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I was wrong about the timeline for the Clovis culture in North America
I always figured the Clovis people were the first here, but reading about the White Sands footprints in New Mexico really changed my mind. Those human tracks dated to 23,000 years ago, which is way before the Clovis period. It took me a solid week of digging into the papers to wrap my head around the new evidence. Has anyone else had to adjust their understanding of early human migration in the Americas?
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brian_hart3mo ago
Oh man, the ocean routes idea is really interesting to me - do we have any physical evidence from underwater sites yet, or is it all just a smart guess at this point?
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the_sage6mo ago
Hold on, the White Sands footprints are still super debated though. The dating method on those plant seeds is tricky, they could be older than the prints themselves. And one site doesn't wipe out the whole Clovis First model. Where's the clear evidence of a whole culture living here that early, like tools or camps? It feels like we're swapping one big idea for another shaky one based on a single find.
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jana5096mo ago
Look at the ocean routes, man. If people were boating down the Pacific coast that early, they wouldn't leave a classic inland tool trail. Their camps are underwater now, thanks to rising sea levels after the ice age. We're literally looking for evidence in the wrong places.
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julias446mo ago
Seriously, it's just footprints. People get way too worked up over one spot in the sand (no pun intended).
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