Maps depicting each phase of the three-step early human migrations for the peopling of the Americas.

There have been several models for the human settlement of America proposed by various academic communities. The question of how, when and why humans (Paleo-Indians) first entered the Americas is of intense interest to archaeologists and anthropologists, and has been a subject of heated debate for centuries. Modern biochemical techniques, as well as more thorough archaeology, have shed progressively more light on the subject.

Current understanding of human migration to and throughout the Americas derives from advances in four interrelated disciplines: archeology, physical anthropology, DNA analysis and linguistics. While there is general agreement that America was first settled from Asia by people who migrated across Beringia, the pattern of migration, its timing, and the place of origin in Asia of the peoples who migrated to America remains unclear.^[1]

In recent years researchers have sought to use familiar tools to validate or reject established theories such as Clovis first.^[2] As new discoveries come to light, past hypotheses are reevaluated and new theories constructed. The archeological evidence suggests that the Paleo-Indians' first "widespread" habitation of America occurred during the end of the last glacial period or, more specifically, what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 16,500–13,000 years ago.^[3]

Understanding the debate[link]

The chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches.^[4][5] The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurring no earlier than 15,000 – 17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants.^[6][7] The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 21,000–40,000 years ago,^[8][9] with a much later mass secondary wave of immigrants.^[10][11][12]

One factor fueling the debate is the discontinuity of archaeological evidence between North and South America Paleo-Indian sites. A roughly uniform techno-complex pattern known as Clovis appears in North and Central American sites from at least 13,500 years ago onwards.^[13] South American sites of equal antiquity do not share the same consistency and exhibit more diverse cultural patterns. Archaeologists conclude that the "Clovis-first", and Paleo-Indian time frame do not adequately explain complex lithic stage tools appearing in South America. Some theorists seek to develop a colonization model that integrates both North and South American archaeological records.

Indigenous Amerindian genetic studies indicate that the "colonizing founders" of the Americas emerged from a single-source ancestral population that evolved in isolation, likely in Beringia.^{[15][16][17][18][19]} Age estimates based on Y-chromosome micro-satellite place diversity of the American Haplogroup Q1a3a (Y-DNA) at around 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.^[5][20] This does not address if there were any previous failed colonization attempts by other genetic groups, as genetic testing can only address current population ancestral heritage.^[5]

Migrants from northeastern Asia could have walked to Alaska with relative ease when Beringia was above sea level. But traveling south from Alaska to the rest of North America may have posed significant challenges. The two main possible routes proposed south for human migration are: down the Pacific coast or by way of an interior passage (Mackenzie Corridor) along the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains.^[18] When the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets were at their maximum extent, both routes were likely impassable. The Cordilleran sheet reached across to the Pacific shore in the west, and its eastern edge abutted the Laurentide, near the present border between British Columbia and Alberta. Geological evidence suggests the Pacific coastal route was open for overland travel before 23,000 years ago and after 15,000 years ago. During the coldest millennia of the last ice age, roughly 23,000 to 19,000 years ago, lobes of glaciers hundreds of kilometers wide flowed down to the sea.^[16] Deep crevasses scarred their surfaces, making travel across them dangerous. Even if people traveled by boat—a claim for which there is currently no direct archaeological evidence as sea level rise has hidden the old coastline — the journey would have been difficult with abundant icebergs in the water. Around 15,000 to 13,000 years ago, the coast was presumed ice-free. Additionally, by this time the climate had warmed, and lands were covered in grass and trees. Early Paleo-Indian groups could have readily replenished their food supplies, repaired clothing and tents, and replaced broken or lost tools.^[16]

Coastal or "watercraft" theories have broad implications: one being that Paleo-Indians in North America may not have been purely terrestrial big-game hunters, but instead were already adapted to maritime or semi-maritime lifestyles.^[12] Additionally, it is possible that "Beringian" (western Alaskan) groups migrated into the northern interior and coastlines only to meet their demise during the last glacial maximum, approximately 20,000 years ago,^[21] leaving evidence of occupation in specific localized areas. However, they would not be considered a founding population unless they had managed to migrate south, populate and survive the coldest part of the last ice age.^[22]

Timeline of selected archaeological, geological and genetic evidence[link]

Genetics and blood type[link]

Schematic illustration of maternal (mtDNA) gene-flow in and out of Beringia.

