I think that 'Clovis first' is dead, even if it still has a few adherents.FreeThinker wrote:The Solutrean-Clovis connection is an interesting theory. The similar morphology and knapping technique of cerain lithic materials is indeed striking. Also a genetic marker of the Ojibwa (I think it is the Objibwa) does indeed seem to match a northern European marker. There has even been a study of the concentration of Clovis discoveries across north America and the majority of Clovis sites are on the east coast. This is contrary to what one would expect if they (the Clovis peoples) had come over the Bering land bridge from Siberia.
Some problems with the theory include the total lack of Clovis art (the Solutrean's were prolific in their artistic output) and a several thousand year gap of time separating Clovis from Solutrean.
I personally think there is plenty enough evidence to move past the "Clovis first" paradigm but I am still cautious about embracing the Solutrean-Clovis connection. More evidence is needed to make that call I think.
See, now this post is on topic!
I also think there is no good reason to believe that Clovis technology wasn't actually invented in America. The links with Solutrean technology are thin, there is lots of Solutrean stuff that isn't in America, there is the time gap, and the Solutreans didn't exploit the ocean and are thus unlikely to have sailed to North America.
Now the DNA -- the problem with what has been posted, and the BBC program, is that it is obsolete.
The whole story isn't clear yet, but what seems to be the case is:
1. Haplogroup x, which is what we are talking about, is found in Siberia.
2. It has different 'varieties', and the variety found in North American Indaisn isn't the same as in western Europeans.
3. It may have originated in the Middle East and gone both west, to Europe, and East to Siberia and North America.
What we know about Neanderthal DNA tells us modern man and Neanderthal's ancestors branched off hundreds of thousands of years ago, unless I've missed something, which is possible, it's hard to keep up with it all!
