![]() The presence of ossification in the bones led examiners to conduct radiocarbon dating which touched off a controversy between scientists, Native Americans and the Government. Later testing indicated a Southeastern Asian ethnicity (not the Northeastern ethnicity one would expect from the land bridge theory). ![]() Initial examinations concluded that this was a Caucasian murder victim from the very recent past. The bones of Kennewick Man, discovered in Washington’s Columbia River in 1996, have been dated to 9,600 years. The topic is absolute dynamite right now for obvious reasons. A growing number-though certainly not a majority-of scholars are speculating as to whether the first Americans were possibly from the South Pacific, Africa or possibly even Europe. While it has long been assumed by Western scholars that the earliest Americans migrated from Asia, new finds are beginning to stir things up a bit. Some interesting scholarship is going on right now which calls this theory into question. Video 00:02:58 links to: Petrified Forest Video () Origins Too? This is currently the most widely held theory of ancient American origins. With so much water trapped in the ice, ocean levels would have dropped hundreds of feet, exposing the Bering Strait which is less than 200 feet deep. This theory holds that an ice-cap of up to two miles in thickness covered much of North America during an ice-age more than 10,000 years ago. In the past century it has become widely accepted that these first Americans migrated from Asia via a land bridge connecting modern day Russia and Alaska. Who were these earliest Americans and where did they come from? Many Europeans of that day speculated that these were the lost tribes of Israel or possibly the descendants of Egyptians who had migrated to the New World. Video 00:1:20 links to: Meteor Crater Video () Origins In reality, there were more cultures and cultural differences in the Americas in 1500 than there were in Europe at that same time. However, after that encounter, Europeans tended to view these early Americans as a single culture and attempted to apply a single policy in dealing with them-a mistake the United States would repeat after its Revolution hundreds of years later. Perhaps as many as 500 distinct tribes inhabited North America before the Columbian encounter in the late fifteenth century. It’s a place for them to celebrate the accomplishments of their ancestors.Cultural areas of pre-Columbian North America. By User:Nikater, via Wikimedia Commons He hopes the site, along with other significant Hohokam locales – like Pueblo Grande – inspire a sense of connection to the land and the past in area residents, especially indigenous peoples.Ībbott, an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said, “I think it’s very important for Native American communities. Abbott calls Mesa Grande a once powerful political center that controlled water for farming in the region. ![]() In a July 4 Arizona Republic article regarding the opening, Arizona State University archaeologist and Hohokam specialist David R. Nearly 30 years after archaeologist Jerry Howard began working to save and secure access to the site, the Arizona Museum of Natural History is preparing to open to the public Mesa Grande, as well as a 1,200-square-foot welcoming center. Mesa Grande – the ruins of an important Hohokam village located in northwest Mesa – is considered one of Arizona’s major prehistoric treasures yet has long been closed to the public. Today, evidence of that ancient people remains across the greater Phoenix valley. Centuries ago, in central Arizona, the Hohokam created the largest system of canals in prehistoric North America. ![]()
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