How and why did humans migrate into North America?

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Section Chronology

THE FIRST HUMAN BEINGS to arrive in the Western Hemisphere emigrated from Asia. They brought with them hunting skills, weapon- and tool-making techniques, and other forms of human knowledge developed millennia earlier in Africa, Europe, and Asia. These first Americans hunted large mammals, such as the mammoths they had learned in Europe and Asia to kill, butcher, and process for food, clothing, and building materials. Most likely, these first Americans wandered into the Western Hemisphere more or less accidentally in pursuit of prey.

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Clovis Spear Straightener
Clovis hunters used this bone spear straightener about 11,000 BP at a campsite in Arizona. Presumably, Clovis hunters stuck their spear shafts through the opening and then grasped the handle of the straightener and moved it back and forth along the length of the shaft to remove imperfections and to make the spear a more effective weapon. Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona.

CHRONOLOGY

ca. 400,000 BP

  • Homo sapiens evolve in Africa.

ca. 25,000–14,000 BP

  • Glaciation exposes the Beringian land bridge.

ca. 15,000 BP

  • Humans arrive in North America.

ca. 13,500–13,000 BP

  • Paleo-Indians use Clovis points.

ca. 11,000 BP

  • Mammoths become extinct.

NOTE: BP is an abbreviation used by archaeologists for “years before the present.”