoth, and Mastodon.
People carried large spears-Clovis Points and lived in highly mobile groups traveling rapidly across unglaciated N. America into S. America in very short period of time. Called the Paleoindians.
Possible that the rapid expansion of humans in conjunction with warmer climate (ca 10 kya) caused extinction of megafauna in New World.

10. Possible Migration Routes Bering Land Bridge

11. Clovis “Fluted” Technology

12. Long Chronology (Pre-Clovis)
Humans in many migrations in New World, as early as 20 kya (or earlier).
Smaller groups than indicated by Clovis hypothesis, largely a wood and bone tool industry. Also chopper and scraper industry.
Postulated due to recent finds of sites which date to before 13 kya.

13. Pre-Clovis Sites
Meadowcroft Rockshleter, PA (16-19,5 kya) artifacts include stone blades, scrapers and knives.
Cactus Hill, VA (17 kya)
Wilson Butte Cave, Idaho (14,5 kya)
Most compelling are S. American sites
Flea Cave, Peru 14,7 kya
Pedra Furadarockshleter, Brazil kya
Monte Verde, Chile excavated by Tom Dillehay
One area of site dates to ca. 13 kya houses, preserved by an overlayer of peat. Wood, bone, skin, meat, botanicals are extremely well preserved.
Ambiguous lower level of three possible cultural features and some stone tool fragments dated to 33 kya. Affiliation unclear, but more recent research suggests early dates very compelling.

14. Pre-Clovis Sites

15. Meadowcroft Rockshelter

16. Meadowcroft Rockshelter

17. Cactus Hill, VA

18. Monte Verde, Chile

19. Monte Verde, Chile

20. Monte Verde, Chile

21. Monte Verde Culture

22. Asian-Coastal Western North America

23. Asian-Coastal Western North America
Tool found
Submerged
Underwater
In coastal Pacific

24. Atlantic Coastal Route

25. Clovis vs. Solutrean
Different shapes, but similar technology

26. Inuit Skin boats

27. Paleoindian Sites in Mesoamerica
Valsequillo
located in the state of Puebla
excavated by Cynthia Irwin-Williams and Juan Armenta
at least five sites show human habitation
tools found in gravels from the Wisconsin glaciation
unifacial stone tools near the bones of extinct animals
shell near stone flakes dated to ca. 22,000 BP
Early human footprints??

28. Valsequillo Reservoir area

29. Early Footprint?
Dating unclear-some suggest 40,000, but very controversial.

30. Tlapacoya located in the Valley of Mexico
mammoth bones with simple flakes dated to ca. 27, ,000 BP (25, ,000 BC)
dates based on radiocarbon from one of three fire hearths
hearths associated with bones of Ice Age fauna
bear, deer, and stag
2500 stone flakes, blades and cores found in this level

31. Tequixquiac
site in the Valley of Mexico north of Lake Texcoco, 42 mi north of Mexico City
carved sacrum of a Pleistocene camelid
find made by Mariano Barcena in 1870
was 12 m (40 ft) below the surface and represents face of a dog, wolf, or coyote
simple stone scrapers, pressure-flaked unifacial blades
splinters of mammoth bone made into bone awls found at the same site
indicate butchering and scraper hide processing
bottom of deposits thought to have been laid down 40,000 years ago

32. Carved Bone
Discovered in 1870 by the Mexican naturalist Mariano Bárcena, this piece is of particular importance, given the fact that it is one of the earliest cultural artifacts to have ever come to light in Mesoamerica. Carved from the sacrum of a now extinct American relative of the camel, its original use remains unknown.

33. Tepexpan found by Helmut de Terra in 1949
located on the northern shore of Lake Texcoco
skeleton, called "Tepexpan Man" found with a mine detector
bones in association with Becerra formation
was actually a female individual
found face down, with legs flexed
common form for Archaic period burials
no associated offerings
height estimated at 5'5" tall
between 25 and 30 years of age
skeleton is morphologically similar to modern Indians
within normal range of present-day Indian populations
no associated artifacts
actual stratigraphic position is not well known
fluorine content in bones very close to that of the mammoths from Santa Isabel Ixtapan

34. Tepexpan Woman

35. Santa Izabel Iztapan
located in the northern Basin of Mexico, just a few miles south of Tepexpan
first discovery was in 1952 by workers opening a drainage ditch
kill sites with two mammoth (Mammuthus imperator) skeletons
animal had been butchered in situ with six stone tools found with one mammoth, three artifacts with the second
include obsidian side scrapers, flint blades, fragment of a bifacial knife, three projectile points, and prismatic obsidian blades
one of the points was of a North American type known as Scottsbluff
second mammoth found in 1954
tools found associated with mammoth bones
hind leg of animal had apparently caught in the muck
bones had deep cut marks
artifacts included an Angostura point, a Lerma point of flint, and a bifacial chert knife
datable charcoal from hearth next to third mammoth and radiocarbon dates fall between 14,000 and 9000 BP