Advanced Placement United States History

Clovis Debate

Questions to Clarify the Clovis Debate

• How do we know how much time it takes for language to develop?


• Is the time consistent?


• Are we sure all the immigrants spoke the same language in the first place?


• Could they have brought the food with them?


• Could they have followed their food source over the Land Bridge?


• Water from ice-age?


• Carbon-14 can be contaminated by solar variations, fire


• Could differences in spear tips, tools, etc. be accounted by different groups of Clovis people?


• How can there be specific genetic traits according to geography?


• Only 3% share the DNA code they are tracing – is there another possible cause?


• What is the land bridge theory – how is it possible, how do they answer criticisms?


• Racial & genetic make-up of Clovis people?


• Any proof that the Clovis people followed animals over the land bridge?


• Would it be possible to feed the number of people that came across the land bridge with the number of animals that came across?

Reference information for article:

“Rediscovering America” by Charles W. Petit. Found in U.S. News & World Report October 12, 1998.

posted by Jeffrey @ Friday, September 09, 2005