DNA Review Pushes Americas Arrival to 14,000-20,000 Years Ago, Challenging 13,500-Year Clovis Timeline
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 19
DNA Review Pushes Americas Arrival to 14,000-20,000 Years Ago, Challenging 13,500-Year Clovis Timeline
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 19
Summary
A new review of ancient DNA and archaeological evidence says humans most likely reached the Americas 14,000 to 20,000 years ago, with arrival before 15,000 years ago considered likely.
Bethany Potter and Savannah Hay of the University of Kansas based that range on previously published genetic data from ancient remains in Asia and the Americas, tracing shared ancestry and population splits.
Genetic lineages appear to have diverged about 21,000 years ago, and ancestral Native American populations split into northern and southern groups around 15,500 years ago—implying people were already in North America by then.
White Sands' 23,000-year-old footprints still point to an even earlier presence than current genetic evidence supports, and the authors say those people may belong to unsampled lineages or groups with no surviving descendants.
The findings add pressure on the long-dominant Clovis First model, which placed the first North Americans about 13,500 years ago, while leaving the exact timing and location of key divergence events unresolved.