| Bering Land Bridge | A broad piece of
land, more than 1,500 km (1,000 mi) across, that
connected northeastern Asia with northwestern
North America during periods of sea-level depression
in the Pleistocene. People living in Asia
walked east across the land bridge into the lands of
the Western Hemisphere at least 15,000 years ago
and possibly earlier.
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| burin | A sharp and durable stone tool used in engraving
to etch out thin slivers of antler or bone, which
then were modified to make awls and needles.
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| Clovis | A fluted point type of the Paleoindians. Large,
laurel-leaf-shaped stone blades exhibiting a channel,
or “flute” (as in a fluted column), on both faces
to aid in hafting the stone point onto a wooden
shaft. The channel begins at the base and generally
extends from one-third to no more than one-half
the length of the point. Clovis points date from
about 11,500 to 10,000 B.P. (Compare to Folsom.)
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| Cordilleran | The Pleistocene ice mass in North
America centered in the Rocky Mountains.
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| Denali Complex | A lithic technology seen in the
Arctic and consisting of wedge-shaped cores, microblades,
bifacial knives, and burins. Dating to
about 10,000 years ago, several features of the Denali
Complex are reminiscent of elements of older
complexes in northeastern Asia, particularly that
of Dyuktai Cave.
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| fluted point | Projectile point made by Paleoindians
in the New World between 11,500 and 10,000 B.P.
Exhibits a distinctive channel, or “flute” (as in a
fluted column), on both faces. These channels
aided in hafting the spearpoint onto its wooden
shaft. The two major forms of fluted point are Clovis
and Folsom.
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| Folsom | A fluted point type of the Paleoindians.
Generally smaller than Clovis points, Folsom
points are also later in time, dating to after 11,000
B.P. Clovis points have been found in association
with the bones of extinct elephants, whereas Folsom
points have been found in association with
the bones of bison. Folsom points are fluted, with
the channels commonly extending nearly the entire
length of the point.
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| Gracile | Lightly constructed, as referring to the overall
appearance of a hominid skeleton.Modern humans
are gracile, and when the term is applied to
the fossils of extinct hominids it is in reference to
their appearance relative to anatomically modern
human beings. Bones that are more massive than
those of modern humans are said to be robust.
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| haplogroup | A cluster of DNA variants that are found
together in individual members of a population.
Five major mitochondrial haplogroups have been
identified among Native Americans; all five are also
found in central and eastern Asian populations.
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| ice-free corridor (or McKenzie corridor) | A proposed
route of safe passage between the farthest-west extent
of the Laurentide ice field and the farthest-east
extent of the Cordilleran glacier. Paleoindians may
have traveled down this corridor from the western
Arctic into the heartland of America.
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| Lapita | A pottery style known from the inhabited
Pacific Islands. The movement of people from the
western to the eastern Pacific can be traced by the
presence and spread of Lapita pottery.
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| Laurentide | The massive continental ice sheet of
Pleistocene North America, centered in central
northeastern Canada.
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| megafauna | Very large animals; commonly used to
describe the large, now-extinct herbivores of the
Pleistocene world.
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| Melanesia | Islands located north of New Guinea in
the western Pacific.
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| microblade | A very small stone blade, often with very
sharp cutting edges. Groups of microblades often
were set into wooden, bone, or antler handles.
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| Micronesia | Small islands in the western Pacific, east
of New Guinea.
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| Nenana Complex | Perhaps the oldest stone tool complex
identified in Alaska dating from 11,800 to
11,000 B.P. Predating the Denali Complex, Nenana
includes bifacially flaked, unfluted spearpoints. Nenana
bifaces are similar and perhaps related to tools
made in eastern Russia about 14,000 years ago.
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| Paleo-Arctic tradition | Stone-tool tradition in the
Arctic dating to the period before 9,000 years ago.
The technology involved the production of microblades
detached from wedge-shaped cores.
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| Paleoindian | The period and culture in the New
World dating from about 11,500 B.P. to about
10,000 B.P. Fluted points are the most distinctive
element in the Paleoindian stone tool kit. Paleoindians
hunted the late Pleistocene megafauna of the
New World. The Paleoindians are no longer believed
to have been the first human settlers of the
New World.
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| Polynesia | Islands of the central and eastern Pacific;
they are volcanic in origin.
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| Sahul | The land mass of “Greater Australia,” including
Australia proper, New Guinea, and Tasmania.
During periods of glacial maxima in the Pleistocene,
these three islands were combined in the
single land mass of Sahul.
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| Sunda (or Sundaland) | The combined land mass of
the modern islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, and Borneo.
These islands became a single, continuous
land mass during periods of glaciation and attendant
lowered sea level during the Pleistocene.
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| Wallacea | The name given to the sea over the Wallace
Trench.
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| Wallace Trench | An undersea chasm located between
New Guinea/Australia and Java/Borneo and nearly
7,500 m (25,000 ft) deep. It was not breached during
periods of lowered Pleistocene sea levels, so
population movement from southeast Asia to
Sahul was accomplished, of necessity, via water.
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| wedge-shaped core | Cores shaped like wedges from
which blades are struck; found as part of the Paleo-Arctic tradition in northeastern Asia and also
found as part of the Denali Complex in the American
Arctic.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education