Re: history questions: siberian land bridge(s)

Roger Dodger (rogerdodger@triax.com)
23 Dec 96 09:44:59 -700

Roger Dodger has this to say about that-
>It's possible. some work going on presently will answer the
>question.

>Paul

>charles stegiel <cosimo@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
><59i5ho$4fr@dfw-ixnews6.ix.netcom.com>...
>>
>> My question: Did man reach the New World more than 50,000 years
>> before present? Man in America not only starts off with an
>> exceptionallly fine type of spear point to thrust into elephant or
>> bison, and uses pressure flaking far more extensively than man in
>> the Old World; in addition, he develops the type of milling stone,
>> or quern, that does not appear in Europe until the neolithic
>> agricultural period.
>>

The best answer I have seen for the question of 'When did man enter
N.America' is approximatly 17K BCE, around the time of the greatest
extent of the Wurm Glacial period when the sea level was around
600 meters BELOW its present level. This event exposed a land-mass
that was continental in size, not the narrow 'Land Bridge' that many
have in mind. Beringia was over 1000 miles in extent north to south,
and stretched from Vladasvostok to British Columbia. Except for the
area of most northern extent, Beringia seems to have been relativly
ice free. It was, apparently a very inhospitable land, cold and quite
sparse in plant growth.

Source: The Paleoecology of Beringia (1982?).

This source is now pretty out of date. Has any more modern work
been done on this subject? Are there any .GIF maps of Beringia
available on the web?

Roger Dodger
from the City-State of the Invincible Overlord
Job not found: (A)bort (R)etry (W)elfare