GRE阅读考生回忆：美国原始人的起源_GRE阅读

GRE阅读考生回忆：美国原始人的起源

　　Recent discoveries in New World archaeology along with newscientific methods for analyzing data have led to new ideas regarding theorigin of the first peoples of the Americas and their time of arrival.

　　新大陆考古发现和新的科学方法

　　The traditional theory held that the first Americans crossed theland bridge from Siberia to Alaska around 11，500 years ago andfollowed an ice-free corridor between two large Canadian ice sheets to reach unglaciated lands to the south. These firstinhabitants， whose archaeological sites are scattered across North and SouthAmerica， were called the Clovis people， named after thetown in New Mexico where their fluted spear points used for hunting mammothwere first found in 1932.

　　旧观点：11500年前越冰南下，这些第一批定居者散布在南北美洲，叫做Clovis人。

　　新观点：有更早的12500年前，在智利的MV。

　　There is now convincing evidence of human habitation sites that dateearlier than the Clovis culture including sites located in South America. Monte Verde， a well-studied sitelocated along a river near southern central Chile， dates 12，500 yearsago. This site contains the buried remnants of dwellings， stone toolsincluding large bifacial projectile points， and preservedmedicinal and edible plants. How did people manage to settle this far south at such an earlydate? A coastal migration route is now gaining more acceptance， rather thanthe older view of small bands moving on foot across the middle of the landbridge between Siberia and Alaska and into the continents. Emergingevidence suggests that people with boats moved along the Pacific coast intoAlaska and northwestern Canada and eventually south to Peru and Chile by 12，500 yearsagoand perhaps much earlier. Archaeologicalevidence in Australia， Melanesia， and Japan indicate boats were in use as far back as 25，000 to 40，000 yearsago. Sea routes would have provided abundant food resources and easierand faster movement than land routes. Many coastal areaswere unglaciated at this time， providing opportunities for landfall along the way. Severalearly sites along the coast of Canada， California， Peru， Ecuador， and Chiledate between 10，000 and 12，000 years ago. Many potential coastal sites are now submerged， makinginvestigation difficult.