Ker Than // On Way to New World, First Americans Made a 10,000-Year Pit Stop

15.6.18

On Way to New World, First Americans Made a 10,000-Year Pit Stop: There's been one major problem, however, with the so-called Beringia standstill hypothesis: No archeological evidence of human settlements has ever been found. O'Rourke thinks the new paleoecological findings provide a clue as to why.

"The evidence we have to date suggests that the refugia were distributed primarily in the lowland area of the Beringia landmass," he said. As the glaciers melted and sea level rose, these lowland areas became submerged. As a result, "the archeological record that we expected to see isn't there because the places where people were living are now under water," O'Rourke said.

Connie Mulligan, an anthropologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville whose previous studies helped build the argument for the Beringia standstill hypothesis, said the paleoecological data "are compelling and certainly support the idea that Beringia was uniquely suited for the standstill population."