When Were the Americas Populated?

evil agent passes along an article in Scientific American reporting that new radiocarbon dating techniques have cast doubt on the accepted story of how the Americas were populated. In the traditional view, "[M]igrants out of northeast Asia slipped into the Americas bearing finely shaped stone projectiles, so-called 'Clovis points,' after the town in New Mexico where they were first uncovered. This Clovis culture rapidly spread throughout the empty continents and by 1,000 years after their arrival had reached the southernmost tip of what is now South America, making them the original ancestors of indigenous Americans." The new dating of Clovis sites suggests that "Clovis" was not a people, but rather a technology. That is, a new and more efficient method of making arrowheads for hunting spread rapidly through a pre-existing population in both North and South America, over at most 350 years.

Comments

Re:Everybody knows

[Baron_Yam]

Despite what some overly sensitive user with a mod point thought, the parent post was NOT flamebait.

Re:Everybody knows

[Scrameustache]

Despite what some overly sensitive user with a mod point thought, the parent post was NOT flamebait. Why is this modded up? Sheesh, mod it back down into the noise already!

And yes, "all cultures except my own are irrelevant" is bound to be flamed from people from any number of cultures. Since there's no "-1 ignorant" or "-1 jing" choices, flamebait will have to do.

Re:Everybody knows

[Gazzonyx]

Agreed. !PC != flamebait.