What evidence supports the Solutrean hypothesis?

The most significant piece of evidence for the Solutrean Hypothesis is a stone blade, a bifacial knife manufactured by the overshot flaking technique. The artifact was recovered by the scallop trawler Cinmar in 1974 (some reports indicate 1970).

What does the Solutrean hypothesis suggest?

The Solutrean hypothesis posits that a population derived from the Solutrean culture of Western Europe may have crossed the North Atlantic Ocean along the edge of pack ice that extended from the Atlantic coast of France to North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, before 17 kya.

What kind of artefact is typical of the Solutrean?

Large thin spearheads; scrapers with edge not on the side but on the end; flint knives and saws, but all still chipped, not ground or polished; long spear-points, with tang and shoulder on one side only, are also characteristic implements of this industry. Bone and antler were used as well.

What is the Atlantic theory?

The Atlantic theory proposes that ancient humanity first came to the New World by sailing the Atlantic by boat from Europe. Learn the evidence put forth by the archaeologists who support this theory.

What does the Clovis First hypothesis suggest?

The Clovis First hypothesis states that no humans existed in the Americas prior to Clovis, which dates from 13,000 years ago, and that the distinct Clovis lithic technology is the mother technology of all other stone artifact types later occurring in the New World.

What if the Americas weren’t connected?

If the Americas had never been colonized by the Europeans, not only would many lives have been saved, but also various cultures and languages. Modern-day California would be the most densely populated region, but the entire continent would be divided into different nations, much like Europe and Asia.

What were Solutrean tools used for?

Introduction. The Solutrean (c. 22–18ka) is the earliest-known period of the European Palaeolithic to yield evidence for the intentional use of heat to treat stone for knapping (Bordes 1967, 1969).

What are Solutrean tools?

The Solutrean industry, like those of other late Paleolithic big-game hunters, contained a variety of tools such as burins (woodworking tools rather like chisels), scrapers, and borers; but blades that were formed in the shape of laurel or willow leaves and shouldered points are the implements that distinguish the …

What do historians mean when they refer to Atlantic history?

Atlantic World history refers to relationships and interactions between the peoples of the Americas, Africa and Europe, from the fifteenth through the nineteenth century, as these regions came to constitute a single, integrated system, joined rather than separated by the Atlantic Ocean.

How did Atlantis sink?

But they became greedy, petty, and “morally bankrupt,” and the gods “became angry because the people had lost their way and turned to immoral pursuits,” Orser says. As punishment, he says, the gods sent “one terrible night of fire and earthquakes” that caused Atlantis to sink into the sea.

How do you identify a Clovis point?

Clovis points are wholly distinctive. Chipped from jasper, chert, obsidian and other fine, brittle stone, they have a lance-shaped tip and (sometimes) wickedly sharp edges. Extending from the base toward the tips are shallow, concave grooves called “flutes” that may have helped the points be inserted into spear shafts.

What is the Solutrean hypothesis?

The Solutrean hypothesis: The Solutrean hypothesis is a controversial proposal that peoples from Europe may have been among the earliest settlers in the Americas, as evidenced by similarities in stone tool technology of the Solutrean culture from prehistoric Europe to that of the later Clovis tool-making culture found in the Americas.

Is there any scientific evidence for Solutrean seafaring?

There is no evidence for any Solutrean seafaring, far less for any technology that could take humans across the Atlantic in an ice age. Recent genetic evidence supports the theory of Asian, not European, origins for the peopling of the Americas.

Is the Solutrean culture the same as Clovis technology?

The Solutrean culture is used in the same sense. The genetic evidence shows admixture of Caucasian haplogroups most concentrated in the Northeastern US and Canada. The technological evidence shows that the most likely origin or Clovis technology is from the Solutreans, and there are multiple reasons to believe this is the case.

What is the difference between Solutrean and Magdalenian tools?

The manufacture of stone tools from this period is distinguished by bifacial, percussion and pressure-flaked points. The Solutrean toolmaking industry disappeared from Europe around 17,000 years ago, replaced by the lithic technology of the Magdalenian culture.