By the 1920s studies indicated that blood type O was predominated in pre-Columbian populations, with a small admixture of type A in the north. Further blood studies combining statistics and genetic research were pioneered by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza and applied to population migrations predating historical records. This led Jacob Bronowski to assert in 1973 (in The Ascent of Man) that there were at least two separate migrations:

"I can see no sensible way of interpreting that but to believe that a first migration of a small, related kinship group (all of blood group O) came into America, multiplied, and spread right to the South. Then a second migration, again of small groups, this time containing either A alone or both A and O, followed them only as far as North America."^[58]

Modern Amerindian genetics studies focus primarily on Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups and Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. The genetic pattern emerging shows two very distinctive genetic episodes occurred, first with the initial peopling of the Americas, and secondly with European colonization of the Americas.^[5][59][60] The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene lineages, zygosity mutations and founding haplotypes present in today's indigenous Amerindian populations.^[59]

Genetics and blood studies indicate human settlement of the New World occurred in stages from the Bering sea coastline, with an initial layover on Beringia for the small founding population.^[5][17][22] The micro-satellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region.^[61] The Na-Dené, Inuit and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q (Y-DNA) mutations, but are distinct from other indigenous Amerindians with various mtDNA and atDNA mutations.^[47][62][63] This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later migrant populations.^[64][65]

Land bridge theory[link]

Shrinking of the Bering land bridge

Also known as the Bering Strait Theory or Beringia theory, the Land Bridge theory has been widely accepted since the 1930s. The idea was first postulated in a rudimentary fashion in 1590 by the Jesuit scholar José de Acosta.^[66] This model of migration into the New World proposes that people migrated from Siberia into Alaska, tracking big game animal herds. They were able to cross between the two continents by a land bridge called the Bering Land Bridge, which spanned what is now the Bering Strait, during the Wisconsin glaciation, the last major stage of the Pleistocene beginning 50,000 years ago and ending some 10,000 years ago, when ocean levels were 60 metres (200 ft) lower than today. This information is gathered using oxygen isotope records from deep-sea cores. An exposed land bridge that was at least 1,000 miles wide existed between Siberia and the western coast of Alaska. In the "short chronology" version, from the archaeological evidence gathered, it was concluded that this culture of big game hunters crossed the Bering Strait at least 12,000 years ago and could have eventually reached the southern tip of South America by 11,000 years ago.

Synopsis[link]

At some point during the last Ice Age, about 17,000 years ago, as the ice sheets advanced and sea levels fell, people first migrated from the Eurasian landmass to the Americas. These nomadic hunters were following game herds from Siberia across what is today the Bering Strait into Alaska, and then gradually spread southward. Based upon the distribution of Amerind languages and language families, a movement of tribes along the Rocky Mountain foothills and eastward across the Great Plains to the Atlantic seaboard is assumed to have occurred at least some 13,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Clovis culture[link]

Map showing the approximate location of the ice-free corridor and specific Paleoindian sites (Clovis theory).

This big game-hunting culture has been labeled the Clovis culture, and is primarily identified by its artifacts of fluted projectile points. The culture received its name from artifacts found near Clovis, New Mexico, the first evidence of this tool complex, excavated in 1932. The Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and appeared in South America. The culture is identified by distinctive "Clovis point", a flaked flint spear-point with a notched flute by which it was inserted into a shaft; it could be removed from the shaft for traveling. This flute is one characteristic that defines the Clovis point complex.

Dating of Clovis materials has been by association with animal bones and by the use of carbon dating methods. Recent reexaminations of Clovis materials using improved carbon-dating methods produced results of 11,050 and 10,800 radiocarbon years B.P. (before present). This evidence suggests that the culture flowered somewhat later and for a shorter period of time than previously believed. Michael R. Waters of Texas A&M University in College Station and Thomas W. Stafford Jr., proprietor of a private-sector laboratory in Lafayette, Colorado and an expert in radiocarbon dating, attempted to determine the dates of the Clovis period. The heyday of Clovis technology has typically been set between 11,500 and 10,900 radiocarbon years B.P. (The radiocarbon calibration is disputed for this period, but the widely used IntCal04 calibration puts the dates at 13,300 to 12,800 calendar years B.P.). In a controversial move, Waters and Stafford conclude that no fewer than 11 of the 22 Clovis sites with radiocarbon dates are "problematic" and should be disregarded—including the type site in Clovis, New Mexico. They argue that the datable samples could have been contaminated by earlier material. This contention was considered highly controversial by many in the archaeological community.

Clovis-type artifacts seem to disappear from the archaeological record after the hypothesized Younger Dryas impact event, roughly 12,900 years before the present. The effects of the event possibly caused a decline in post-Clovis human populations and shifts in culture and behavior patterns.^[67]

Problems with Clovis migration models[link]

Significant problems arise with the Clovis migration model. If Clovis people radiated south after entering the New World and eventually reached the southern tip of South America by 11,000 years ago, this leaves only a short time span to populate the entire hemisphere.^[68] Another complication for the Clovis-only theory arose in 1997, when a panel of authorities inspected the Monte Verde site in Chile They concluded that the radiocarbon evidence predates Clovis sites in the North American Midwest by at least 1,000 years. This supports the theory of a primary coastal migration route by which people moved south along the coastline faster than those who migrated inland into the central areas of the Americas. Many excavations have uncovered evidence that subsistence patterns of early Americans included foods such as turtles, shellfish, and tubers. This is a change of diet from the big game mammoths, long-horn bison, horse, and camels which early Clovis hunters apparently followed east into the New World.

