Paleo-Indians is an English term used to refer to the ancient peoples of America who were present at the end of the last Ice Age. The prefix 'paleo' comes from the Greek palaios meaning ancient, and is used in the word 'paleolithic', ancient stone, and refers to the Upper Paleolithic time period. They have also been referred to as Clovis people in North American archaeological literature; however, there is now evidence that there were several other pre-Clovis Paleo Indian cultures also.

Paleo-Indians are believed to be the first people to have inhabited a large number of areas in the Americas, though there is now some doubt as to whether they were the first inhabitants of the continent as a whole. The current prevailing theory postulates that Paleo-Indians entered the Americas from Asia via a theoretical land bridge (see also Beringia) connecting eastern Siberia with present-day Alaska when sea levels were significantly lower because of widespread glaciation between about 15,000 to 35,000 years ago. However, evidence suggestive of even earlier human occupation in South America has generated an alternative theory that Paleo-Indians, or at least some groups of them, may have come from the Pacific Islands or mainland Asia by boat.

Paleo-Indians are believed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers whose following of animal migrations dictated where they camped. As the glaciers that covered much of North America receded in the warming climate following the most recent glacial maximum, tundra foliage was the main plant-growth. Paleo-Indians primarily hunted mastodons and mammoths, as well as prehistoric bear, bison, and caribou, all large animals which were able to live on the tundra. The Paleo-Indians are known to have hunted with both fluted stone-pointed wooden lancing spears and shorter spears that they would throw using an atlatl; they probably also foraged for edible plants.

Paleo-Indians likely traveled in small groups of approximately 20 or 50 members of an extended family. Archaeological evidence of particular kinds of fluted-stone have been uncovered, suggesting trade occurred between such groups.

Archaic stage Indians of the Americas are believed to be direct descendants of Paleo-Indians.

See also

• Models of migration to the New World
• Clovis culture

External links

• Smithsonian Institute: Paleoamerican Origins
• Paleoindian & Other Archaeological Stuff
• Possible pre-Clovis Site in Ohio

History of North America | History of South America | Pleistocene

Paleoamericano | Paleoindijanci