History of Mesoamerica (Paleo-Indian)
Encyclopedia
In the History of Mesoamerica, the stage known as the Paleo-Indian period
(or alternatively, the Lithic stage
) is the era in the scheme of Mesoamerican chronology
which begins with the very first indications of human habitation within the Mesoamerica
n region, and continues until the general onset of the development of agriculture
and other proto-civilization
traits. The conclusion of this stage may be assigned to approximately 9000 BP
(there are differences in opinion between sources which recognize the classification), and the transition to the succeeding Archaic period is not a well-defined one.
Its starting-point is a matter for some contention, as is the more general question of when human habitation in the Americas
was first achieved. While it is accepted by a significant number of researchers that the peopling of the Americas had occurred by c. 11,200 years ago, a number of claims have been made for evidence of human occupation which precede this, some as far back as c. 40,000 years. General and majority scientific consensus for these (much) earlier dates remains elusive, however, and evidence for these claims is yet to be fully accepted.
has reflected larger trends in conceptualizing human antiquity in the western hemisphere
in general. Within that foundational topic, the establishment of sites demonstrating human antiquity in Mesoamerica has centered on the association of remains and artifacts with geologic strata (context) and on the reliability of the dating of the remains and strata (methodologies).
At the beginning of the twentieth century, humans were believed to be very recent post-glacial immigrants to the western hemisphere. Although there was believed to have been anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 years of post-glacial time in which such immigration could have occurred over the Bering land bridge
, the antiquity of human presence in the western hemisphere was popularly fixed at about 5,000 BP
("before present", or 3000 BC).
William H. Holmes
and Ales Hrdlicka
led this school of thought. The Folsom
and Clovis
discoveries of the 1920s and 1930s revised the minimum time frame for the initial occupation of the New World. The Folsom lithics dated to 10,000 - 11,000 BP, and the Clovis lithics dated to 12,000 - 12,500 BP, allowing for an original immigration date of about 14,000 BP.
In Mesoamerica, the period from about 9,000 BP back to the earliest occupations is referred to as the "Paleoindian period." Evidence of human occupation in Mesoamerica consistent with that 14,000 BP original occupation date has been presented, debated, and accepted. Fluted points
have been found north of Mesoamerica in the states of Sonora and Durango as well as in central Mexico, with proof of a mammoth hunt being uncovered at Santa Isabel Iztapan
. Pleistocene-age bone artifacts have been found at Los Reyes La Paz. Human presence during this period has been further documented by cranial finds at Peña
, Xico
, Tepexpan
, Santa Maria Astahuacan
, and San Vicente Chicoloapan
. A variety of methods were used to determine the antiquity of the cranial remains, including chemical bone analysis (nitrogen and fluorine tests), geological analysis (stratigraphic, carbon-14
, and volcanic ash composition tests), contextual association with faunal remains, and contextual association with lithic artifacts dated by obsidian hydration
.
The 14,000 BP immigration date maximum, however, has been challenged. Claims have been made for human presence in the 20,000-30,000 BP timeframe at Pennsylvania's Meadowcroft Rock Shelter and in California's Yuha Desert
as well as sites in South America, Central America, and Mesoamerica.
A bone artifact from Tequixquiac
may come from a pre-projectile point horizon. Evidence from Tlapacoya
suggests human occupation dating to 23,000 BP. Valsequillo has five sites that appear to date from at least 20,000 BP. Based upon increasing evidence for an earlier antiquity for human presence in the western hemisphere, in 1976 Irving Rouse and Richard MacNeish
independently published proposals revising western hemisphere lithic stages, allowing for human occupation as early as 30,000 BP and leaving open the possibility of an even earlier initial arrival.
Paleo Indians
Paleo-Indians or Paleoamericans is a classification term given to the first peoples who entered, and subsequently inhabited, the American continent during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period...
(or alternatively, the Lithic stage
Lithic stage
In the sequence of North American prehistoric cultural stages first proposed by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips in 1958, the Lithic stage was the earliest period of human occupation in the Americas, accruing during the Late Pleistocene period, to time before 8,000 B.C....
