3 ms·
From the linked Wikipedia article on Beringia [1]: > Today, the average water depth of the Bering Strait is 40–50 m (130–160 ft), therefore the land bridge ope
by sradman 6y ago
From the linked Wikipedia article on Beringia [1]:
> Today, the average water depth of the Bering Strait is 40–50 m (130–160 ft), therefore the land bridge opened when the sea level dropped more than 50 m (160 ft) below the current level. A reconstruction of the sea-level history of the region indicated that a seaway existed from c. 135,000 – c. 70,000 BP, a land bridge from c. 70,000 – c. 60,000 BP, intermittent connection from c. 60,000 – c. 30,000 BP, a land bridge from c. 30,000 – c. 11,000 BP, followed by a Holocene sea-level rise that reopened the strait.
30-25 kya fits the data OK and there may have been open north-south corridors at that time. The question is how solid the Mexican evidence is.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia#Geography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia#Geography
- simonh 6y agoIt seems like there are other bits of evidence of pre-clovis human habitation, but taken individually they could be dismissed as due to some sort of misidentification, contamination of the site, etc. One the other hand this site seems to have very extensive evidence of long term habitation, backed up by several independent but mutually consistent dating methods. Add back in all those 'one off' finds as well and the clovis first theory starts to really break down.
- 34679 6y agoI've been fascinated by this one since visiting the Natural History Museum in San Diego: "A 130,000-year-old archaeological site in southern California, USA" https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22065 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22065
- sradman 6y agoInteresting. MIS5e [1] would be a parallel to our current interglacial period. I think the evidence for 50-60 kya out-of-africa event for Homo sapiens is solid so I'm assuming this site would support the global reach of another Homo species like Neanderthals. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Isotope_Stage_5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Isotope_Stage_5
- irrational 6y agoI’ve never understood that number. I’ve read that modern humans have been around for 200k years, but I’m supposed to believe that for 3/4 of that time they stayed in Africa? BS. Maybe proof hasn’t been found, yet. But we know from our own experience that modern humans love to explore. I don’t believe that love of travel and adventure and exploration is cultural. Our modern ancestors would’ve been exploring out of Africa long before 50kya.
- Zaak 6y agoThere's an important distinction between anatomically modern humans and behaviorally modern humans. Behaviorally modern humans were the ones that were able to migrate all over the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_modernity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_modernity
- sradman 6y agoAFAIK, the best (first?) popular science book that tackles this question is Before the Dawn [1] by Nicholas Wade. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_the_Dawn_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_the_Dawn_(book)
- vanattab 6y agoI think Neanderthals traveled out earlier so at least to some degree humans may have had to fight their way out with and ice age assist?