Professor explores human migration from Asia to the Americas

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Tennessee Journalist
Emma Macmillan

As a human being, have you ever wondered when humans colonized the Americas? Where did anatomically modern humans migrate from? What routes did humans use?

In an effort to answer these questions, Benjamin Auerbach, assistant professor of anthropology, spoke to the UT Science Forum about the process and history of human migration from an archeological standpoint.
We are looking at the end of the story. We want to understand the beginning of the story. -Benjamin Auerbach, assistant professor of anthropology

The story starts with the two earliest archaeological locations in North America which trace back to 14,000 years ago. These sites are located at Swan Point in Alaska and Monte Verde in Chile. Note that Swan Point sits at the top of North America and Monte Verde sits at the bottom of South America. Such a distance between two sites of such similar age and archaeology calls for an explanation.

Auerbach suggests that humans traveled from Asia to Alaska. Subsequently, some humans made the migration south to Chile.

To understand human development, we need to go back a bit further in time. Auerbach proposes the "Beringian Standstill" theory. This hypothesizes that a group of humans were living in Asia, then a smaller group of humans branched off from the original group. This new group resided in Berinigia, the area between Alaska and Asia, and developed mutations as a result of selective pressures. Then, the new group traveled to the Americas.

http://tnjn.com/2009/feb/23/professor-explores-human-migra/

[Bobbieo]

1. Cultural Anthro was my college minor. At the time - late 60's- the

prevailing theory was that all American Indians came to America via the Bering land bridge which was uplifted between Siberia and Alaska during the Ice Ages.

I believe that if the Bering land mass was uplifted as the oceans and seas shrunk some 600 feet, why couldn't other land masses also appear in the form of islands from volcanic peaks. I believe South Pacificers and Asians followed the ocean currents by boat and island hopped their way across the Pacific to areas up and down the West Coast of North and South America.

How did people first inhabit the Hawaiian Islands?

[Adsos Letter]

2. ...whoops...

:blush:

[Adsos Letter]

3. Do you recal Thor Heyerdahl's (sp?) "Kon Tiki?"...

That was one of my favorite books growing up.

I believe the traditional migration theories have been questioned after the discovery of a Chilean site (something-Verde?) but my chronolgy could easily be off.

[L. Coyote]

5. Paisley Caves: The Discovery of PreClovis Human DNA = human coprolites

http://archaeology.about.com/b/2008/04/03/paisley-caves-the-discovery-of-preclovis-human-dna.htm

"According to a report in Science Express published online on April 3, 2008, a field school from the University of Oregon found a preclovis site this past summer, containing the oldest human DNA yet discovered in the American continents. The site, Paisley 5 Mile Point Cave, is located in a perfect spot to support the Pre-Clovis Pacific coast migration theory of American colonization: in the hinterlands of what is Oregon..."

.... "dated between 12,750 and 14,290 calendar years before the present, and clearly represent a preClovis occupation.

"Most astonishingly, human coprolites were discovered. These fossilized human feces were given extremely cautious study ..... "

[Adsos Letter]

6. Yes, I remember reading about that...

I'm thinking of a Chilean site that has "Verde" in its name...Clovis-type remains to 10,000 BC, iirc. (I could be wrong about the Clovis designation)

[L. Coyote]

4. Beringia was a wide land expanse during the Ice Age when

the oceans were over 300 feet lower, maybe near 400 feet at the most.
There was no uplift in Beringia, the oceans drop when ice accumulates above sea level on land.

http://www.google.com/search?q=paleoamerican+origins

The current "best" theory is migration along the Pacific Rim, from northeastern Asia via Beringia and down the Pacific Coast of North and South America by a maritime adapted population. Following the shoreline explains the rapid dispersal to South America. Modern theorists fail to account for purposeful explorations, however, and assume people just gradually "spread" along the shore.

[Hekate]

7. The Hawaiian language is closely related to Tahitian, enough so that when Capt Cook came by...

... his Tahitian crew member could communicate with the Hawaiians who greeted them.

The Hawaiian Islands are the extreme northern tip of the Polynesian Triangle (which covers 10 million square miles), and the Polynesians are considered to have been the best seamen the world has produced. They knew how to read every feature of the sea and the sky, both day and night. That and their double-hull canoes enabled them to migrate thousands of miles over the open seas to Hawaii.

As for DNA, an article I found about the Hokulea (up to this point I've been writing from memory) says the following: "Recent genetic studies tend to confirm that Hawaiians came east from Asia through the South Pacific and up to Hawaii. Some Haida natives in Alaska are believed to be part of this genetic heritage." http://www.fostertravel.com/HIORIG.html


Hekate