Beringia, the land
bridge
Its Past, Present, and Future
Ian Buvit
C.V.
•  1997 BS Anthropology,
Southern Oregon University
•  2000 MA Anthropology, Texas
A&M University
•  2008 PhD Anthropology,
Washington State University
•  2006-2016 Anthropology
Instructor; Director, Ronald E.
McNair Post-baccalaureate
Achievement Program, Central
Washington University
Ice-age archaeology
Mongolia
Siberia
Alaska
Japan
National Park
service
2016- Manager, National Park Service, Shared Beringian
Heritage Program
Beringia
schedule
January 12 Introduction, History, Geography, Peopling of the
Americas
January 19 Ice Age Beringia and the Peopling of the New World
January 26 Holocene Cultures of Beringia-Guest Dr. A. Tremayne
February 2 Modern Beringia
Talking about time
AD/BC
CE/BCE
BP, bp
kya, mya
History of the
(Western)
concept
•  de Acosta (1539/40-1600)
•  Historia Natural y Moral de las
Indias (1588)
•  Native Americans crossed a
land bridge between Asia and
North America
History of the
(Western)
concept
•  Vitus Bering (1681-1741)
•  1725-1730 First Kamchatka
Expedition
•  1733-1743 Great Nordic
Expedition
•  Bering Sea, Bering Strait,
Bering Island
V. Bering
Test your knowledge
1. Ian is trained as a/an____ and has worked in____.
a. Botanist/Montana
b. Archaeologist/Siberia
c.  Police Officer/Detroit
d. Lawyer/Alaska
Test your knowledge
1. Who commissioned Bering’s expedition?
a. Nicholas II
b. Ivan IV
c.  Catharine II
d. Peter 1
History of the
(Western)
concept
•  Dr. D. M. Hopkins (1921-2001)
•  USGS Alaska
•  The Bering Land Bridge (1967)
•  The Paleoecology of Beringia (1982)
D. Hopkins
Physiography
Chukchi Sea
Bering Strait
Bering Sea
Image used by permission (Scott Elias)
Peopling of the Americas
Questions
How?
When?
From where?
How: Land Route (on foot)
Bering Land
Bridge
Ice-Free
Corridor
How: Land Route (on foot)
Ice-Free Corridor Open too Late
How: Coastal Route (boat)
Australia at
50,000 BP
Japan
30,000 BP
How: Coastal Route (boat)
Early coastal sites now
flooded
When?
Way-Early
>50,000 BP
Largely Discredited
Calico Hills, California
Test your knowledge
1. If humans first came to America on foot, they had to c
a. Europe
b. Australia
c.  Asia
d. Africa
Test your knowledge
1. What can we say about the Clovis First hypothesis:
a. It is the leading theory today
b. It has to do with continental drift
c.  It is mainly discredited
d. It has to do with plant migration
When?
Pretty-early
Between 50 and 20,000
BP
Supported by some
linguistic data
When?
Kinda-Early
Between 20 and 12,500
BP
Gaining more followers
every year
Monte Verde, Chile
Monte Verde, Oldest Accepted Site
in the New World
12,500 BP 14C date from Monte
Verde
When?
Late
After 12,500 BP
AKA Clovis-First
Clovis big game hunters
rapidly spread across
North and South America
(1000 years)
Clovis Culture
Clovis Spread
When?
Clovis-First
Dominant Theory >70 yrs
Mostly Discredited
Sites Older Than Clovis
From Where?
Europe (Trans Atlantic)
Archaeology
Discredited
From Where?
NE Asia
Genetics
Archaeology
Early Routes to America