In northern Siberia, humans were already present at the edge of the Arctic Ocean around 31,000 years BC, well before the last glacial maximum. The passage to North America may have originated in Siberia, across the land masses of the Behring Strait, as a result of lower sea levels. For a long time, the first human settlements on the American continent were limited by the development of an enormous ice cap that blocked the route south of Alaska. North of this barrier, the oldest human traces can be found in the Canadian Yukon, at the site of the Blue Fish Cave around 24,000 BC. After the last glacial maximum, melting ice opened up the passage southwards, first along the Pacific coast before 14,700 BC, then later through a corridor accessible to humans from 12,600 BC, between the glaciers of the Cordillera and the Laurentian glaciers. South of the ice cap, the first well-represented complex of lithic industries is the Clovis complex, already present in much of the present-day United States around 13,000 BC. Pre-Clovis occupations have been documented, notably along the Pacific coast, but their actual antiquity is a subject of ongoing debate. From a genetic point of view, Amerindian settlements have an Asian origin close to that of today's Chinese, but with other contributions, in particular a Siberian contribution close to that of today's Europeans. Inuit settlement in the Arctic is the result of a different and much more recent wave of settlement.
17:00 - 18:00