) is the era in the scheme of Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
which begins with the very first indications of human habitation within the Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n region, and continues until the general onset of the development of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and other proto-civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
traits. The conclusion of this stage may be assigned to approximately 9000 BP
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
(there are differences in opinion between sources which recognize the classification), and the transition to the succeeding Archaic period is not a well-defined one.
Its starting-point is a matter for some contention, as is the more general question of when human habitation in the Americas
Models of migration to the New World
There have been several models for the human settlement of the Americas proposed by various academic communities. The question of how, when and why humans first entered the Americas is of intense interest to archaeologists and anthropologists, and has been a subject of heated debate for centuries...
was first achieved. While it is accepted by a significant number of researchers that the peopling of the Americas had occurred by c. 11,200 years ago, a number of claims have been made for evidence of human occupation which precede this, some as far back as c. 40,000 years. General and majority scientific consensus for these (much) earlier dates remains elusive, however, and evidence for these claims is yet to be fully accepted.
Migration
Scientific opinion regarding human antiquity in MesoamericaMesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
has reflected larger trends in conceptualizing human antiquity in the western hemisphere
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
in general. Within that foundational topic, the establishment of sites demonstrating human antiquity in Mesoamerica has centered on the association of remains and artifacts with geologic strata (context) and on the reliability of the dating of the remains and strata (methodologies).
At the beginning of the twentieth century, humans were believed to be very recent post-glacial immigrants to the western hemisphere. Although there was believed to have been anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 years of post-glacial time in which such immigration could have occurred over the Bering land bridge
Bering land bridge
The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles wide at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. Like most of Siberia and all of Manchuria, Beringia was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light...
, the antiquity of human presence in the western hemisphere was popularly fixed at about 5,000 BP
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
("before present", or 3000 BC).
William Henry Holmes
William Henry Holmes was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, geologist and museum director.-Life:...
and Ales Hrdlicka
Aleš Hrdlicka
Aleš Hrdlička or Ales Hrdlicka was a Czech anthropologist who lived in the United States after his family had moved there in 1881...
led this school of thought. The Folsom
Folsom Site
Folsom Site , in Folsom, New Mexico, is the archaeological site that is the type site for the Folsom tradition, a Paleo-Indian cultural sequence dating to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC...
and Clovis
Clovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
discoveries of the 1920s and 1930s revised the minimum time frame for the initial occupation of the New World. The Folsom lithics dated to 10,000 - 11,000 BP, and the Clovis lithics dated to 12,000 - 12,500 BP, allowing for an original immigration date of about 14,000 BP.
Lithic period
- See also: Paleo-Indians and Paleo-Indians period (Canada)
In Mesoamerica, the period from about 9,000 BP back to the earliest occupations is referred to as the "Paleoindian period." Evidence of human occupation in Mesoamerica consistent with that 14,000 BP original occupation date has been presented, debated, and accepted. Fluted points
Clovis point
Clovis points are the characteristically-fluted projectile points associated with the North American Clovis culture. They date to the Paleoindian period around 13,500 years ago. Clovis fluted points are named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico, where examples were first found in 1929.At the right...
have been found north of Mesoamerica in the states of Sonora and Durango as well as in central Mexico, with proof of a mammoth hunt being uncovered at Santa Isabel Iztapan
Santa Isabel, Chihuahua
Santa Isabel is a small town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Santa Isabel.As of 2005, Santa Isabel had a total population of 1412....
. Pleistocene-age bone artifacts have been found at Los Reyes La Paz. Human presence during this period has been further documented by cranial finds at Peña
Peña
Peña, meaning "rocky outcrop" or "rocky summit" in the Spanish language , may refer to:-Mountains:*Peña Montañesa, a mountain in the Pre-Pyrenees, Aragon, Spain*Peña de los Enamorados, a mountain near Antequera, Andalusia, Spain...
, Xico
Xico
Xico could be referring to either of two cities in Mexico:* Xico, México * Xico, Veracruz It may also refer to Portuguese footballer Francisco Ferreira....
, Tepexpan
Tepexpan
Tepexpan is the largest town in the Acolman municipality in Mexico State, Mexico. The population was 48,103 as of the 2005 Mexican census.One of the most interesting aspects of this town is the discovery of an early Mesoamerican skeleton commonly referred to as "Tepexpan man". Recent research tries...
