I used to believe that it was likely that humans were here at least 40,000 years ago and I assumed the lack of evidence for earlier people was because they were probably not looking in the right place. Since then, I earned my degree in geology and learned that most of North America was either covered in ice or nearly uninhabitable from 80 thousand to about 12 thousand years ago.
That's what the white men say. We all know that they are never wrong.
Paleolithic people move into Beringia across the Bering Land Bridge into western Alaska. That would be BEFORE your Glacial Maximum. I picture you sitting there with your teeth hanging out trying to figure out what to do now. What does my faith have to do with this question? Do you see anything about God or Jesus on my answer? Don't be ignorant. You're not smart you're just trying to convince yourself you are.
Monte Verda in Chile is not an accepted site because the evidence from that site washed away shortly after its first discovery. Sites such as Meadowcroft, Cactus Hill, and Topper point to a little less than 20000 BP. as the date. But these sites are controversial too. Not any evidence for anytime beyond this. There is a site on the West Coast, Arlington Springs I think that has pretty good dates around 17000 BP, but that is about it.
The discovery and validation of the antiquity (14,800 BP) of Monte Verde in Chile has been a big game changer. I studied North American Archaeology under one of the excavator's colleagues (who had himself been responsible for another game changer, Meadowcroft Rock Shelter) so I am very familiar with that remarkable site. It establishes that there were sophisticated settlements deep into South America far earlier than anyone imagined during the years that the Clovis people were presumed to be the pioneer New World immigrants. The melting back of ancient snow patches in Alaska is also adding to our knowledge of who could have passed through that area and when. Also bathymetric surveys along the Alaskan and Canadian coasts are yielding striking evidence about the drowned geography there that was exposed during the glacial maximums and could have provided a pathway for Old World immigrants. All the work on sites that are pushing back the earliest dates for human New World settlement are very exciting right now -- there are many new technologies to improve the searching and the dating processes. I've no doubt we will get a lot of surprises in the coming years. Keep an open mind but scrutinize the more outlandish claims carefully for sound science and peer review.
