The Bering Transitory Archipelago: stepping stones for the first Americans

Dobson, Jerome E.; Spada, Giorgio; Galassi, Gaia

doi:10.5802/crgeos.53

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Transit over shore-fast winter sea ice could help circumvent geographic obstructions such as glaciers and areas of strong north-flowing currents along the outer Alaskan Coast. Winter sea ice would have connected islands in the Beringian Transitory Archipelago and Aleutian Islands, as well as formerly exposed islands on the now-submerged southeast Alaska and British Columbia continental shelf, which would have largely escaped the severe glaciation of the mainland, possibly acting as “stepping stones” for a coastal migration from Beringia into North America ( 84 ). In addition to providing a much-needed food source, winter hunting expeditions over sea ice could have scouted out new lands and identified nearby land areas for longer term camps, circumventing perceived barriers to migration.…”

Section: Discussion: Paleoclimatic Implications For Human Migrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific coast

Praetorius

Alder

Condron

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Founding populations of the first Americans likely occupied parts of Beringia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The timing, pathways, and modes of their southward transit remain unknown, but blockage of the interior route by North American ice sheets between ~26 and 14 cal kyr BP (ka) favors a coastal route during this period. Using models and paleoceanographic data from the North Pacific, we identify climatically favorable intervals when humans could have plausibly traversed the Cordilleran coastal corridor during the terminal Pleistocene. Model simulations suggest that northward coastal currents strengthened during the LGM and at times of enhanced freshwater input, making southward transit by boat more difficult. Repeated Cordilleran glacial-calving events would have further challenged coastal transit on land and at sea. Following these events, ice-free coastal areas opened and seasonal sea ice was present along the Alaskan margin until at least 15 ka. Given evidence for humans south of the ice sheets by 16 ka and possibly earlier, we posit that early people may have taken advantage of winter sea ice that connected islands and coastal refugia. Marine ice-edge habitats offer a rich food supply and traversing coastal sea ice could have mitigated the difficulty of traveling southward in watercraft or on land over glaciers. We identify 24.5 to 22 ka and 16.4 to 14.8 ka as environmentally favorable time periods for coastal migration, when climate conditions provided both winter sea ice and ice-free summer conditions that facilitated year-round marine resource diversity and multiple modes of mobility along the North Pacific coast.

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Section: Discussion: Paleoclimatic Implications For Human Migrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific coast

Praetorius

Alder

Condron

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Strait of Malacca or the Strait of Hormuz) were exposed land (being part of the so called 'Aquaterra', sensu Dobson 2014; Figs 6 & 7), impacting migration of human populations (Dobson et al 2020). For example, it is very likely that the first humans crossing to America from NE Asia moved along the coastline and archipelagos of the exposed Bering Sea (Dobson et al 2020(Dobson et al , 2021Fig. 7b) and that the colonization of Sicily occurred later than in the rest of the Italian peninsula, due to the timing of the closing of the Messina Strait, allowing a land bridge to form (Antonioli et al 2016).…”

Section: Biota: Chokepoints Hotspots and Land Bridgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Straits and seaways: controls, processes and implications in modern and ancient systems

Rossi

Longhitano

Olariu

et al. 2023

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Straits and seaways are connections between basins, key areas for exchange and transfer of water, heat, biota and sediments, and they can influence regional and global climate. A better understanding of straits/seaway dynamics, their evolution and preserved deposits is therefore fundamental to reconstruct the paleoecology, paleogeography and stratigraphy of interconnected basins. Straits and seaways are also important for understanding climate dynamics in Earth's past, and safely exploit energy resources (fossil and renewable). This Special Publication aims at improving the knowledge on this topic, and at providing a comprehensive collection of state-of-the-art works bringing together complementary disciplines. Even though studies on modern and ancient straits and seaways exist, they are not necessarily conceived towards a better geological understanding of these features as depositional systems in their own right. In this article we emphasize the geological importance of straits and seaways, summarizing the content and key findings of the contributions on this topic. The articles included in this volume explore four main research themes related to straits and seaways: (a) occurrence and classification; (b) morphological features, facies and stratigraphic variability, sedimentary processes and dynamics; (c) tectonic and climatic controls, their feedback with climate changes; (d) palaeogeographic reconstructions and preservation of associated deposits.

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“…In that case, it could also help explain the absence of the Australasian signal in North America if the dispersal was rapid and mostly restricted along the Pacific coast, resulting in more significant population growth in South America at the expense of North America. Most interestingly new evidence points to the existence of a very large number of islands in the Bering Sea to the south of Beringia between 30 and 8 ka BP, named the Bering Transitory Archipelago (BTA), which would have greatly enhanced the availability of marine resources and also facilitated sea travel through more easily navigable and protected waters ( Dobson et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: A Changing Time Horizonmentioning

confidence: 99%

A genomic perspective on South American human history

2022

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It has generally been accepted that the current indigenous peoples of the Americas are derived from ancestors from northeastern Asia. The latter were believed to have spread into the American continent by the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. In this sense, a joint and in-depth study of the earliest settlement of East Asia and the Americas is required to elucidate these events accurately. The first Americans underwent an adaptation process to the Americas’ vast environmental diversity, mediated by biological and cultural evolution and niche construction, resulting in enormous cultural diversity, a wealth of domesticated species, and extensive landscape modifications. Afterward, in the Late Holocene, the advent of intensive agricultural food production systems, sedentism, and climate change significantly reshaped genetic and cultural diversity across the continent, particularly in the Andes and Amazonia. Furthermore, starting around the end of the 15th century, European colonization resulted in massive extermination of indigenous peoples and extensive admixture. Thus, the present review aims to create a comprehensive picture of the main events involved in the formation of contemporary South American indigenous populations and the dynamics responsible for shaping their genetic diversity by integrating current genetic data with evidence from archeology, linguistics and other disciplines.

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The Bering Transitory Archipelago: stepping stones for the first Americans

Cited by 5 publications

References 35 publications

Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific coast

Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific coast

Straits and seaways: controls, processes and implications in modern and ancient systems

A genomic perspective on South American human history

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