The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World

"The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World" is a scholarly work that is eminently readable both to the professional and the layman. It contains articles on various subjects by a number of scholars, and contains some of the most recent research into the Paleoindians and their predecessors, the Pre-Clovis people. The articles cover such diverse subjects as environmental conditions, how new settlers adapt to new places, seafaring capabilities, human fossils, bioarchaeology, South American viewpoints, plant foods, languages, DNA, and the Solutrean theory of a crossing from the Iberian peninsula to the eastern coast of North America. This volume will be cited by professional archaeologists for many years to come, and will be enjoyed as a fascinating book to read by the educated public.

a dozen or so chapters each by experts in the field. explores the importance of various sciences to determining who the first people were, where they came from, when the arrived, the number of migrations, the important things that enabled them to make the trips, etc. Christy Turner discusses dental science showing the results of study of eastern Asia and the skeletons of american indians, Bradly and Stanford discuss the Solutrean /Clovis connection, Tom Dillehay, etc. How domesticated dogs, and the bone sewing needle allowed humans to traverse extremely cold and harsh climate to go thru Beringia and the ice free corridor, also boats along the coast, how boats were made and waterproofed. How languages of the american indians divuldge the number of migrations, the dating of various early skeletons from Wilson Leonard, to KennewickMan, Wizard Beach, etc. explores various explanations that are possible to explain why ancient (9,000 year old) skeletons differ so much from current native americans. Discusses genetic drift, founder principle, etc. Great book. The DNA part was over my head, but that is my fault for not being well read enough in that area. Paleo-americans!