At the Topper archaeological site (located along the banks of the Savannah River near Allendale, South Carolina) investigated by University of South Carolina archaeologist Dr. Albert Goodyear, charcoal material recovered in association with purported human artifacts returned radiocarbon dates of up to 50,000 years BP. This would indicate the presence of humans well before the last glacial period. Considerable doubt over the validity of these findings has been raised by many other researchers, and the pre-Clovis Topper dates remain controversial. Charcoal could have originated from forest fires, and the crude stone artifacts may be misinterpreted geofacts.

Pre-Clovis dates have been claimed for several sites in South America, but these early dates have yet to be verified unequivocally.

Discoveries in 2002 and 2003 of human coprolites (fossilized feces) found deeply buried in an Oregon cave indicate the presence of humans in North America as much as 1,200 years prior to the Clovis culture.^[69]

Alternate Land Crossing Models[link]

Crossings by foot of the Bering Sea are possible even without a land bridge by crossing the frozen sea.^[70]

Watercraft migration theories[link]

Earlier finds have led to a pre-Clovis culture theory encompassing different migration models with an expanded chronology to supersede the "Clovis-first" theory.

Pacific coastal models[link]

Pacific models propose that people reached the Americas via water travel, following coastlines from northeast Asia into the Americas. Coastlines are unusually productive environments because they provide humans with access to a diverse array of plants and animals from both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. While not exclusive of land-based migrations, the Pacific 'coastal migration theory' helps explain how early colonists reached areas extremely distant from the Bering Strait region, including sites such as Monte Verde in southern Chile and Taima-Taima in western Venezuela. Two cultural components were discovered at Monte Verde near the Pacific Coast of Chile. The youngest layer is radiocarbon dated at 12,500 radiocarbon years (~14,000 cal BP)^{[citation needed]} and has produced the remains of several types of seaweeds collected from coastal habitats. The older and more controversial component may date back as far as 33,000 years, but few scholars currently accept this very early component.^{[citation needed]}

Other coastal models, dealing specifically with the peopling of the Pacific Northwest and California coasts, have been advocated by archaeologists Knut Fladmark, Roy Carlson, James Dixon, Jon Erlandson, Ruth Gruhn, and Daryl Fedje. In a 2007 article in the Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, Erlandson and his colleagues proposed a corollary to the coastal migration theory—the "kelp highway hypothesis"—arguing that productive kelp forests supporting similar suites of plants and animals would have existed near the end of the Pleistocene around much of the Pacific Rim from Japan to Beringia, the Pacific Northwest, and California, as well as the Andean Coast of South America. Once the coastlines of Alaska and British Columbia had deglaciated about 16,000 years ago, these kelp forest (along with estuarine, mangrove, and coral reef) habitats would have provided an ecologically similar migration corridor, entirely at sea level, and essentially unobstructed.

Southeast Asians: Paleoindians of the Coast[link]

The boat-builders from Southeast Asia may have been one of the earliest groups to reach the shores of North America. One theory suggests people in boats followed the coastline from the Kurile Islands to Alaska down the coasts of North and South America as far as Chile [2 62; 7 54, 57]. The Haida nation on the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia may have originated from these early Asian mariners between 25,000 and 12,000. Early watercraft migration would also explain the habitation of coastal sites in South America such as Pikimachay Cave in Peru by 20,000 years ago and Monte Verde in Chile by 13,000 years ago [6 30; 8 383].

"'There was boat use in Japan 20,000 years ago,' says Jon Erlandson, a University of Oregon anthropologist. 'The Kurile Islands (north of Japan) are like stepping stones to Beringia,' the then continuous land bridging the Bering Strait. Migrants, he said, could have then skirted the tidewater glaciers in Canada right on down the coast." [7 64]'

Atlantic coastal model[link]

