Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T18:54:51.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Three Ounces of Sea Shells and One Fish Bone do not a Coastal Migration Make

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christy G. Turner II
Christy G. Turner II*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The suggestion by Jones et al. (2002) that a terminal Pleistocene-early Holocene California site contains evidence for a separate coastal migration into the New World is challenged. The authors ignore the fact that some 100 or more generations passed since the initial New World colonization event(s) and the occupation of their site (Cross Creek), during which time many cultural changes could be expected, including post-big-game-hunting coastal adaptations throughout the Americas. Moreover, the amount of food refuse is so minuscule that inferring the exact nature of the initial Cross Creek economy is doubtful at best. The recovered chipped stone artifacts have no diagnostic value for economic function or ecological correlation, and the grinding stones suggest more seed than sea exploitation. Lastly, what is known about the biological origins, variation, and microevolution of Native Americans does not support a direct coastal migration from Siberia to California.

Résumé

Résumé

Se desafía la sugerencia hecha por Jones, et al. (2002), en el sentido de que un sitio de California del Pleistoceno terminal- Holoceno temprano contiene evidencia de una migración costera diferente hacia el Nuevo Mundo. Los autores ignoran a las 100 o más generaciones que pasaron desde el inicio de los eventos de la colonización del Nuevo Mundo y la ocupación de su sitio (Cross Creek), durante cuyo tiempo se esperarían muchos cambios culturales, incluso adaptaciones costeras post-caza mayor por todas partes de las Américas. Además, la cantidad de desecho de la comida es tan minúscula, que se pone en duda la misma inferencia sobre la naturaleza de la economía initial del Cross Creek. Los artefactos de piedra recuperados no tienen valor diagnóstico por función económica o correlación ecológica, y las piedras de molienda sugieren más uso de semillas que explotación del mar. Finalmente, lo que es sabido acerca de los orígenes biológicos, variación, y micro evolución de Americanos Nativos no apoya una migración costera directa de Siberia a California.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 68 , Issue 2 , April 2003 , pp. 391 - 395
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ackerman, Robert E. 1992 Earliest Stone Industries on the North Pacific Coast of North America. Arctic Anthropology 29(2): 18–27.Google Scholar
Ackerman, Robert E. 1996 Early Maritime Culture Complexes of the Northern Northwest Coast. In Early Human Occupation in British Columbia, edited by Roy, L. Carlson and Luke Dalla, Bona, pp. 123–137. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Carlson, Roy L. 1996 Introduction to Early Human Occupation in British Columbia. In Early Human Occupation in British Columbia, edited by Roy, L. Carlson and Luke Dalla, Bona, pp. 3–10. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Derev’anko, A. P. 1990 Paleolithic of North Asia and the Problem of Ancient Migrations. Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Siberian Division, Novosibirsk.Google Scholar
Dixon, E. J. 1999 Bones, Boats, & Bison. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Dumond, Don E. 2001 Toward a (Yet) Newer View of the (Pre)history of the Aleutians. In Archaeology in the Aleut Zone of Alaska, edited by Don, E. Dumond, pp. 289–309. Anthropological Papers No. 58. University of Oregon, Eugene.Google Scholar
Elias, Scott A. 2002 Setting the Stage: Environmental Conditions in Beringia as People Entered the New World. In The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World, edited by Nina, Jablonski, pp. 255–271. Memoir 27, Wattis Symposium Volume 4. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Fladmark, Knut R. 1978 The Feasibility of the Northwest Coast as a Migration Route for Early Man. In Early Man in America From a Circum-Pacific Perspective, edited by Alan, L. Bryan, pp. 119–128. Occasional Papers No. 1, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta. Archaeological Researches International, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Goebel, Ted, and Sergei B., Slobodin 1999 The Colonization of Western Beringia: Technology. Ecology, and Adaptations. In Ice Age People of North America: Environments, Origins, and Adaptations, edited by Robson, Bonnichsen and Karen, L. Turnmire, pp. 27–41. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Joseph H., Christy, G. Turner II, and Stephen, L. Zegura 1986 The Settlement of the Americas: A Comparison of the Linguistic, Dental, and Genetic Evidence. Current Anthropology 27:477–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosswald, Mikhail G. 1999 Ice Age Environments of Northern Eurasia with Special Reference to the Beringian Margin of Siberia. In Ice Age People of North America: Environments, Origins, and Adaptations, edited by Robson, Bonnichsen and Karen, L. Turnmire, pp. 27–41. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Thomas D., and Ted, Goebel 1999 Late Pleistocene Peopling of Alaska. In Ice Age People of North America: Environments, Origins, and Adaptations, edited by Robson, Bonnichsen and Karen, L. Turnmire, pp. 157–199. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis.Google Scholar
