America's Stone Age Explorers

NOVA | America's Stone Age Explorers

Explore Pre-Clovis Sites

When did humans first arrive in the Americas? For decades, the "Clovis-first" model of initial colonization held sway. It says that the first Americans were the Clovis people—named for an archeological site near Clovis, New Mexico—and that they walked across the Bering Land Bridge and spread into North America about 13,500 years ago. In recent years, however, researchers have unearthed many sites that appear to be pre-Clovis, some of them potentially doubling the time frame people have been in the Western Hemisphere. In this interactive map, explore 28 possible pre-Clovis sites found throughout North America.

Stone Age Toolkit

About 40,000 years ago, the first anatomically modern humans revolutionized their cultures with specialized weaponry and other tools. They became deft hunters, tolerated harsh climates, and equipped themselves to travel vast distances in search of new frontiers. In this matching game, consider 10 fascinating artifacts from Europe and North America and match them to the roles they played for Stone Age humans.

Making a Stone Age Weapon