Archaeologists Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley champion the coastal Atlantic route. Their Solutrean Hypothesis is also based on evidence from the Clovis complex, but instead traces the origins of the Clovis toolmaking style to the Solutrean culture of Ice Age Western Europe.^[71] The theory suggests that early European people (or peoples) may have been among the earliest settlers of the Americas.^[72][73] Citing evidence that the Solutrean culture of prehistoric Europe may have provided the basis for the tool-making of the Clovis culture in the Americas, the theory suggests that Ice Age Europeans migrated to North America by using skills similar to those possessed by the modern Inuit peoples and followed the edge of the ice sheet that spanned the Atlantic. The hypothesis rests upon particular similarities in Solutrean and Clovis technology that have no known counterparts in Eastern Asia, Siberia or Beringia, areas from which, or through which, early Americans are known to have migrated. The theory is largely discounted by most professionals for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the differences between the two tool-making traditions far outweigh the similarities, the several thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to be crossed, and the 5000-year-span that separate the two different cultures.^[74][75] Genetic studies of Native American populations have also shown the Solutrean theory to be unlikely, showing instead that the five main mtDNA haplogroups found in the Americas were all part of one gene pool migration from Asia.^[76]

Problems with evaluating coastal migration models[link]

The coastal migration models provide a different perspective on migration to the New World, but they are not without their own problems. One of the biggest problems is that global sea levels have risen over 100 metres since the end of the last glacial period, and this has submerged the ancient coastlines which maritime people would have followed into the Americas. Finding sites associated with early coastal migrations is extremely difficult—and systematic excavation of any sites found in deeper waters is challenging and expensive. If there was an early pre-Clovis coastal migration, there is always the possibility of a "failed colonization." Another problem that arises is the lack of hard evidence found for a "long chronology" theory. No sites have yet produced a consistent chronology older than about 12,500 radiocarbon years (~14,500 calendar years)^{[citation needed]}, but research has been limited in South America related to the possibility of early coastal migrations.

See also[link]

References[link]

Sources[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dennis J. Stanford, Bruce Bradely, Pre-Clovis First Americans: The Origin of America's Clovis Culture (University of California Press, 2012). ISBN 978-0-520-22783-5
• Dennis J. Stanford, Bruce A. Bradley, Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America's Clovis Culture (University of California Press (2012). ISBN 978-0-520-22783-5
• First peoples in a new world: colonizing ice age America - by David J Meltzer - University of California, Berkeley, 2009 ISBN 0-520-25052-4
• The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World - by Nina G. Jablonski - California Academy of Sciences, 2002 ISBN 0-940228-49-1
• Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (book) - by Spencer Wells - Princeton University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-8129-7146-9

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Indigenous nations of the Americas

• New evidence suggests Stone Age hunters from Europe discovered America - by David Keys 28 February 2012
• Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (movie) - by Spencer Wells - PBS and National Geographic Channel, 2003 - 120 Minutes, UPC/EAN: 841887001267
• Atlas of the Human Journey, Genographic Project, National Geographic
• An mtDNA view of the peopling of the world by Homo sapiens Cambridge DNA's
• Journey of Mankind - Genetic Map – Bradshaw Foundation
• The Paleoindian Period – United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service
• Alabama Archaeology: Prehistoric Alabama – The University of Alabama, Department of Archaeology
• The Paleoindian Database – The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology.
• Paleoindians and the Great Pleistocene Die-Off – American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Humanities Center