Haynes, C. Vance 1987 Clovis Origins Update. The Kiva 52:83–93.Google Scholar
Haynes, Gary 1991 Mammoths, Mastodonts, and Elephants: Biology, Behavior, and the Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Berlinski, David 2002a Reviews of Bones, Boats, and Bison: Archaeology and the First Colonization of Western North America, by Dixon, E. J. and The Settlement of the Americas: A New Prehistory, by Dillehay, T.D.. North American Archaeologist 23(1):72–78.Google Scholar
Berlinski, David 2002b The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hoffecker, John F. 1996 Introduction to the Archaeology of Beringia. In American Beginnings: The Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia, edited by Frederick, Hadleigh West, pp. 149–153. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Hopkins, David M. 1996 Introduction: The Concept of Beringia. In American Beginnings: The Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia, edited by Frederick, Hadleigh West, pp. xvii-xxi. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Irwin-Williams, Cynthia 1979 Post-Pleistocene Archeology, 7000-2000 B.C. In Southwest, edited by Alfonso, Ortiz, pp. 31–42. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 9, William, C. Sturtevant, general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Jones, Terry L., Richard, T. Fitzgerald, Douglas, J. Kennett, Charles, H. Miksicek, John, L. Fagan, John, Sharp, and Jon, M. Erlandson 2002 The Cross Creek Site (CA-SLO-1797) and its Implications for New World Colonization. American Antiquity 67:213–230.Google Scholar
Kimura, Hideaki 1997 The Study of Paleolithic Culture in Siberia (in Japanese). Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo.Google Scholar
Laughlin, William S. 1963 Eskimos and Aleuts: Their Origins and Evolution. Science 142:633–645.Google Scholar
Laughlin, William S. 1980 Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Laukin, S. A. 2000 The Settlement of Northern Asia by Paleolithic Man (in Russian). In Paleogeografía Kamennog Reka. Korrelyashiya Prirodnk Sobtii Arkeologticheskik Kultyr Paleolita Severnoi Azia i Sopredelnk Territori. Material Meshdunarodnoi Konferensi, Kurtak, edited by Drozdov, N. I., pp. 79–80. Krasnoyarsk.Google Scholar
Martin, Paul S., and Richard G., Klein (editors) 1984 Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
McCartney, Allen P. 1984 Prehistory of the Aleutian Region. In Arctic, edited by David, Damas, pp. 119–135. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 5, William, C. Sturtevant, general editor. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Meggers, Betty J. 1995 Transpacific Voyages from Japan to America. Tosa Shimizu Bunkazai Chosa Hokokusho (Kochi Prefecture Cultural Properties Survey) Report, pp. 131–136.Google Scholar
Mills, Robin O. 1994 Radiocarbon Calibration of Archaeological Dates from the Central Gulf of Alaska. Arctic Anthropology 31:126–149.Google Scholar
Rivet, Paul 1957 Les Origins de l’homme Américain. Gallimard, Paris.Google Scholar
Stanford, Dennis, and Bruce, Bradley 2002 Ocean Trails and Prairie Paths? Thoughts about Clovis Origins. In The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World, edited by Nina, Jablonski, pp. 255–271. Memoir 27, Wattis Symposium, Volume 4. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Stewart, T. D. 1973 The People of America. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Straus, L. G. 2000 Solutrean Settlement of North America? A Review of Reality. American Antiquity 65:219–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berlinski, David 1983a Dental Evidence for the Peopling of the Americas. In Early Man in the New World, edited by Richard, Shutler, Jr., pp. 147–157. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, California.Google Scholar
Berlinski, David 1983b Sinodonty and Sundadonty: A Dental Anthropological View of Mongoloid Microevolution, Origin and Dispersal into the Pacific Basin, Siberia, and the Americas. In Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Cultural Connections of Asia and America, edited by Vasilievsky, R. S., pp. 72–76. U.S.S.R. Academy of Science, Siberian Branch, Novosibirsk (in Russian).Google Scholar
Turner, Christy G. II 2002 Teeth, Needles, Dogs and Siberia: Bioarchaeological Evidence for the Colonization of the New World. In The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World, edited by Nina, Jablonski, pp. 123–158. Memoir 27, Wattis Symposium, Volume 4. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Vasilievsky, R. S. 1984 The Role of Beringia in the Colonization of the Aleutian Islands. In Beringia in the Cenozoic Era, edited by Kontrimavichus, V. L., pp. 661–668. Translated from Russian. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. Available from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia.Google Scholar
Vasilievsky, R. S. 2001 The Genesis of North Pacific Cultures and Their Interrelationship. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 3(7):31–38.Google Scholar
West, Frederick Hadleigh 1996 Beringia and New World Origins. II. The Archaeological Record. In American Beginnings: The Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia, edited by Frederick, Hadleigh West, pp. 537–559. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Workman, William 2001 Reflections on the Utility of the Coastal Migration Hypothesis in Understanding the Peopling of the New World. Paper presented at the Alaska Anthropological Association, Fairbanks, March.Google Scholar