READING 3 The First Americans

This map shows a land bridge between Asia and North America that humans crossed thousands of years ago.

The First Americans

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 5.5

Who were the first Americans? Long before Europeans came to America starting about 500 years ago, Indians lived in the Americas. We refer to these people as American Indians. Where did these people come from, and how did they get here?

Thousands of years ago, there was a land bridge connecting Eastern Siberia to Alaska. For many years, scientists believed that Siberians crossed this bridge about 16,000 years ago and spread out over the Americas.

In 1968, the skeleton of a young boy was found in Montana. Recently scientists tested the DNA1 of this child’s bones and learned that he lived 12,600 years ago. Scientists refer to his ancient Indian culture as Clovis culture, and to the boy as Clovis Boy. Is there a connection between Clovis Boy and Siberians? Definitely. Scientists compared the DNA from Clovis Boy with the DNA of a 24,000-year-old Siberian boy, and there is enough genetic2 evidence to show that Clovis Boy’s ancestors were from Siberia.

But even more interesting is this: There is a genetic connection between Clovis Boy and about 80 percent of native North and South Americans today.

There were many tools and other objects buried with the boy. At that time, there were large mammals, such as mastodons, mammoths, horses, and camels in America. These early Americans used the tools to hunt these animals. These animals became extinct3 in America, maybe because the Clovis people over-hunted4 .

Even though there was a lot to learn from this boy’s bones, American Indians wanted to make sure that he was buried again. They saw him as a connection to their ancestors. Shane Doyle, a member of the Crow tribe of Montana, was satisfied to find the connection of his people to Clovis Boy. But, says Doyle, “now it is time to put him back to rest again.” Clovis Boy was buried again in June of 2014 in a tribal ceremony. The tools from the first burial are at the Montana Historical Society in Helena, Montana.

Stone tools found with Clovis Boy

1 DNA: the genetic information in cells 2 genetic: related to the traits that are transmitted from parents to offspring 3 extinct: no longer in existence 4 to over-hunt: to hunt and kill too many of an animal