Links to related articles v t e    History of the Americas History North America · Mesoamerica · Central America · Caribbean · Latin America · South America · Genetics Settlement Indigenous peoples · Indigenous population · Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact · Discovery · Exploration · European colonization · Spanish colonization · French colonization · Portuguese colonization · British colonization · Columbian Exchange · Decolonization Societies Paleo-Indians · Pre-Columbian era · Maya · Incas · Aztecs Related Maps · Culture · Geography · Indigenous languages · Epidemics · Slavery Lists Pre-Columbian cultures · Indigenous peoples · Population · Conflicts (North America, South America) Chronology Archaeology of the Americas · North America by period · North American timelines · Mesoamerica by period · Mesoamerica timeline Era: By period · By region · Three-age system · Ancient history · Pre-Columbian · Classical Antiquity · Middle Ages · Modern history · Future v t e Indigenous peoples of the Americas History Paleo-Indians Pre-Columbian era Classification Archaeology Genetics European colonization European colonization Population history Columbian Exchange By country North America Greenland Canada United States Jamaica Mexico Central America El Salvador Costa Rica West Indies Panama South America Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Venezuela South American Indigenous people Related topics Indigenous American studies Indigenous languages Indigenous Movements Indigenous art Artists Writers Category Portal v t e    Pre-Columbian North America Archaeological cultures North American pre-Columbian chronology – Adena – Alachua – Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) – Baytown – Belle Glade – Buttermilk Creek Complex – Caborn-Welborn – Calf Creek – Caloosahatchee – Clovis – Coles Creek – Deptford – Folsom – Fort Ancient – Fort Walton – Fremont – Glades – Glacial Kame – Hopewell (List of Hopewell sites) – Hohokam – Leon-Jefferson – Mississippian (List of Mississippian sites) – Mogollon – Monongahela – Old Cordilleran – Oneota – Paleo-Arctic – Paleo-Indians – Patayan – Plano – Plaquemine – Poverty Point – Prehistoric Southwest – Red Ocher – Santa Rosa-Swift Creek – St. Johns – Steed-Kisker – Tchefuncte – Tocobaga – Troyville Archaeological sites Angel Mounds – Bandelier National Monument – The Bluff Point Stoneworks – Cahokia – Chaco Canyon – Casa Grande – Coso Rock Art District – Eaker – Effigy Mounds National Monument – Etowah Indian Mounds – Eva – Folsom Site – Fort Ancient – Fort Center – Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument – Holly Bluff Site – Hopewell Culture National Historical Park – Kincaid Mounds – Kolomoki – Manitou Cliff Dwellings – Marksville – Meadowcroft Rockshelter – Mesa Verde – Moorehead Circle – Moundville – Mummy Cave – Nodena Site – Ocmulgee National Monument – Old Stone Fort – Parkin Park – Pinson Mounds – Portsmouth Earthworks – Poverty Point – Pueblo Bonito – Rock Eagle – Rock Hawk – Salmon Ruins – Serpent Mound – Spiro Mounds – SunWatch – Taos Pueblo – Toltec Mounds – Town Creek Indian Mound – Winterville Miscellaneous Ballgame – Black drink – Buhl woman – Calumet – Chunkey – Clovis point – Container Revolution – Eastern Agricultural Complex – Eden point – Effigy mound – Falcon dancer – Folsom point – Green Corn Ceremony – Horned Serpent – Kennewick man – Kiva – Metallurgy – Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing – Medicine wheel – Mound builders – N.A.G.P.R.A. – Norse colonization of the Americas – Piasa – Pueblo dwellings – Southeastern Ceremonial Complex – Three Sisters agriculture – Thunderbird – Underwater panther Related: Genetic history · Indigenous Portal of North America · Pre-Columbian era v t e Pre-Columbian civilizations and cultures  Americas Paleo-Indians  · Genetic history · Archaeology of the Americas · Indigenous peoples of the Americas  North America North American pre-Columbian cultures – Caddoan Mississippian – Chichimeca –Hopewell tradition – Coles Creek – Fremont – Marksville – Mississippian – Mogollon – Plaquemine – Plum Bayou – Poverty Point – Troyville – Weeden Island –  Mesoamerica Mesoamerican pre-Columbian chronology – Capacha – Cholula – Coclé – Epi-Olmec – Huastec – Izapa – Mezcala – Mixtec – Olmec – Pipil – Quelepa – Shaft tomb tradition – Teuchitlan – Tarascan – Teotihuacan – Tlatilco – Tlaxcaltec – Toltec – Totonac – Veracruz – Xochipala – Zapotec  South America South American Indigenous people – pre-Columbian chronology – Cañaris – Chachapoya – Chancay – Chavín – Chimu – El Abra – Hydraulic culture of mounds (Bolivia) – Las Vegas – Lima – La Tolita (Tumaco) – Manteño-Guancavilca – Mapuche – Moche – Mollo – Muisca (Chibchas) – Nariño – Nazca – Norte Chico – Quimbaya – San Agustin – Shuar – Sican – Taino – Tairona – Tiwanaku – Tierradentro – Valdivia – Wari Aztec civilization Maya civilization Inca Empire – Inca civilization  Language Nahuatl language Mayan languages Quechua  Writing Aztec writing Mayan writing Quipu  Religion Aztec religion Maya religion Inca religion  Mythology Aztec mythology Maya mythology Inca mythology  Calendar Aztec calendar Maya calendar  Society Aztec society Maya society Inca society  Infrastructure Chinampas Maya architecture Inca architecture (road system) Incan agriculture  History Aztec history Inca history  People Moctezuma I Moctezuma II Cuitlahuac Cuauhtémoc K'inich Janaab' Pakal Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil Jasaw Chan K'awiil I Manco Cápac Pachacutec Atahualpa Manco Inca  Conquest Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (Hernán Cortés) Spanish conquest of Yucatán (Francisco de Montejo) Spanish conquest of Guatemala (Pedro de Alvarado) Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (Francisco Pizarro) See also Portal:Indigenous peoples of North America – Columbian exchange – Mesoamerican writing systems – Native American cuisine – Native American pottery – Population history of American indigenous peoples – Pre-Columbian art – Painting in the Americas before Colonization

Look up New World in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The New World is a historic reference to the Americas.

