por The Bering Strait theory It affirms that the human being arrived to America from Asia crossing the Beringia Bridge, the region in which that strait is located. That migratory movement from Siberia to Alaska would have possibly occurred thanks to the fact that an ice age had made it possible to cross the route on foot.
This theory, also known as Monogenist-Asiatic, was developed by the Czech anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička at the beginning of the 20th century. According to this researcher, various Asian nomadic tribes crossed the strait that separates Asia from America about 12,000 years ago. Later, they were settling in the rest of the continent.
Hrdlička based his theory on the morphological similarities between present-day Mongolians and Native Americans. In addition, he pointed out other factors such as the proximity between the two continents, some similarities in the use of language and in archaeological remains found in Canada and the United States.
However, the Bering Strait theory has also had numerous critics and, in recent years, evidence has appeared that seems to refute it. Among these contrary evidences, the DNA study carried out a few years ago stands out, which proves that the human being could not cross the strait at the time that Hrdlička pointed out.
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History
European geographers already thought in 1562 that there could be a passage between Asia and North America. Semyon Dezhnev is believed to have managed to cross it in 1648, although his feat was not known in Europe. The strait was eventually named in honor of Vitus Bering, a Norwegian in the service of the Russian Empire who crossed it in 1728.
The region in which the Bering Strait is located is called Beringia. According to the most accepted theory in recent centuries, human beings reached America by crossing that strait thanks to the drop in ocean level caused by glaciation.
That migration, according to the Bering Strait theory, occurred at the end of the Pleistocene, at the time called the Wisconsin Glaciation. This climatic phenomenon left more than 1,800 kilometers free of water, allowing Asian tribes to migrate on foot.
Background to theory
Although the theory was not developed until much later, already in the 16th century there was a scientist who raised the possibility that the population of the American continent came from Asia. It was the Jesuit and Spanish anthropologist José de Acosta, who reflected this hypothesis in his book Natural and moral history of the Indies 16th century.
Later, the American anthropologist Samuel Foster Haven proposed the same theory in his Archeology of the United States, published in 1856.
Aleš Hrdlicka
It was the Czech anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička who developed the Bering Strait theory at the beginning of the 19th century. This scientist was also the author of the theory that the human being had a common origin and that it appeared in Mongolia.
According to their work, the arrival of the first inhabitants in America occurred about 12,000 years ago. They were members of nomadic tribes who migrated from Asia to North American territory on foot, crossing the so-called Beringia bridge.
Those migrations between Siberia and Alaska would give rise to the creation of the first human settlements in America. Over time, these tribes would descend to the south of the continent creating new cultures.
Paul Rivet
Although without completely refuting the Bering Strait theory, the Frenchman Paul Rivet made a correction to his so-called oceanic theory. This ethnologist affirmed that the human being had not only arrived in America from Asia, but that there had also been migrations from Oceania by means of rafts.
This scientist maintained that the migrants who settled in America were of multiracial origin and that they arrived on the continent in four different waves:
Mongoloid
eskimos
Australians
Melanesian- Malay-Polynesian
Theory Proposals
According to Hrdlička’s theory, the American continent was totally depopulated before the arrival of Asian nomadic tribes about 12,000 years ago.
General approaches
According to this theory, the human being entered America through Alaska, through the Yukon Valley. They were tribes made up of paleomongoloid hunters who came from Asia.
Their way of life was nomadic and about 12,000 years ago they crossed the Bering Strait to gradually disperse throughout the continent.
According to later theories, there was also another secondary migration wave from the Aleutian Islands, an archipelago that arcs from southwestern Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula.
evidence
The monogenist-Asian theory was opposed at the time to the autochthonist theory defended by Florentino Ameghino (1854-1911). This Argentine scientist based himself on Darwin’s studies to affirm that the American population had emerged on that same continent as a product of its own evolutionary process.
Hrdlička, along with other scientists, was called in to comment on this theory. His conclusion was that the human remains on which Ameghino had based his hypothesis were not as old as he had maintained.
For his part, the Czech anthropologist also took elements from Darwin’s work. In addition, he took other factors into consideration in defending his own theory of the Asian origin of the American population.
Fundamentals
The strongest grounds used by Aleš Hrdlička to defend his theory were the following:
– Geographical factors: the researcher relied on the proximity between Asia and America and their connection by land through the Beringia bridge.
– Ethnological foundation: Hrdlička pointed out a series of common characteristics among the American Indians and considered them as proof of their common origin. Among these characteristics were the use of polysynthetic and agglutinative languages, that is, that some words have several meanings or compound ideas.
– Anthropological foundation: the author found several common physical features between the inhabitants of the two continents. Among them he highlighted the high cheekbones, the scant presence of body and facial hair, the color of the eyes and skin, the shovel-shaped teeth, and the shape and thickness of the hair.
Another of the physical features that he took into account is the so-called Mongolian bridle, the fold of skin on the inner eyelid that extends inwards until it covers the tear duct. This characteristic appears both among Asians and among Native Americans.
Finally, the Czech anthropologist also relied on some archaeological remains, especially those of the Child of Táber (Canada) and the Skull of the Angels (United States).
Evidence Contrary to Theory
The Bering Strait theory was considered the most accurate for many decades. However, various archaeological sites and other types of research have been providing evidence that refutes it at least in part.
The first of them is the dating of the appearance of the human being in America. Archaeological findings show that settlers existed at least 50,000 years ago, much older than Hrdlička supposed. Some of those remains even predate the formation of the Beringian bridge itself.
In addition, a few years ago an investigation was carried out by the Center for Geogenetics of the University of Copenhagen and the University of Cambridge that almost completely ruled out the Bering Strait theory.
These scientists studied DNA samples to find out how and when the flora and fauna appeared in the area of the strait. His conclusion was that it was impossible for humans to have crossed the Bering Strait at the time Hrdlička claimed, since they did not have the necessary resources, such as wood, or animals to feed themselves.
References
EcuRed. Asian immigration theory. Obtained from ecured.cu
For education. The Bering Strait. Retrieved from porlaeducacion.mx
Ferrando Castro, Marcelo. In doubt the theory of the Bering Strait as a way for the settlement of America. Retrieved from redhistoria.com
US Department of the Interior. History of the Bering Land Bridge Theory. Retrieved from nps.gov
Watson, Tracy. News Feature: Is theory about peopling of the Americas a bridge too far?. Retrieved from pnas.org
Daley, Jason. First Humans Entered the Americas Along the Coast, Not Through the Ice. Retrieved from smithsonianmag.com
Native Circle. Bering Strait myth. Retrieved from nativecircle.com