Strangers in a New Land

By J.M. Adovasio & David Pedler

Where did Native Americans come from and when did they first arrive? Several lines of evidence, most recently genetic, have firmly established that all Native American populations originated in eastern Siberia.

For many years, the accepted version of New World prehistory held that people arrived in the Western Hemisphere around 13,000 years ago. This consensus, called "Clovis First," has been increasingly challenged by discoveries at numerous archaeological sites throughout North and South American and is now widely considered to be outdated. 

The latest findings have convinced most archaeologists that people came to the Western Hemisphere thousands of years prior to Clovis. There is credible evidence of a human presence in the Americas dating to 19,000 years ago and perhaps as early as 38,000 years ago. The prehistory of the very earliest arrivals into the New World is the subject of Strangers in a New Land. This book documents 35 Clovis and Folsom sites, disputed pre-Clovis sites, legitimate pre-Clovis sites, and controversial pre-Clovis sites. This covers an area that stretches from Bluefish Cave (70 km north of the Arctic Circle) to Monte Verde, Chile (14,000 km south of the Bering Straits). The discovery and history of each site is accompanied by photographs, maps, and diagrams that illustrate the excavations and chronicle the evidence of human activity. Strangers in a New Land brings these findings together for the first time in language accessible to the general reader. 

An excellent selection for physical and cultural anthropology, archaeology, and prehistory collections. 

J.M. Adovsaio serves as Director of Archaeology for Meadowcroft Rockshelter, one of the best-dated pre-Clovis sites in the Western Hemisphere, where he has overseen four decades of archaeological research. Adovasio is the author of over 250 journal articles and five books, including, with Olga Soffer, The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory. 

David Pedler is Editor at the Lighting Research Center, School of Architecture, Rensselear University.