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Q:
Where did the first Americans come from?
- Bolivia (age 10)
Mongolia, Finland
A:
Dear Bolivia-
You're not asking experts here, just people who keep up
with reading some science journals. Anyway, here's what I've read.
This question is not fully settled. Most of the evidence
indicates that the early settlers came over from Asia. Most of the
current Native Americans seem most closely related to some groups from
northern Asia, in Siberia. It now seems possible that the first wave
were more closely related to some South Asians. All would have come
over via the Siberia-Alaska route. Occasionally some arguments are made
that some of the early tools resembled ones from Europe, so you can
find some speculation that some Europeans may also have come over.
However, there's no obvious path they would have followed, and no solid
evidence that this actually happened.
mike w
(published on 10/22/2007)
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