New World may also refer to:

Music[link]

• Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák), From the New World
• New World Records, a record label
• New World Symphony Orchestra, a training academy for orchestra musicians
• New World (band), a band from the 1970s
• New World (The Zombies album), 1990
• New World (Lauri Ylönen album)
• New World (Do As Infinity album), 2001
• New World, a 1990 The Kelly Family album
• "New World" (L'Arc-en-Ciel song), 2005

• The New World (Bruce Robison album), 2008
• "New World" (Strawbs song), a 1972 song by Strawbs from their Grave New World album
• "New World", a song by Soul Asylum from their 1992 album Grave Dancers Union
• "The New World", a song from More Fun in the New World by the band X
• "The New World", a song from the album Colony by the band In Flames
• "New World", a song by tobyMac

Film and television[link]

• New World (film), 1995 French film with some American actors
• The New World (film), a 2005 film by Terrence Malick, starring Colin Farrell, about the founding of the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia
• The New World (2011 film), a 2011 Estonian documentary film
• "The New World" (The 4400 episodes), an episode of the television series The 4400
• "The New World" (Torchwood), a 2011 episode of the television series Torchwood
  • Torchwood: Miracle Day (working title: Torchwood: The New World)

Publishing[link]

• New World Translation, a modern-language translation of the Bible
• New Worlds (magazine), a science fiction magazine which published over 200 issues
• New World series, a set of three science fiction books written by James Kahn
• The New World (short story collection), a collection of short stories by Russell Banks

Business[link]

• New World (supermarket), a New Zealand Supermarket chain
• New World Development Co. Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company involved in real estate, infrastructure and telecommunications
• New World Communications, a major television production company and television station owner in the United States
• New World, a brand of cooking appliances owned by Glen Dimplex

Other uses[link]

• New World (France), an organized caucus in the French Socialist Party
• New World monkeys, the five families of primates that are found in Central and South America
• New World ROM, Macintosh computers that do not have a Macintosh Toolbox ROM chip
• New World School of the Arts, a magnet high school in Miami-Dade County, Florida
• New World wine, produced outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe
• Nowy Świat Street ("New World Street" in English), one of the main historical streets in Warsaw, Poland

See also[link]

• New World Order (disambiguation), a phrase with several meanings

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The World Map by Diogo Ribeiro (1529) labels the Americas as MUNDUS NOVUS. It traces most of South America and the east coast of North America.

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas and sometimes Oceania (Australasia). The term originated in the early 16th century, shortly after America was discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European Middle Ages, who had thought of the world as consisting of Europe, Asia, and Africa only: collectively now referred to as the Old World. The Americas were also referred to as the "fourth part of the world".

Name origin[link]

Allegory of the New World: Amerigo Vespucci awakens the sleeping America

The term was first coined by the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci, in a letter written to his patron Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici in the Spring of 1503, and published (in Latin) in 1503-04 under the title Mundus Novus. Vespucci's letter contains arguably the first explicit articulation in print of the hypothesis that the lands discovered by European navigators to the west were not the edges of Asia, but rather an entirely different continent, a "New World".^[1]

Vespucci probably came to this realization in June of 1502, during a famous chance meeting between two different expeditions at the watering stop of "Bezeguiche" (the Bay of Dakar, Senegal) - his own outgoing expedition, on its way to chart the coast of newly-discovered Brazil, and the vanguard ships of the Second Portuguese India armada of Pedro Alvares Cabral, returning home from India. Having already visited the Americas in prior years, Vespucci probably found it difficult to reconcile what he had already seen in the West Indies, with what the returning sailors told him of the East Indies. Vespucci wrote a preliminary letter to Lorenzo, while anchored at Bezeguiche, which he sent back with the Portuguese fleet - at this point only expressing a certain puzzlement about his conversations.^[2] Vespucci was finally persuaded when he proceeded on his mapping expedition through 1501-02, covering the huge stretch of coast of eastern Brazil. After returning from Brazil, in the Spring of 1503, Amerigo Vespucci composed the Mundus Novus letter in Lisbon to Lorenzo in Florence, with its famous opening paragraph:^[3]

In passed days I wrote very fully to you of my return from new countries, which have been found and explored with the ships, at the cost and by the command of this Most Serene King of Portugal; and it is lawful to call it a new world, because none of these countries were known to our ancestors and all who hear about them they will be entirely new. For the opinion of the ancients was, that the greater part of the world beyond the equinoctial line to the south was not land, but only sea, which they have called the Atlantic; and even if they have affirmed that any continent is there, they have given many reasons for denying it is inhabited. But this opinion is false, and entirely opposed to the truth. My last voyage has proved it, for I have found a continent in that southern part; full of animals and more populous than our Europe, or Asia, or Africa, and even more temperate and pleasant than any other region known to us.

