Peopling of the Americas via Beringia
Poblamiento de América por Beringia
- Date
- c. 16 000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Beringia land bridge (Bering Strait)
- Credited to
- Ancestral Paleo-Indian peoples
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Human groups from Siberia crossed the Beringia land bridge and probably moved down the Pacific coast to settle the entire American continent. It was the last great habitable continent occupied by Homo sapiens.
Approximate coordinates of the centre of the ancient land bridge. Date much disputed: the White Sands (New Mexico) footprints suggest a human presence 21,000-23,000 years ago; Monte Verde (Chile) c. 14,500 years ago. The coastal route competes with the ice-free corridor.
What it led to
- Diversification of Indigenous American cultures
- Extinction of American megafauna (debated)
- Independent domestication of maize, potato and tomato
Built on
- Peopling of Siberia
- Sea-level fall during the Last Glacial Maximum
Made possible
- Monte Verde settlement: wooden huts and medicinal seaweedc. 12500 BCE
- Clovis fluted pointc. 11050 BCE
- Clovis points
- American agriculture