Paleo-Indians or Paleoamericans were the ancient peoples of Americas who were present at the end of the last Ice Age. The prefix "paleo" comes from the Greek palaios meaning ancient, and refers to the Upper Paleolithic time period. The best known of these peoples were part of the Clovis culture. However, evidence of several pre-Clovis Paleo-Indian cultures also exist. World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1], Central America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... The Clovis culture (also Llano culture) is a prehistoric Native American culture that first appears in the archaeological record of North America around 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. ...

Paleo-Indians are believed to be the first people to have inhabited a large number of areas in the Americas, though there is now some doubt as to whether they were the first inhabitants of the continent as a whole. The current prevailing theory postulates that Paleo-Indians entered the Americas from Asia via a land bridge (Beringia) connecting eastern Siberia with present-day Alaska when sea levels were significantly lower because of widespread glaciation between about 15,000 to 35,000 years ago. However, evidence suggestive of even earlier human occupation in South America at sites like Monte Verde in Chile (35,000 years), or in North America at site of Topper (50,000 years ago), have generated an alternative theory that Paleo-Indians, or at least some groups of them, may have come from the Pacific Islands or mainland Asia by watercraft. The Bering land bridge, also known as Beringia, was a land bridge roughly 1600 km (1000 miles) north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the ice ages. ... It has been suggested that Western Siberia be merged into this article or section. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  Ranked 1st  - Total 663,267 sq mi (1,717,855 km²)  - Width 808 miles (1,300 km)  - Length 1,479 miles (2,380 km)  - % water 13. ... Monte Verde is an archaeological site in south-central Chile, which is suspected to date 12,500 years before present, making it one of the earliest inhabited sites in the Americas. ...

Paleo-Indians are believed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers (They hunted a type of huge sloth, a type of bison and camels) whose following of animal migrations dictated where they camped. As the glaciers that covered much of North America receded in the warming climate following the most recent glacial maximum, tundra foliage was the main plant growth. Paleo-Indians living in the tundra hunted both large mammals like prehistoric bear, bison, and caribou, as well as smaller mammals like hare and arctic fox. Paleo-Indians also lived in the taiga, forested steppe, semi-arid temperate woodlands, and other ecozones. Paleo-Indians are known to have hunted with both fluted stone-pointed wooden lancing spears and shorter spears thrown using an atlatl; they probably also foraged for edible plants. Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... Families Rathymotheriidae Scelidotheriidae Mylodontidae Orophodontidae Megalonychidae Megatheriidae Ground sloths are extinct edentate (Order Xenarthra) mammals that are believed to be relatives of tree sloths and three-toed sloths. ... Species †B. antiquus B. bison B. bonasus †B. latifrons † †B. priscus Herd of bison grazing in Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada. ... For other uses, see Camel (disambiguation). ... In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Binomial name Rangifer tarandus The reindeer, known as caribou in North America, is an Arctic-dwelling deer (Rangifer tarandus). ... Jack rabbit and Jackrabbit redirect here. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) Arctic Fox range Synonyms Vulpes lagopus Arctic Fox, also known as the polar fox, is a small fox native to cold Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeographic division of the earths surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals. ... An atlatl (from Nahuatl ahtlatl ; in English pronounced [1] or [2]) or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in spear-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to temporarily store energy during the throw. ...

Paleo-Indians likely traveled in small groups of approximately 20 or 50 members of an extended family. Archaeological evidence of particular kinds of fluted stone have been uncovered, suggesting trade occurred between such groups.

Archaic stage Indians of the Americas are believed to be direct descendants of Paleo-Indians. In the sequence of North American cultural stages first proposed by Gordon Willey and Phillip Phillips in 1958, the Archaic stage was the second period of human occupation in the Americas, from around 8000 BC to 1000 BC although as its ending is defined by the adoption of sedentary farming...

See also

• Models of migration to the New World
• Clovis culture
• Big Eddy Site

There are several popular models of migration to the New World proposed by the anthropological community. ... The Clovis culture (also Llano culture) is a prehistoric Native American culture that first appears in the archaeological record of North America around 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. ... The Big Eddy site (23CE426) is a unique archaeological site located in southwestern Missouri where the western edge of the Ozarks meet the prairie-forest border (Chandler 2001a; Ray et al 1998:68, 2000:73). ...

External links

• Smithsonian Institute: Paleoamerican Origins
• Paleoindian & Other Archaeological Stuff
• Possible pre-Clovis Site in Ohio

Further Reading

• Haynes, Gary (2002). The Early Settlement of North America: the Clovis Era. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52463-6.