200,000 years ago a new species emerged on the African landscape, Homo sapiens, or modern humans. Us.
From Africa we first crossed into Asia, reached Australia, and journeyed into Europe. The final continent to be reached by people was the Americas, but how and when did the first people get there?
Through new scientific investigations the earliest remains of pre-historic Americans are beginning to give up their secrets.
25,000 years ago:
It’s the peak of the last Ice Age: two mountainous ice sheets over 100 ft. deep block modern humans from reaching the Americas.
18,000 years ago:
A land bridge across the Bering Strait linked Siberia to North America, and provided a gateway for people to cross continents.
16,000 years ago:
Homo sapiens reach the Americas. Human fossils from 13,000 year ago show people were living on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of California—proof they used watercraft.
14,800 years ago:
Monte Verde—a tantalizing site in Chile, South America, where signs of human presence dating back to 14,800 years ago have archaeologists scouring for human remains.
12,000 years ago:
The last Ice Age ends, and by 10,000 years ago meltwater fills the vast basins of North America, forming the Great Lakes.
