What evidence is there for a migration around the Pacific to colonize the Northern Hemishere?

Question

There are several validated 'finds'.

Answer 1

Will this help?

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs...

Answer 2

I read a study that examined the DNA of chickens of the Pacific islands to help give further evidence of migration.

Answer 3

Well, there's Easter Island...Some legends say people arrived from Fiji, and other Micronesian points of origin.

Of course Beringia, was a land mass/valley that Siberians crossed, while following animal herds during the last Ice Age, and were later stranded in Alaska, as the ice melted, thus creating the Bering Strait.

Hawaii & Tahiti were discovered by ocean-faring Micronesians, who were probable descendents of Australian & Tasmanian Abotiginals.

Very early humans would have traced their way around the coastline of SE Asia, until they arrived at modern day China, Korea & Japan!

Answer 4

There are a number of explanations about how people reached the Americas. These are the current theories: the Bering Land Bridge Theory, Pacific Coastal Route Theory, Pacific Crossing Theory, and the Atlantic Crossing Theory,



Several of the theories share similar facts. The Bering Land Bridge and the Pacific Coastal Route both have the first people coming into the Americas from Siberia. The Pacific Route suggests that people sailed the South Pacific to colonize first South America, then migrated north into what is today North America. Finally, the Atlantic Route has people following the pack ice from Europe to the Americas.



Theories are explanations of collected facts and observations. If the theory is disproved by the facts, then it is discarded or changed. Each of the theories mentioned here seeks to explain the numerous known facts



There are two reasons to believe that people came to the Americas from elsewhere.



First is the process of elimination. There are no hominids that developed in the Americas. This is the family that includes humans and apes. Therefore, any humans had to come from elsewhere.



Second is physical evidence. The appearance of humans in the Americas coincides with the end of the last ice age and the existence of the Bering land bridge.



Third is genetic evidence. Native Americans have what is called shovel shaped teeth. Basically the backs of the front teeth are curved, much like a shovel. This is a trait that they share with people in Northwestern Asia.



There is the fact that Native American languages show the languages belong to three groupings: Paleo-Indians ( Pai, Pima, and Puebloans); Athabaskans (Navaho and Apache) and Eskimo-Aleut (Inuits). The roots of these languages show commonality with Asian tongues.



Lastly, there are physical remains, like teeth shape. The earliest skeletons of Paleo-indians show that they were of Mongolian stock. That is Asian. Even today, the blood grouping of Native Americans and even some of the inherited diseases show an Asian origin. Even the Kennewick Man, dated to 9,300 BCE., appears to be from Asia.



Here are the theories and discussion of each:



Bering Land Bridge



During the great ice age, the great ice sheets locked up much of the world's water. The sea level dropped as much as 300 feet. This greatly changed the shape of the coastlines. What was, and is now, the Bering Strait became dry land. Asia and the Americas were connected. The exposed sea bottom has been named "Beringia."



Beringia is generally thought to have been a flat plain, dry and dusty. It did support plant and animal life. Nomadic hunters followed the game animals. This eventually led them into North America. They never knew when they crossed over to a new world.



Once in the Americas, they found the passage south blocked. The ice sheets from the Rockies had merged with the ones from the Hudson Bay region. An important part about the Bering land bridge was that, when it existed, the ice blocked the way to what would be the United States. When the ice melted, the land bridge disappeared.



The major problem with the theory is that there are archeological sites found all over North America with about the same carbon-14 date. (10,500- 12,500 BCE). The southern tip of South America has sites dated to just 1,000 years later. That is quite a movement of people. Supporters must find a way to explain how the ice could retreat and people could colonize the Americas so quickly.



To do so, they point to an ice free corridor that opened between the Hudson Bay and Rocky Mountain ice sheets. Once opened and "greened up" with plants and animals, this created a pathway for people to enter the new lands.



Excavations along the supposed route do not fully support the theory. There should be datable sites and a clear travel pattern. However, there are few such sites. It almost seems that people would have had to rush through the corridor leaving nothing behind.



Another issue is the rate that the Americas were occupied. The tip of South America is dated as being settled only 500 years after the route South was opened. Most explanations of settlement go "If a group of hunters moved only 25 miles south in each generation..." However, mountain ranges, climatic changes and distribution of plant and animals are not uniform. Most nomadic groups tend to stay in familiar lands and exploit the resources that they have learned about. It is only later, when a group splits or famine threatens, that they move.



Pacific Coastal Route Theory



This theory is similar to the Bering Land Bridge theory. People came across through Beringia and settled the Americas. However, they used boats and followed the Pacific coastline.



Recent investigations have shown that there were small refuges along the western coastline. Seafaring peoples could have migrated south along the coast. However, finding their campsites now requires exploration in deep water. A few years ago, there was a dredging operation. Sites were selected based on the expected coastline of 10,000 plus years ago and on the area required for a camping spot. This yielded a man made stone tool.



The Clovis toolkit uses a toggle shaft system. The projectile point is hafted to a short foreshaft. This then fits into a socket of a longer shaft. What it looks like is a harpoon. Such a system is often used in hunting sea mammals.



The problem with the theory is a lack or evidence. The "Clovis First" group claims that all the oldest dated sites are Clovis and that the Bering Land Bridge theory explains them. Sites, such as Cactus Hill in Virginia, do have dateable preClovis deposits. There's also Monte Verde in Chile. This site is dated to some thousand years before Clovis and is in the far South of Chile.



Pacific Crossing Theory,



This theory is based on the observation that the oldest human sites appear to be in South America -that it was South America that seemed to be settled first. Monte Verde, a site in the far south of Chile is dated to 16,500 BCE. There is a possible site in Brazil with a claim of 30,000 BCE. There are also some small groups of people that seem more related to Australians then Native Americans.



Kennewick Man and the oldest known American skeletons appear to display traits more that of Pacific Islanders, Australians and the original people of Japan. Recently there was confirmation of Polynesian DNA markers among some Native American people.

  Archeological finds in Indonesia and Australia, show that Homo Erectus did cross some significant ocean passages. The first Australians had to cross 60 miles of ocean. This suggests that humans could have had ocean sailing abilities.

The theory has ocean traveling people making landfall in South America after crossing the South Pacific. That's a cold and barren route, with few landmasses.



Atlantic Crossing Theory



This theory is based on two main points. Siberia has no corresponding Clovis Point Culture and there is an "X factor" in the Native American blood groupings.



If Clovis had started in the Americas, traces of similar stone technology should also appear in Asia. It does not. About the closest similar stonework comes from Spain.



The "X Factor" in Native American blood is present in a very small percentage of the world population. It is found in Europeans, not Asians.



The theory has hunters following the edge of the polar ice pack. They lived off marine animals and sea life. Once in North America, they spread out.



Most likely, there were a number of waves of immigrants to the Americas. The arguments for the number and route seem to change daily.



The current contender for the most probable theory seems to have the Pacific coastal route on the rise. Basically, it is supported by most of the current facts and does explain the very early dating that is currently being discovered. However, it would be better to wait 20 years to see what else happens.

Answer 5

The people of Lakhota share a lot of DNA similarities with the Inuit of Alaska and the Inuits share a lot of DNA similarities to the people of northeastern Asia.

A similar link, but much older one, exist to the native people across the southern Pacific rim, to islands such as Rapa Nui and along to southwestern regions of South America and bears strong ties to those people who descended from the Aztec, Mayan and Incan cultures.  The genetic ties definitely shows great similarities.

Answer 6

Yeah ......Fast Food Wrappers ...