Evening star., 1950-12-20
New Clues to First Men
In North America Found
EorIiest Migrants Pushed
Woy Along Arctic Circle
By Thomas R. Henry

w
By Thomas R. Henry
Man followed a winding road into
North America.
After first obtaining a foothold In
Western Alaska, the earliest migrants
turned northward over great mountain
range and then for many generations
treked eastward along the Arctic Coast
until they came to the broad and prob
ably ice-free valley of the Mackenzie
River, which provided an avenue south
ward.
This hypothesis is confirmed by dis
coyeries just announced by Geological
Survey workers which are considered
among the most significant yet made
in North American archaeology.
Stone Fragments Found.
The articles include a fragment Of q
Folsom point. type of spearhead which
is the earliest known human artifact on
this continent. Other stone fragments
are quite similar in design to the So
called Cape Denbigh flint culture dis
covered about two years ago at the head
of Norton Sound. This may be con-
sidered the first manifestation of human
culture in the New World. It now gen.
orally Is admitted that the first Ameri-
cans, ancestors of the Indians, came
from Siberia towards the close of the
last ice age, and the Norton Sound area
would have been convenient for their
first settlements.
The new finds were made by Robert
]. Hackman of the Geological Survey and
turned over to the Smithsonian Institu-
ton. They were buried under 10 inches
Of soil in moraine left by retreating
glacier at the edge Of lake near the
northern entrance of Anaktuvuk Pass
through the Brooks Mountains, which
run essentially parallel to the Arctic
Coast.
Followed Game Trails.
This supports the hypothesis that the
earliest comers first moved easterly along
the southern foothills of the Brooks
Range. The migration was desultory,
following the trails of game. At one
point apparently they turned IloFthward
through convenient pass in the high
mountains and made their way farther
eastward along the northern foothills
until they came eventually to the Mac
kenzie, which they followed southWard
along the eastern slope Of the Rockies.
The bivouac found by Mr. Hackman
can be considered between 1000 and
$4,000 years old. It dates sometime after
the beginning Of the retreat of the latest
glaciation, which now Is set at about
$4,000 years ago.
Just before this, q curious migration
Of animals was taking place along ap-
proximately the same route. Peccaries,
pronghorns, horses and camels were
moving from North America into Asia.
Mammoths, deer and bison were coming
into North America.
4
An oysterlike animal, extinct for more
than 500 0,000.0 years, has become
mute witness Of earth's ancient stability.
During the past three years scientists
OF the Carnegie Institution Of Washing
ton have reported an extraordinary
phenomenon Of fossil magnetism. Iron
particles deposited in the soft mud Of
lake bottoms tend to align themselves in
the direction Of the earth's magnetic
poles and also to dip downwards towards
the earths center. In the Southern
Hemisphere the dip is towards the south,
In the Northern Hemisphere towards the
LUZ I'LL. III tiic COuF0S ull1eH10luS Tie
lake bottom mud turns to solid rock and
the particles are frozen In position.
Fantastic Conclusion. 49,
The Carnegie investigators have found
areas In the Appalachians where the dip
is southwark, as If the rocks were laid
down somewhere in Argentina or South
Africa. A fantastic but almost inescap-
able conclusion has been that these rocks
were originally formed far below the
equator about $4,000, 600 years ago and
in some way were transported bodily to
the Eastern United States This would
indicate turbulence of the eartl1's crust
hitherto unimagined.
The new finding is that the rocks con-
tain these oysterlike fossils which occur
also in rocks of the same period through
out the Appalachians raagnetized In the
right direction. They do not occur IN
the Southern Hemisphere.
The inevitable conclusion Is that the
anomalous rocks could not have been
formed south of the equator but must
have been laid down quite close to their
present location.
Thus one Of the most fantastic situa-
tions ever to confront students Of earth
science is thrown once more into COM
plete confusion.