In Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas, Jennifer Raff deftly explains the methodology and thought process of a genetic archaeologist. Along the way, we also learn contemporary theories about the first arrival of Homo sapiens on this continent.
This land clearly preceded us: the Americas existed as a landmass distinct from Eurasia for millions of years, during which time the populations of many species waxed and waned. Because the Americas formed by splitting from Pangea, this land was never empty. During the most recent hundred thousand years—coinciding with the rise of Homo sapiens in Africa and the dispersal of some small groups from our ancestral homeland—the Americas were home to a variety of macrofauna, including mastodons, mammoths, and giant sloths.
After the arrival of Homo sapiens—who came via a Siberian landmass the approximate size of Texas (with its own local ecosystem!) and likely lived in that liminal...
University of California Press