the following presentation discusses one interpretation of the archaeological evidence regarding the arrivals of the first people into the Americas new evidence comes to light in periodic fashion and this interpretation might be adjusted in the future first I will discuss the traditional model of the arrival of the first Americans and then provide an updated model that answers important questions about dates of many sites so let's start with the traditional interpretation of the initial peopling of the Americas which is very likely outdated yet still prevalent in much media let's roll back the landscape to the end of the last glacial period about 13 000 years ago at the end of the last glacial period known as the late or upper pleistocene there are two major geological differences in North America as compared to today first the Americas are connected to Asia by a land bridge here this is the Bering land bridge the land masses are connected humans plants and animals can migrate and pollinate between the two continents it's important to note that the bearing land bridge is not a narrow Corridor the continents are connected and humans moving from Modern Russia to Modern Alaska would not be walking like on a tightrope across a narrow strip of land the region is so huge that a person would not even understand that they were going from one continent to another thus today's Bering Sea is transformed 13 000 years ago into the Bering land bridge also a big difference from then till today geologically is the glaciers of the laurentite ice sheet dominate almost all of modern Canada and large portions of the northern United States this geography provides the conditions for the traditional Clovis first theory of the peopling of the Americas it is called Clovis after spear points found in Clovis New Mexico that many believed represented the first Native Americans so here is the Clovis first Theory which holds that the only way for people to get from Asia to America was over the Bering land bridge near the end of the last glacial period what this theory has going for it is that the time seems to be right for these conditions some thirteen thousand years ago Asia is connected to America and there is an ice-free Corridor through Canada leading to North America and South America in this traditional model the Clovis first model people walked from Asia to America and moved through the ice-free corridor and then down the continent thus Clovis first Theory puts the First Peoples into the Americas about 13 000 years ago Advocates maintain that a migration before this period is not possible due to geology if we wind the geologic clock backwards to almost 18 000 years ago or so during the last glacial maximum there is no open passageway through Canada so the path is blocked thus according to the Clovis first Theory it is impossible for the first Americans to arrive before this Corridor is opened so no humans before about 13 000 years ago in North America however there is a problem the oldest known sites in the Americas are not found in Alaska or Northwest Canada which would be expected if the first populations moved through an ice-free Corridor there rather radiocarbon dates from numerous sites across North and South America predate the Clovis era metacroft Rock shelter in Western Pennsylvania is 19 000 years old and possibly older likewise Cactus Hill in Virginia has radiocarbon dates going back 15 000 years further south provides even more startling dates Pedro ferrada in Brazil has incredibly old dates some of which go into very deep pre-history before thirty thousand years ago Monteverde in Chile also has very early dates so how can this be we will actually turn to Australia an archaeological site in Australia at Lake Mungo confirms that people were in Australia at least 40 000 years ago the only way to get to Australia from Asia was through Oceania even during the low Seas of the last glacial period as shown here travel from Asia through Oceania to Australia requires boats this startling Discovery pushed boat Technology Way Back Into prehistory these aren't large galleons or sail ships but rather canoes however the arrival of peoples into Australia Before 40 000 Years Ago by boat provides answers to large question marks in the Americas with the arrival of people in Australia in deeper pre-history over 40 000 years ago suddenly sites in North America like meadowcroft no longer seem out of place let's slide back over to the Americas the use of boats in deep prehistory means that we no longer have to wait for an ice-free Corridor to emerge through Canada thirteen thousand years ago a glacial impasse over the land is no longer an issue which means we can push the dates backward to the glacial high points like 20 000 years ago or more with canoe technology we can now imagine ancient peoples following the coastline from Siberia to Alaska and then following the coast down the west side of the Americas and then up the Eastern side boats provide humans with enhanced opportunities to procure food boats provide the benefits of Water Resources like fish while also giving people the opportunity to find fruits nuts and land animals along the coast the movement of prehistoric populations through the Americas could have been quite fast with canoes and this explains how sites like meadowcroft in Pennsylvania have exceptionally old dates it also means that the oldest Native American sites might be on Ancient coastlines that are now underwater due to the rising sea levels at the end of the last glacial period the old radiocarbon dates such as 19 000 years ago in Pennsylvania likely point to the reality of human occupation in the Americas in deep prehistory at least 20 or 25 000 years ago