World History, Grades 9-12

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

PACIFIC

OCEAN

ARCTIC OCEAN

M

iss

iss

ipp

iR

.

AmazonR

.

NORTH

AMERICA

ASIA

SOUTH

AMERICA

RO

CK

Y

MO

UN

TA

IN

S A N D E S

MO

U

N

TA

IN

S

Beringia

Clovis, New Mexico

9500 B.C.

Monte Verde, Chile

10,500 B.C.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter,

Pennsylvania

17,000 B.C.

Broken Mammoth, Alaska

11,800 B.C.

40 °S

40 °N

Tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Cancer

40

°W 0 °

80

°W

120

°W

160

°W

160

°E

0 ° Equator

Glacier ice, 12,000 B.C.

Beringia

Possible land migration routes

Possible water migration route

Fossil site

0 2,000 Miles

0 4,000 Kilometers

Migration Routes,

40,000–10,000 B.C.

At the Meadowcroft Rockshelter

site in Pennsylvania, pre-Clovis

blades have been found that date

back many thousands of years.

Spearheads similar to these were first discovered
near Clovis, New Mexico, and later throughout
North America. Many of these artifacts date back to
around 9500 B.C.

Recent findings at Monte Verde, Chile, have

provided evidence of human life in the Americas as

early as 10,500 B.C.

Travelers across Beringia might have

encountered landscapes such as this in Alaska.

237

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER:Interpreting Maps

1.LocationWhat two continents does the Beringia land bridge connect?

2.MovementFrom where do scholars believe the first Americans came? How did they come?