Vespucci's letter was a European publishing sensation, immediately (and repeatedly) reprinted in several other countries.^[4]

The Spanish scholar Peter Martyr d'Anghiera used the term "New World"^[5] with some twenty editions over the next four years.

In 1524, the term was also used by Giovanni da Verrazzano in a record of his voyage that year along the Atlantic coast of land that is now part of the United States and Canada.^[6]

Usage and definition[link]

The terms "Old World" vs. "New World" are primarily meaningful in historical context and for the purpose of distinguishing the world's major ecozones. One can speak of the "New World" in a historical context, e.g., when discussing the voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish conquest of Yucatán and other events of the colonial period; additionally, the term "New World" is sometimes used in a biological context, when one speaks of Old World (Palearctic, Afrotropic) and New World species (Nearctic, Neotropic).

Criticism of term[link]

The term has been criticized as being Eurocentric, patronizing and also for taking an apologetic tone with regard to colonialism.^[7]

See also[link]

• Models of migration to the New World
• Paleo-Indians
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas

References[link]

v t e Regions of the World Africa Northern Middle East Sub-Saharan Central Southern Western Eastern Oceania Australasia Australia Zealandia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia America North Northern Middle Central Caribbean South Southern Northern Western Guianan States Anglo Latin (Hispanic) Polar regions Arctic Antarctic Asia Central Eastern Northeastern Northern Southeastern Mainland Maritime Southern Indian subcontinent Western Middle East Oceans World Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Southern Europe Central Eastern Northern Southeastern Middle East Southern Western Seas List of seas Related Continents of the world List of seas Physical Earth

Cain Velasquez
Born	Cain Velasquez Ramirez (1982-07-28) July 28, 1982 (age 29) Salinas, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	240 lb (109 kg; 17 st 2 lb)
Division	Heavyweight
Reach	77 in (196 cm)
Style	Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu
Fighting out of	San Jose, California
Team	American Kickboxing Academy
Trainer	Head Trainer: Javier Mendez Strategy Coach: Bob Cook Jiu-Jitsu Coach: Dave Camarillo Boxing Coach: Arturo "Huitzi" Mata Wrestling Coach: Daniel Cormier
Rank	Brown belt in Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu[1]
Wrestling	NCAA Division I Wrestling
Years active	2006–present (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total	11
Wins	10
By knockout	9
By decision	1
Losses	1
By knockout	1
University	Arizona State University Iowa Central Community College
Spouse	Michelle Velásquez
Children	1
Notable school(s)	Kofa High School
Website	Official website
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: October 14, 2010

Cain Velasquez Ramirez^[2] (born July 28, 1982) is a Mexican American mixed martial artist fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.^[3] He is a two-time All-American collegiate wrestler from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, and a Junior College National Champ at Iowa Central Community College.^[4] He is a two-time 5A state champion in Arizona, compiling a record of 110–10 for Kofa High School in Yuma, Arizona.^[5] Cain Velasquez is ranked #2 in the heavyweight division.

Early life[link]

Velasquez, a Mexican American,^[6] was born on July 28, 1982 in Salinas, California to Efrain and Isabel Velasquez. Velasquez's father, Efrain, came from Mexico to the United States illegally. Efrain met his wife Isabel, married her, and gained US citizenship.^[7] Velasquez has two siblings, Efrain, Jr., and Adela. He was raised in Yuma, Arizona.^[2] He graduated from Kofa High School, where he compiled a record of 110–10 in four years of wrestling, including winning the 5A Arizona Wrestling Championship twice. Velasquez also played football for three years. As a senior, he served as Captain of both his wrestling and football teams.^[2]

After high school, he attended Iowa Central Community College, where he earned an Associates degree. He also wrestled for one season and won the NJCAA National Championship. After Iowa Central Community College, Velasquez graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor's degree in Education.^[2] He wrestled there for three seasons and compiled a record of 86–17, placing 5th in the country in 2005, and 4th in 2006. While at ASU, Velasquez also wrestled alongside future UFC fighters Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway.^[8]

Mixed martial arts career[link]

Cain began his mixed martial arts career right after college, joining American Kickboxing Academy. Velasquez is a brown belt in Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu and a NCAA Division I Wrestler. He has notable wins over Cheick Kongo, Ben Rothwell, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brock Lesnar.

