The origin of the first inhabitants of the American continent is the object of polemics among the contemporary archeologists. Several theories were born on the context and the date of their arrival; some recent discoveries call into question the model dominating called " Clovis" model;.
Model of Clovis
The archeological site of Clovis is most known of the United States. It is in the state of the New Mexico in the south-west of the country. It is about an archeological site on which were found in 1932 of the old prehistoric tools of approximately 11 500/13 500 ans.
Les first excavations put at the day a point with removal flute. At the time, the discovery made great noise because this arrow was double-side unusual. Thanks to the skeleton of a mammoth which was at the same place, one could relatively go back the object to way précise.
Dans the years which followed, the archeologists found thousands of these flints in North America and until the Costa Rica, in all kinds of natural environments. They were manufactured according to same the techniques.
Les scientific also showed as all the giant animals of America (mammoths, giant armadillos or glyptodon, lazy giants, tigers with the teeth of sabers, camélidés and équidés…) had suddenly disappeared. One concluded from it that people come besides had brought with him a frightening weapon: the point of Clovis.
On considered a long time that the Clovis culture had from Asia by the Bering Strait during the glaciation and that it was oldest of the American continent. This great migration had been allowed by the lowering of the sea level at the time of the age glaciaire.
Ainsi was elaborate a theory, that known as of Clovis, according to which, the man would have crossed the Béringie (Bering Strait) towards 14 000 years. It would have arrived to North America only towards 13 500 years, goes back corresponding to the artefacts lithic found on the Site to Clovis in the United States. Then it migrated by successive waves towards South America. Moreover this man was naturally an ancestor of the Amerindian of today of mongoloïde type to the cranium brachycephalic person.
The case of discovered of a site of the time solutréenne to Lewisville, with the Texas in 1957 is representative of the consequences of the dogma of Clovis. Indeed the skeletons of many animals were updated, from of which certain species now disappeared (mammoths, let us glyptodons, camélidés, équidés, stags, bear, etc) and from the points of lances of the Clovis type. All these bones and artefacts were gone back with radiocarbon 14 to 38 000 years. This date was rejected by the historians of the time, more especially as the points of lances were regarded as Clovis type. Other expertises of dating carried out into 1963 confirmed the date advanced before. Finally in 1978 then in 1980, Dennis Stanford of the Smithsonian Institution helped of two engineers of the American Army reflects in parallel the date of 37 000 years/38 000 years and human occupation of the site until the period of 12 000 ans.
Le site of Old Crow in the Yukon near to the Béringie, delivered artefacts gone back to 25 000 ans.
Les archaeological research, of these thirty last years, on all the American continent, revealed limits in the principles of this theory of Clovis.
Le Clovis dogma will have lasted only one about fifty years. If the ancestors of the Amerindians (of origin mongoloïde) arrived to America towards 13 500 years, other populations, origins undoubtedly various (Europoïde - Caucasian - Aïnou - Australoïde - négroïde) were already present quite front them.
Called into question of the model of Clovis
Dispute of the date
Several recent discoveries call into question the seniority of the occupation of America by the Men. Among the excavated sites, several revealed bones of Paléoaméricains former to the period known as of Clovis as well as objects former to the culture of Clovis: the specialists call them " pre-Clovis" sites; :
- the human presence is attested in South America, there is some 60 000 years. The cave paintings of the cave of Pedra Furada in the National park of Tightened da Capivara located at the south-east of the state of Piaui (center of the Brésil) indicate one period being between 60 000 years and 55 000 years. This area is rich in prehistoric sites spreading out in the same dates.
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the site of Monte Verde with the Chile, classified with the World heritage of Humanity by UNESCO is characterized by two archaeological levels: The prehistoric site of " Assemble Verde I" oldest with a human occupation dated towards 33 000 years with 35 000 years; and the prehistoric site of " Assemble Verde II" gone back to 12 500 years with 15 000 years.
- the site of Pikimachay located in the valley of Ayacucho of the Peruvian Andes whose artefacts are gone back to 22 000 years.
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a camping located close to Pittsburg, the site of Meadowcroft, in the south-west of the Pennsylvania, was excavated by James Adovasio: blades and nuclei were gone back to 16 000 years with 19 000 years before our era. The publication of these results was disputed until the discovery of other pre-Clovis sites.
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the site of Cactus Hill in Virginia delivered points comparable with those of Solutréens and old women of 19 000 years.
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the site of Topper in South Carolina would date of more than 20 000 years, even 50 000 years according to the last analyzes carried out.
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the Caverne of Pendejo to the New Mexico reveals datings of 35 000 years with 55 000 years, rigorously carried out by the laboratories of various Californian universities.
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the Cave of Sandia also located in the New Mexico, provides objects and bones of animals gone back to 25 000 years with 30 000 years.
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In 2005, in an old career located close to the volcano Cerro Toluquilla (Puebla with the Mexico), to the old human traces of 38 000 years were discovered by a British team on a layer of fossilized ashes.
