United States History Student Edition

This illustration shows early peoples hunting mammoths. A single mammoth, which averaged 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, could provide tons of meat, enough to feed a group of people for months.

When the glaciers melted and the oceans rose, people living there were forced out of Beringia. Some traveled west to Asia; others went east to North America. Yet some scientists do not believe these theories tell the whole story. They say that Beringia was uninhabitable until about 12,600 years ago. Some new evidence seems to indicate that humans were in North America nearly 15,000 years ago. Therefore, some humans must have come to the Americas some other way, probably by boat along the Pacific coast. Despite all that has been learned about the earliest Americans, archaeologists continue to seek more evidence and to develop a theory that can explain all the facts. Searching for Food While their paths are still being studied, we know many migrants traveled to the Americas. Most if not all of the earliest Americans came from northeast Asia, probably either on foot or by boat. Over centuries, their descendants traveled

throughout both continents, settling North and South America from coast to coast. What was the reason for this migration? The main reason for migration was to find food. Early peoples were nomadic (noh•MAD•ihk), meaning they moved from place to place. They might stay in an area for days or months before moving on, depending on how well the place met their needs. Early peoples depended on hunting for much of their food, but they also gathered edible wild grains and seeds, fruits and berries, roots and bulbs, nuts, and even leaves. They would keep moving until they found a place where they could hunt and gather food successfully. Early Americans used spears to hunt huge mammals including mastodons and mammoths— giant, shaggy beasts that resembled modern elephants. At some point, however, these and other large mammals began to disappear. We do not know why. The decline in game populations meant that early Americans had to find other sources of food.

despite in spite of nomadic moving from place to place

The Natural History Museum, London/Science Source

9

The First Americans