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Paleoindian Archaic Basketmaker II Basketmaker III Pueblo I Pueblo II Pueblo III
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The Paleoindian Period: 9500 (or earlier) to 5500 B.C.Imagine a world of snow and ice, when glaciers covered large parts of North America and huge animals, now extinct, roamed the land. The time is the late Ice Age—also known as the Pleistocene—and humans have entered the North American continent for the first time. Archaeologists call this earliest occupation of the Americas the Paleoindian period. Paleo means “ancient,” and the Paleoindian period refers to the time when small bands of nomadic hunters first entered North America and subsequently spread out across the landscape (Figure 1). Similarities among stone artifacts found from Canada to Mexico suggest that people moved relatively quickly to all corners of the continent and shared a cultural tradition across vast distances.
Exactly when and how humans first came to North America is a hotly debated topic. Many archaeologists believe that the first people to arrive walked from Siberia to Alaska across the Bering land bridge sometime around 9500 B.C. Other archaeologists, however, believe that people entered the Americas hundreds, if not thousands, of years earlier. It is thought that these people may have traveled by watercraft along the Pacific coast. If so, it is likely that many of the earliest archaeological sites are now underwater, having been submerged as the glaciers melted and sea levels rose at the end of the Pleistocene. Future archaeological discoveries will someday help us resolve the question of when and how humans first entered the continent. Few Paleoindian sites have been discovered in the Mesa Verde region, and those that are known are identified primarily on the basis of isolated projectile points. The relatively small number of known Paleoindian sites is due to the great antiquity of the sites, the nomadic lifestyle of the people, and the low population during this time (Figure 2).
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