Your assignment will contain two parts.
Part 1: Article Content Analysis
In this Article Content Analysis section of the Unit I Assignment, perform the following:
Write a 300-word essay, discussing the content of the article you selected.
Make certain to identify the article’s thesis and provide a summary of the thesis’ main points.
Provide an insightful and thorough analysis of the article using cited evidence from the article. (Do not give your personal opinion and do not utilize additional resources.)
In-text citations and a reference for the article are required.
Part 2: Article Reflection
In this Article Reflection section of the Unit I Assignment, perform the following:
Write a 200-word in-depth reflection of the article, considering the viability of the thesis, strategies used to collect data, and article findings.
Provide insightful personal viewpoints on the success (or lack thereof) of the article and its findings. (Personal opinions should be given and supported with information from the article.)
In Part 2, you are not required to use in-text citations or a reference for the article unless you determine they are necessary and appropriate. Additional references should not be used. Keep your focus on the selected article.
You will combine Part 1 and Part 2 in the same document and submit them as one document. Your total paper should be a minimum of two pages in length.
Paleo-America
Name
Institution
Course
Instructor
Date
Paleo-America
Article: Prufer, K. M., Alsgaard, A. V., Robinson, M., Meredith, C. R., Culleton, B. J., Dennehy, T., … & Kennett, D. J. (2019). Linking late Paleoindian stone tool technologies and populations in North, Central and South America. PLoS One, 14(7), e0219812.
Part 1: Article Content Analysis
This article is based on the fact that the use of stone stools was a distinct culture of the late Paleo-Americans. The authors, Prufer et al., assert that these tools were distributed across North American and South America due to immigration during the Pleistocene and early Holocene periods as a consequence of climate changes. They hypothesize that a comparison of the archaeological stone tools found in North American and South America with those of Mesoamericans (Belize, Lowe) alludes to the strong ties between lowland Neotropic regions at the onset of the Holocene and a shared culture of the Paleo-Americans.
This article develops this hypothesis by giving a strong background to the chronological of stone tool technocomplex dating back to 12,000–9,300 years ago. As these people moved and adapted to new environments, they adjusted their tools to suit their present needs. These tools were deposited as periodic layers of sedimentary rocks called chert. Strategic archaeological excavations of these rocks and dating are effective in giving important information about the stone culture of the paleo-Americans.
This paper describes the process and the findings of a strategic exaction of bifacial tools made in Belize, which is considered the first securely dated Paleoindian tool technocomplex for southern Mesoamerica, and further comparison with bifacial tools found in lower Central America and South America. The excavation was conducted in areas such as Tzibte Yux of Lowe to represent Paleo-American life and Mayahak Cab Pek of Maya Mountains to represent late archaic life for a better comparison. AMS Dating and Bayesian depositional modeling were used for dating purposes. Prufer et al. (2019), use these findings to explain the migration that occurred, technological diffusion, and gene flow of Paleo-Americans to justify their hypothesis. According to their primary findings, the article reports that “Lowe tradition is a technological lithic complex unique to southern Mesoamerica, with similar features with contemporaneous stemmed point types found primarily in tropical areas of SA and lower CA, but is also related to ancestral Paleoindian complexes in NA.
Part 2: Article Reflection
The hypothesis that has been provided in this article is viable and the approach that has been taken is also relevant in proving it. It is logical that people who lived during the Pleistocene and early Holocene periods did not stagnate at one place but had to keep migrating for many viable reasons. During the movements, they interacted, shared knowledge, separated from each other, and adjusted to their new environments and ways of life (Redwood, 2020). The aspect of having a common origin point to the fact that they must have some similarities in their cultures, genes, technology, and many other aspects. As such, archaeological excavation becomes effective in studying these similarities in terms of bifacial artifacts, as done in this paper.
However, one must understand the patterns of the Paleo-Americans migrations to be more precise in siting the points of excavations points (Redwood, 2020). This article has used the ice age environmental changes to predict the moves of the Paleo-Americans as they evade adverse climatic conditions. Dating methods have also been used to align the artifacts to a specific period for better comparison. Consequently, the paper has been able to report that the southern Mesoamerica technological lithic complex bears similar features to those found primarily in tropical areas of SA and lower CA, which is also related to ancestral Paleoindian complexes in NA.
References
Prufer, K. M., Alsgaard, A. V., Robinson, M., Meredith, C. R., Culleton, B. J., Dennehy, T., … & Kennett, D. J. (2019). Linking late Paleoindian stone tool technologies and populations in North, Central and South America. PLoS One, 14(7), e0219812. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219812
Redwood, S. D. (2020). Late Pleistocene to Holocene Sea level rise in the Gulf of Panama, Panama, and its influence on early human migration through the Isthmus. Caribb J Earth Sci, 51, 15-31.