Migration: Homo Sapiens In The New World

Archaologists have only found skeletal remains of Homo sapiens in the New World, however Homo erectus and previous life forms have been found in the old world, implying that Homo sapiens crossed into the New World in the time of the ice age. The only explanation as to how the migration occurred is a land bridge connecting Northeast Asia to Alaska, however there is no land connecting the two in present day, only a strait that is fifty six miles wide at its narrowest point, and approximately 180 feet deep. However, scientists have discovered that the water levels at the time of the migration would have been significantly lower due to the large quantities of water that were trapped in the ice caps; furthermore, the bottom of the Bering Strait …show more content…
Archaology is relevant to the research of the migration, because it allows us to more thoroughly understand what, and when, lifeforms migrated into the New World. Archaologists have been studying the bones, and remains of original life in North and South America for more than one hundred years. They discovered that only Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, and earlier life forms existed in the old world, while Homo sapiens were the only forms of life found in the New World. This means that Homo sapiens must have migrated into the New World from the Old …show more content…
During the years of the ice age, the volume of the oceans was significantly lower than it is today. This is because the ice caps contained immense amounts of water, and when they melted they increased the ocean levels by as much as 500 feet. Evidence of this has been found in the form of coral atolls, land fossils, and the terrain under the strait. Coral atolls have been found in teh tropical seas that are over 1,000 feet deep, however organisms that built the atolls can not survive in depths over 500 feet, meaning that had the ocean levels not been at least seven hundred feet shallower, the organisms would not have been able to make these atolls. Moreover, evidence of formerly living matter has been recovered by offshore drillers on the continental shelf. These samples have been found to contain radiocarbon, estimated to be 40,000 years old. In addition, the terrain of the land underneath the Bering Strait is extremely flat and even, meaning that crossing would have been possible.This evidence proves that not only was it possible for the life forms to have crossed because of the smooth terrain, but because the Bering Strait only reaches depths of 180 feet, and ocean levels have increased at least 500 feet since the migration, water would not be covering the land bridge, and there would have been exposed land connecting the Old and New