This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons.
READER QUESTION: We now know from evolutionary science that humanity has existed in some form or another for around two million years or more. Homo sapiens are comparatively new on the block. There were also many other human species, some that we interbred with. The question is then inevitable: When can we claim personhood in the long story of evolution? Are chimpanzees people? Did Australopithecine have an afterlife? What are the implications for how we think about rights and religion? Anthony A. MacIsaac, 26, Paris, France
A lot of ink has been spilled in archaeological debates about the human occupation of the continents known today as North and South America. When did people arrive? Where did they first settle? How did they get there?
For a large portion of the 20th century, the best answers to these questions were largely based on stone spearpoints named after a site where they were found near Clovis, New Mexico. That type of stone tool became known as a Clovis point, and the general consensus was that the people who made them had most likely arrived at the northwest tip of North America around 13,000 years ago, during the last ice age, by way of Beringia, a large land bridge that once connected present-day Asia and North America.
A lot of ink has been spilled in archaeological debates about the human occupation of the continents known today as North and South America. When did people arrive? Where did they first settle? How did they get there?
For a large portion of the 20th century, the best answers to these questions were largely based on stone spearpoints named after a site where they were found near Clovis, New Mexico. That type of stone tool became known as a Clovis point, and the general consensus was that the people who made them had most likely arrived at the northwest tip of North America around 13,000 years ago, during the last ice age, by way of Beringia, a large land bridge that once connected present-day Asia and North America.
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