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In 2003/2004, an archaeological research joint project between the universities of Mexico City and Texas, made it possible to go back the prints to step of the site of Hueyatlaco (close to the volcano of Toluquilla) to 40 000 years. This site was the subject many polemics in the Seventies because certain famous archeologists went back these prints to human steps of 250 000 years… The debate is still not closed.
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the site El Cedral with the Mexico delivered several human hearths of which oldest goes back to close to 40 000 years.
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the man of Folsom found to the New Mexico would have 20 000 years.
Dispute of the origins
Craniologic data
Majority of craniums discovered on former skeletons at the time of Clovis, or contemporaries of Clovis, reveal characteristics Dolichocéphale S more or less accentuated with some less marked specimens concerning cranial type Mésocéphalique.
In general, these craniums paléoaméricains, do not carry in them the characteristics of the current Amerindian people of origin mongoloïde and with the craniology generally Brachycéphale.
La research is currently in full evolution and the craniologic and morphological distinctions are far from being rigid bulk-headings, because all new discovery modifies this provisional and evolutionary classification. For the moment they are only assumptions of scientific studies. The archeologists, the anthropologists, the geneticists and the linguists activate and exchange their work through many publications and symposiums specialized in order to allow one day next to bring answers to this evolution of the Histoire of America.
Contributions of the genetics: haplogroupes
Work of Douglas Wallace largely called into question the Asian origin of the first Americans or Paléoaméricains: by being interested in DNA mitochondrial Amerindians, it succeeds in proving- that the settlement of America was done in several migratory waves of which oldest goes up according to the archaeological studies most recent with 60 000 years;
- that these migrations came from Asia but also from Europe (standard europoïde or Caucasian);
- that an origin Australoïde (mélanésienne or African) was noted on the skeletons discovered in several prehistoric sites of South America (Brazil) and Power station (Mexico).
Genetic research made it possible to classify DNA mitochondrial or ADNmt into four haplogroupes principal present at 97% of the populations of America: With, B, C and D. Each one of these haplotypes is present on the continent américain.
Le particular case of the haplogroupe X present in North America and Europe.
Theory of a settlement solutréen
It is advanced by two researchers of the Smithsonian Institute, Denis Stanford and Bruce Bradley. The Solutréen S lived with 5 000 km of North America between 22 000 and 17 000 BP (Paleolithic superior). The sites solutréens concentrate primarily in the south-west of France. The specialists recognize a great skill to them: they invented the heat treatment for the manufacture of the flint tools as well as the needle with eye.
While inquiring in Siberia and Alaska, Denis Stanford found tools prehistoric very different from those of Clovis (Microlame S assembled on bones and not of double-side). He showed by observing the techniques of the Inuit S, that the voyage between Europe and America was possible 16.000 years ago. To cross the Atlantic, Solutréens could use the same techniques as Inuits: while sailing on small boats close to the ice-barrier (which went down much more to the south that today), they could be protected under their boats in the event of storm. One can imagine that the voyage was to be easier in summer: Solutréens would have followed the icebergs. They found their food while fishing or while driving out on the ice-barrier using their tools sophisticated. For Denis Stanford, the voyage was to be painful but not impossible: it is known that of Inuits prehistoric made several voyages between Alaska and Greenland in boat. As for Bruce Bradley, he studied the similarities of technique between Solutréens and the men of Clovis: they used large glares to manufacture their points. The Amerindians would thus have European ancestors. This theory remains however very discussed, because of difficulty which the crossing of the Atlantic to the Paleolithic superior represents, and of many differences between the two sites, such as for example the absence of parietal Art of Clovis.
Linguistic arguments
Resemblances found by certain linguists between the pre-indoeuropéennes languages that are the Basque and the algonquin.
Archaeological research and federal directives NAGPRA
In 1990, an American federal law " Native The American Serious Protection and Repatriation Act" (NAGPRA), in French: federal law on " the protection and the repatriation of the tombs of first American ". This law requires that the Amerindian cultural goods be returned to the first people when these unearthed goods one. This law authorizes nevertheless with the teams of archeologists to analyze the discoveries but very quickly because of a time of very short time. By cultural goods, the law indicates the human remainders, the funerary and crowned objects, and any object and artefact of the Amerindian inheritance. Although this federal law was made necessary to put a term at plunderings of historic sites, the archeologists and enquiring states-uniens show, nevertheless, this law NAGPRA to seriously restrict archaeological research on the origins of the first inhabitants of the the United States. Moreover, it is difficult, if not fallacious, to connect a skeleton of there are several tens of thousands of years to current people. The case of the Homme of Kennewick is symptomatic, the Amerindian tribes asked for the return in their respective ground of this skeleton whose study revealed an origin Amerindian Caucasienne or Europoïde and not mongoloïde and . This law would thus make it possible to the Amerindian populations to slow down the current evolution of research on the increasingly many discoveries of skeletons Paléoaméricains of the types Europoïde or Australoïde, while requiring, as the Law NAGPRA allows it, the réenterrement fast one of all these bones which revolutionize since a score of years, the history of the first settlements of America.
See too
References
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