Towards the Development of a Temporal GIS for the Study of the Peopling of the Americas

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Peopling of the Americas remains a provocative topic in both North and South American Archaeology. Speculation about who the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas were, where they came from, and how they got here, began the moment European explorers first encountered them. Current archaeological data and theory indicate humans had reached the landmass of North America south of the Cordirellian and Laurentide ice sheets at least by 16.5 ka and to the far south of South America by 14.5ka. Understanding the dates different routes were viable in relationship with known sites, climatic parameters, and genetic data is important in determining the pathway(s) traversed by the First Migrants into the Americas. This paper discusses the development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) and database to incorporate climate, archaeology, genetic, paleontology and other types of data as they occurred through space and time in the area commonly referred to as Beringia from about 35 ka through 16.5 ka. This GIS system will serve as a data warehouse specifically focusing on the PotA for archaeological study with a temporal dimension.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39487.0