Native Americans call for rethink of Bring Strait Theory
1. According to this week’s materials, what are the controversies surrounding the Bering Strait Theory? In contrast, what are the current scientific perspectives on the Bering Strait Theory? Why are all perspectives important to consider?
2. Compare/contrast the authors’ arguments in the “Native Americans Call for Rethink of Bering Strait Theory” article and the “Other Migration Theories” article. What was each author’s overall argument? What types of evidence did each author use to support their argument?
3. According to this week’s materials, what is the significance of creation stories? How does the topic of creation stories connect to our materials on the Bering Strait Theory?
4. How do this week’s materials serve as an example of our key term “historical thinking”? What other key term from Module 2 can this week’s materials connect to?
5. How do this week’s materials relate to the “Danger of a Single Story? Feel free to also share any overall thoughts/reactions/reflections to conclude here
Native American call for rethink of Bering Strait Theory
It`s one of the most contentious debate in anthropology today: where did America`s first people come form – and when? The general scientific consensus is that a single wave of people crossed a long-vanished land bridge from Siberia into Alaska around 13,000 years ago. But some Native Americans are irked by the theory, which they say is simplistic and culturally biased. Another concern with the Bering Strait Theory has to do with dating of archeological data. Supporters of the land-bridge migration believe there was no human presence in the Western hemisphere prior to roughly 12,500 years ago, but archeologists have discovered artifacts that might be significantly older.
