Groups of people traveled from asia either of
modern scientists are still trying to determine
foot across the land bridge or in boats. from the
how the first people came to north and south
america. the story of the first americans is still north, the migrants gradually moved into new
being pieced together by experts in archaeology, territory. they spread out across the americas,
the study of ancient peoples. archaeologists going as far east as the atlantic ocean and as far
learn about the past from artifacts, things left south as the tip of south america.
behind by early people, such as stone tools,
weapons, baskets, and carvings. their discover-
hunting for food
ies show that many early peoples may have native american legends tell of giant beasts
come across a land that later sank into the sea. it that roamed the earth in ancient times. when the
was not the mythical atlantis, however, but a first americans arrived from asia, they did
strip of land called beringia that once joined indeed find huge mammals. there was the
asia and the americas.
saber-toothed tiger, the woolly mammoth, and
the mastodon. the mammoth and mastodon
resembled modern elephants in size and shape
but had shaggy fur and long tusks.
the early americans were skilled at hunting
these beasts. the hunters shaped pieces of stone
and bone to make tools for chopping and scrap-
ing. they chipped rocks into extremely sharp
points and fastened them on poles to make
spears. bands of hunters armed with these
spears stalked herds of bison, mastodons, or
lient
crossing the land bridge
during its long history, the earth has passed
through several ice ages. these are periods of
very cold temperatures when part of the earth
was covered with large ice sheets. much of the
water from the oceans was frozen into these
sheets, or glaciers. for that reason the sea levels
were much lower than they are today.
the most recent ice age began 100,000 years
ago and ended about 12,000 years ago. during
this period many scientists think the lower sea
c
level exposed a wide strip of land between asia
and north america. this land bridge would
have run from siberia in northeastern asia to
present-day alaska, the westernmost part of the
americas. the land bridge, beringia, now lies
under the bering strait
one popular scientific theory states that the
first americans were people from asia who
crossed over beringia during the last ice age.
these early peoples reached the americas thou-
sands of years ago.
causes
• the earth enters a long ice age.
• water from the ocean freezes.
• sea levels drop, exposing the
beringia land bridge.
effects
• hunters from asia cross into
north america.
• people spread into central america
and south america.
• the early americans create new
cultures.
in search of hunting grounds
the early americans were nomads, people
who moved from place to place. they gathered
wild grains and fruits but depended on hunting
for much of their food. while traveling in search
of animals to hunt, they crossed beringia into
what is now alaska and canada.
the crossing of the land bridge was a migra-
tion, a movement of a large number of people
into a new homeland. it did not happen in a
single journey. as the centuries passed, many
gel orunter sms
the settlement of the americas can be traced to a geo-
graphic element—the earth's climate.
analyzing information what happened when sea levels
dropped?
chapter 1
the first americans

can y’all me whit this someone
the question what happened when sea levels dropped?