History › Human origins › Out of Africa migration
Settlement of the Americas
by c. 16,000 years ago; perhaps 23,000 (White Sands footprints)· Event· Americas & Oceania
DebatedHistorians or scientists disagree about what happened, when, or why.
People from northeast Asia reached the Americas by at least 16,000 years ago, and possibly 23,000 years ago or earlier.
See it on the History map →What happened
During the Ice Age, low seas exposed Beringia, a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska. Ancestors of Native Americans may have lived there for thousands of years, then moved south, probably along the Pacific coast by boat before an inland ice-free corridor opened about 14,000 years ago. Monte Verde in Chile was occupied about 14,500 years ago. Human footprints at White Sands, New Mexico, dated 23,000–21,000 years old, suggest an even earlier arrival.
Why it matters
It completed humanity's spread across every habitable continent except Antarctica, and set the stage for the separate rise of farming and cities in the Americas.
How we know
Dated sites like Monte Verde and Paisley Caves in Oregon, the White Sands footprints, and DNA showing Native Americans descend mainly from one Siberian-related population that split off about 25,000–20,000 years ago.
Still debated
The 'Clovis first' theory, an arrival about 13,000 years ago, has collapsed, but how early people came, by which route, and in how many waves remain open.
Connections (2)
▸Out of Africa migration led, via Siberia, to Settlement of the AmericasMostly agreed
The connection
Descendants of the out-of-Africa migrants spread across Asia into Siberia. One population probably became isolated in Beringia, the land bridge to Alaska, for thousands of years during the coldest part of the Ice Age, then moved south into the Americas, the last continents people settled.
When and how
Siberia and Beringia, roughly 25,000–16,000 years ago.
How sure are we?
DNA from living Native Americans and ancient remains, including a 24,000-year-old boy from Mal'ta near Lake Baikal whose genes link Siberians and Native Americans.
Debates and open questions
How long this 'Beringian standstill' lasted, or whether it happened at all, is debated, along with how early the first people reached the Americas.
▸End of the last Ice Age opened routes for Settlement of the AmericasDebated
The connection
As ice sheets melted, the Pacific coast of Alaska and Canada became free of ice by about 16,000 years ago, and an inland ice-free corridor opened about 14,000 years ago. These openings let people in Beringia move south. Rising seas later drowned the land bridge behind them.
When and how
Coastal Alaska and British Columbia by about 16,000 years ago; an inland corridor between the two great North American ice sheets by about 14,000 years ago.
How sure are we?
Geological dating of the ice retreat. The link is debated because the White Sands footprints suggest people were south of the ice before these routes opened.
Debates and open questions
If people were in New Mexico 23,000 years ago, how did they get past the ice, and did their descendants survive?