The Current Debate about the Origins of the Paleoindians of America

In recent years, contributions from the fields of archeology, physical anthropology, linguistics, and genetics have revolutionized the study of the origins, timing and process of human settlement in America. This re-thinking of the origins of mankind in America question has been based on a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject. This essay provides the reader with a brief guide to this literature and the current state of this debate. It gives special attention to the recent genetics input on this subject which has provided new sources of information and older dating for the origins and timing of human migrations to the Western Hemisphere.