, Santa Maria Astahuacan
Santa María Ixhuatán
Santa María Ixhuatán is a municipality in the Santa Rosa department of Guatemala....
, and San Vicente Chicoloapan
Chiautempan, Tlaxcala
Chiautempan is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name located in the south-central part of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. The city serves as the municipal seat of the municipality, which covers an area of 66.21 km²...
. A variety of methods were used to determine the antiquity of the cranial remains, including chemical bone analysis (nitrogen and fluorine tests), geological analysis (stratigraphic, carbon-14
Carbon-14
Carbon-14, 14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with a nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues , to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological...
, and volcanic ash composition tests), contextual association with faunal remains, and contextual association with lithic artifacts dated by obsidian hydration
Obsidian hydration dating
Obsidian hydration dating is a geochemical method of determining age in either absolute or relative terms of an artifact made of obsidian....
.
The 14,000 BP immigration date maximum, however, has been challenged. Claims have been made for human presence in the 20,000-30,000 BP timeframe at Pennsylvania's Meadowcroft Rock Shelter and in California's Yuha Desert
Yuha Desert
The Yuha Desert is a section of the Sonoran Desert located in the Imperial Valley of California; south of Interstate 8, west of El Centro, CA, and north of the international border....
as well as sites in South America, Central America, and Mesoamerica.
A bone artifact from Tequixquiac
Tequixquiac
Santiago Tequixquiac is the seat of the municipality of Tequixquiac located in the northeastern part of the state of Mexico in Mexico, although both are commonly called Tequixquiac. The town is located at a northern pass leading out of the Valley of Mexico and about 120 km northeast of the...
may come from a pre-projectile point horizon. Evidence from Tlapacoya
Tlapacoya (Mesoamerican site)
Tlapacoya is an important archaeological site in Mexico, located at the foot of the Tlapacoya volcano, southeast of Mexico City, on the former shore of Lake Chalco. Tlapacoya was a major site for the Tlatilco culture....
suggests human occupation dating to 23,000 BP. Valsequillo has five sites that appear to date from at least 20,000 BP. Based upon increasing evidence for an earlier antiquity for human presence in the western hemisphere, in 1976 Irving Rouse and Richard MacNeish
Richard MacNeish
Richard Stockton MacNeish , known to many as "Scotty", was an American archaeologist. His fieldwork revolutionized the understanding of the development agriculture in the New World, the prehistory of several regions of Canada, the United States and Central and South America...
independently published proposals revising western hemisphere lithic stages, allowing for human occupation as early as 30,000 BP and leaving open the possibility of an even earlier initial arrival.
Post-Lithic period
See also
- Archaeology of the AmericasArchaeology of the AmericasThe archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of North America , Central America, South America and the Caribbean...
- Amazonas before the Inca EmpireAmazonas before the Inca EmpireThe department of Amazonas in modern Peru – a part of Peru close to the Andes but within the Amazonian forest – has a millennial history. There is some evidence exhibited on rocky walls dated from the most remote times, including the rock paintings of Chiñuña-Yamón and Limones-Calpón in the...
- Classification of indigenous peoples of the AmericasClassification of indigenous peoples of the AmericasClassification of indigenous peoples of the Americas is based upon cultural regions, geography, and linguistics. Anthropologists have named various cultural regions, with fluid boundaries, that are generally agreed upon with some variation...
- Cultural periods of PeruCultural periods of PeruThis is a chart of cultural periods of Peru and the Andean Region developed by Edward Lanning and used by some archaeologists studying the area...
- Indigenous American genetic studies
- List of pre-Columbian civilizations
- Olmec influences on Mesoamerican culturesOlmec influences on Mesoamerican culturesThe causes and degree of Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures has been a subject of debate over many decades. Although the Olmecs are considered to be perhaps the earliest Mesoamerican civilization, there are questions concerning how and how much the Olmecs influenced cultures outside the...
- Population history of American indigenous peoplesPopulation history of American indigenous peoplesThe population figures for Indigenous peoples in the Americas before the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus have proven difficult to establish and rely on archaeological data and written records from European settlers...
- Pre-Columbian eraPre-Columbian eraThe pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...