Question

New discoveries of human settlements from across the Americas are creating a scholarly consensus that: ________________.

a. The Beringia ice bridge was a vibrant exchange of people and materials, and many people crossed it multiple times.
b. The DNA evidence indicates multiple points of origins for Amerindians, from Africa to Asia to the Middle East.
c. Humans arrived in the Americas as early as 16,000 - 14,000 years ago.
d. Human migrants were unable to travel from Central America to South America because the isthmus of Panama had not yet been formed.

Answer 1

The scholarly consensus emerging from recent discoveries indicates that humans likely arrived in the Americas between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago via migration over the Bering Land Bridge and coastal routes from Asia. Genetic evidence strongly supports this Asian origin, challenging alternative theories like the Solutrean hypothesis.

Step-by-step explanation:

New discoveries of human settlements from across the Americas are contributing to a scholarly consensus that humans arrived in the Americas as early as 16,000 - 14,000 years ago. Scientific explanations for the origin of humans in the Americas mainly revolve around the concept of human migration via the Bering Land Bridge and the coastal migration routes, which are well-accepted theories. The Bering Land Bridge suggests that during the last ice age, a bridge existed between Asia and North America, which facilitated the migration of humans in pursuit of large game and adapting hunter-gatherer strategies over time. Genetic studies of indigenous peoples support the idea of migration from Asia, making it unlikely that the first Americans descended from Europeans as suggested by the more controversial Solutrean hypothesis. This hypothesis considered a migration from the Solutrean culture of Europe but has been largely discounted because of the genetic evidence.