Archer W.: Who were the first people to come to the Americas? What evidence do we have?
Petula Dvorak: It’s actually hard to pinpoint who the first people in the Americas were. Every year there are new scientific discoveries that give us some more information about this, like bones, tools, and even trash that archeologists dig up. They might find aluminum soda cans in the first layer they dig. Then the next layer will have steel cans, then colonial glass, then pottery, tools, and weapons. We used to believe that people were here for about 14,000 years, but then, about 50 years ago, a really big dig in Pennsylvania turned up a knife that is 16,000 years old.
How did they get here that long ago? A land bridge made out of ice made it possible for people from Asia and Siberia to come on foot thousands of years ago. Others came by boat, island hopping and following the rivers. Some built their settlements along the rivers—they liked life there—and others just stayed by the ocean where life was pretty good and food was plentiful.
Archer W.: Thank you, Petula. That was Petula Dvorak from the newsroom of The Washington Post.