Early career[link]

Velasquez made his MMA debut on October 7, 2006 against Jesse Fujarczyk at Strikeforce: Tank vs. Buentello, he won by TKO in the first round. Velasquez then faced Jeremiah Constant at BodogFight: St. Petersburg, he won via TKO in the first round at the 4 minute mark.^[9]

Ultimate Fighting Championship[link]

Velasquez made his UFC debut against Brad Morris at UFC 83 and won due to strikes in the first round.^[10] In his next fight, Velasquez defeated Jake O'Brien at UFC Fight Night 14 by TKO in round one.^[11] Velasquez then faced Denis Stojnić at UFC Fight Night 17 and the fight was stopped in round two with Velasquez earning the victory by TKO. Velasquez also earned Knockout of the Night honors for his performance.^[12] Velasquez's next fight was in UFC 99 against former kickboxer and established UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo. Velasquez was once again dominant, landing 251 strikes and winning the bout by unanimous decision (30–27 on all cards).^[13]

His next opponent was expected to be Shane Carwin^[14] with the winner likely challenging for the UFC Heavyweight Championship held by Brock Lesnar. However that bout was scrapped^[15] and Velasquez was instead told he would be fighting Ben Rothwell at UFC 104.^[16][17] He defeated Rothwell by second round TKO.^[18]

Velasquez faced former Pride Heavyweight Champion and former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on February 20, 2010 at UFC 110.^[19] Going into the fight, some commentators predicted that Nogueira would take the victory due to a supposed lack of striking power for Velasquez.^[20] They were proven wrong when Velasquez defeated Nogueira via first round knockout, earning Knockout of the Night honors.^[20]

UFC Heavyweight Champion[link]

Dana White announced via SportsNation that the UFC would be bringing back UFC Primetime to promote Lesnar vs. Velasquez.^[21] Velasquez defeated Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship via TKO in the first round, earning Knockout of the Night honors.^[22]

Velasquez suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder during his fight with Lesnar at UFC 121 and was expected to be sidelined for at least 6–8 months.^[23] Surgery on the shoulder was successful and Velasquez planned to return as early as Fall 2011.^[24]

Velasquez was expected to make his first title defense against Junior dos Santos, with a target date of November 19, 2011 at UFC 139,^[25] but the fight was later moved to November 12, 2011 to headline the first UFC on Fox 1.^[26]

Velasquez suffered his first loss via KO (punches) at 1 minute and 4 seconds of the first round at the hands of then title contender, Junior dos Santos.

Post title loss[link]

Velasquez was originally set to fight Frank Mir on May 26, 2012 at UFC 146.^[27] However, Mir was moved up to face Junior dos Santos after Alistair Overeem was pulled from the card. Velasquez instead faced Antonio Silva.^[28] Velasquez defeated Silva via first round TKO. Dana White strongly hinted after the fight that Velasquez will be the next fighter to challenge for the Heavyweight Title.^[29]

Personal life[link]

Velasquez speaks English and Spanish. He has been a guest star on the Spanish-language television networks Telemundo and Univision.^[30] In addition to his Spanish-language TV appearances, he was also a featured guest on the TBS late night TV show, Lopez Tonight, starring George Lopez.^[31]

Velasquez and his girlfriend, Michelle, welcomed a daughter on May 6, 2009. The couple married on May 28, 2011.^[32][33]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

[edit] Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
  • Knockout of the Night Honors (Three times)

• Inside MMA
  • 2010 Fighter of the Year Bazzie Award

• MMAFighting.com
  • 2010 Fighter of the Year

• MMAjunkie.com
  • 2010 Fighter of the Year^[34]

• Sherdog
  • 2010 Fighter of the Year
  • 2010 All-Violence 1st Team

• MMA Live
  • 2010 Fighter of the Year

[edit] Collegiate wrestling

• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I All-American (2005, 2006)
  • Pac-10 Conference Championship (2005, 2006)
  • Pac-10 Conference Wrestler of the Year (2005)
  • NCAA Division I 285 1b – 5th place out of Arizona State University (2005)^[35]
  • NCAA Division I 285 1b – 4th place out of Arizona State University (2006)^[35]
• National Junior College Athletic Association
  • NJCAA Junior Collegiate Championship (2002)
  • NJCAA All-American (2002)
• USA Wrestling
  • FILA Junior Freestyle World Team Trials Winner (2002)
  • ASICS Tiger High School All-American (2001)
  • Western Junior Freestyle Regional Championship (2001)
  • Western Junior Greco-Roman Regional Championship (2001)
• Arizona Interscholastic Association
  • AIA Division I High School State Championship (2000, 2001)
  • AIA 5A Conference Championship (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

Mixed martial arts record[link]

See also[link]

• List of current UFC fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official UFC Profile
• Cain Velasquez's profile at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Arizona State Wrestling Bio
• Cain Velasquez on Twitter
• Cain Velasquez at the Internet Movie Database
• Professional MMA record for Cain Velasquez from Sherdog
• Cain Velasquez Heavy Weight Belt Loss