Early Paleo-Indian

New Worldhunter-gatherers
Map
expand_more Description

The Early Paleo-Indian Tradition, which includes the initial colonization of the Western Hemisphere from Siberia by foot and/or by boat, occurred from more than 14,000 until 10,200 BP (radiocarbon years, or circa 15,500–12,500 BP calibrated). The people were highly mobile nomadic hunter-gatherers, with some fishing and some exploitation of Pleistocene megafauna. They created stone, bone, and ivory tools; evidence for baskets, cordage, and wooden tools exists where preservation is good. High quality tool stone is found far from its sources, indicating exchange between groups and/or high group mobility. Some regional variation in tool types and preferred raw materials appears circa 11,100 BP (13,000 BP calibrated), around the time that the Clovis complex begins.

Identifier
Region
  • New World
Subregion
  • New World
Subsistence Type
  • hunter-gatherers
Countries
  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Mexico
  • Peru
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela