HomeScienceRethinking the First Americans: Evidence Before the Clovis Culture

Rethinking the First Americans: Evidence Before the Clovis Culture

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Archaeologists have assumed that the first Americans were the Clovis peoples who reached North America some 13,000 years ago from northern Asia based on lithics found in North America over the past century. But, that hypothesis changed when new archaeological finds established that humans reached the Americas thousands of years before. These discoveries, along with identifications in genetics and geology, have forced a reconsideration of where these pioneers came from and when they arrived.Over the past decade, the Clovis First model has faced increasing scrutiny due to discoveries spanning from southern Texas to the Pacific Northwest. Now, Sunrise, Wyoming joins that list. Through a combination of serendipity, rigorous science, and hard work, the site’s Paleo-Indian ochre mine—the oldest in North America—is shedding new light on





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