The evidence for Middle-Wisconsin peopling of Beringia: an evaluation

Auteur :
GUTHRIE, R. D.

Description :
Broken large mammal fossil bones in eastern Beringia have been used to argue for a middle-Wisconsin, or earlier, time of human entry into North America. New experimental data demonstrate that identifications of Pleistocene bone artifacts on the basis of differential staining and fresh breakage are suspect. Physical processes, such as the violent forces of river ice breakups in the north, and bone crushing by mammalian scavengers produce similar pseudo-artifacts. Additionally, the middle-Wisconsin dates associated with some of the finished tools, and human and dog bones from Beringia are open to question. The lack of credible dates on these artifacts raises doubt about the model of human colonization of Beringia, developed in the 1960s, which proposed an interstadial colonization of the New World.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Quaternary research New York, 1984, vol. 22, n°. 2, p. 231-241, Références bibliographiques : 51 réf.

Date :
1984