IX.

The Future of First American Studies

Studies of the first Americans entered the 21st century on the cusp of change. The traditional view that the first Americans were fast-moving Clovis big-game hunters who migrated into the North American interior on the heels of retreating ice sheets has been undermined. Evidence from Monte Verde demonstrates that humans arrived in the Western Hemisphere in pre-Clovis times, and a reassessment of Clovis subsistence suggests Clovis people were not the big-game hunting specialists imagined in the past. As yet, no widely accepted theory has arisen to replace the older Clovis-first theory. Researchers are proposing many new ideas. Which of these ideas will succeed or fail remains to be seen.

A.

Promising Research

The instruments of archaeological study continue to improve at a rapid pace. Shovels and trowels, the traditional tools of excavation, are now being used alongside ground-penetrating radar, seismic studies of surface features, and other techniques to find now-buried sites. A variety of new studies are providing information about where the materials to make ancient stone artifacts were acquired, how the artifacts were made, and how they were used. These include studies of the geological sources of stone artifacts, experimental work in stone fracture mechanics to better understand how stone tools were made, and analyses of microscopic wear patterns visible on such artifacts. A battery of techniques are now available to study the chemical composition of bone, plant, shell, and other organic and inorganic remains, providing archaeologists with a clearer picture of the environments to which the first Americans adapted. New dating techniques under development should allow archaeologists to reliably date sites more than 50,000 years old—the current limits of radiocarbon dating. These techniques could prove useful in the event sites of greater antiquity are eventually found in the Americas.

B.

Finding Archaeological Evidence of Ancient Americans

The time-honored process of acquiring archaeological evidence through careful and meticulous site excavation continues. Where the oldest preserved sites might be is not yet known. There are obvious places to look, however, including eastern Siberia, which is still relatively unknown to archaeologists. Other promising locations for future research include the remnants of Beringia, coastal islands of the Pacific, the Isthmus of Panama—through which any group headed into South America must have passed, and perhaps places not yet imagined. Some of the most interesting discoveries in years to come may even be made in museums, when new techniques for analysis are applied to old collections of artifacts and human remains. Hopefully, this can be done with the interest and cooperation of Native American groups.

Archaeologists may never find evidence of the very first humans to arrive in the Western Hemisphere. It is, after all, a very big place. But ongoing research is sure to reveal much about how the first Americans colonized a new world.