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Solutrean Settlement of North America? A Review of Reality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Lawrence Guy Straus
Lawrence Guy Straus*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
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Abstract

The Solutrean techno-complex of southern France and the Iberian Peninsula is an impossible candidate as the “source” for either pre-Clovis or Clovis traditions in North America. Primarily this is because the Solutrean ended ca. 16,500-18,000 B.P. (at least 5,000 years before Clovis appeared) and was separated from the U.S. eastern seaboard by 5,000 km of ocean. In addition, there are major differences between the Solutrean and Clovis (and even more between it and “pre-Clovis”) in terms of the composition of lithic and osseous technologies and with regard to evidence of artistic activity. Nor is there any evidence that Solutrean people had navigation, deep-sea fishing, or marine mammal hunting capacities which could have made a transatlantic crossing even conceivable. Furthermore, there is no evidence that people lived above about 48° N latitude in western Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum, making a “jumping-off” point from the (then largely glaciated) area of the current British Isles unlikely. The peopling of the Americas, even if the result of several “migrations,” was from Asia.

Resumen

Resumen

El complejo Solutrense del sur de Francia y de la Península Ibérica es un candidato imposible como “fuente” de las tradiciones Clovis o pre-Clovis en América del Norte. Este es el caso especialmente dado que los hechos de que el Solutrense terminó hacia los 16.5 a 18 mil años antes delpresente (al menos 5,000 años antes de la aparición de Clovis) y esturo separado de la costa este de los EE. UU. por unos 5,000 km de océano. Además, existen diferencias muy importantes entre el Solutrense y Clovis (y más aún entre aquella cultura y el supuesto pre-Clovis) en cuanto a la composición de sus tecnologias liticas y óseas y en relación con la evidencia de actividad artística. Tampoco hay evidencia de que las gentes del Solutrense tuvieron concocimiento de la navegación, la pesca en alta mar, o la cam de mamíferos marinos, lo cual habria concebible una travesía del Atlántico. Finalmente, tampoco hay evidencia dequehubo humanos viviendo al norte de los 49° de latitud en Europa occidental durante el último máxico glacial, lo cual hace altamente inverosímil un punto de partida desde el área de las actuales Islas Británicas (que entonces estuvieron en gran parte bajo el hielo). La primera colonización de las Américas, aunquefuera el resultado de varias olas de migración, fue desde Asia.

Type
Forum
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , April 2000 , pp. 219 - 226
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2000

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