新发现的脚印化石或证明人类迁移到美洲的时间比想象中早了数千年，但迁移的路线和方式仍然存疑
正文翻译
（图解：2.3万年前白沙公园地区的可能样貌
（发表于2021年9月23日，作者：英国伯恩茅斯大学环境和地理科学教授马修·罗伯特·班尼特、英国伯恩茅斯大学人类古生态学首席学者萨莉·克里斯汀·雷诺兹）
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（图解：从这些足印中提取的一部分种子）
（图解：左侧为现代人的足迹，右侧为有数千年历史的古人足迹）
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
（图解：2.3万年前白沙公园地区的可能样貌
（发表于2021年9月23日，作者：英国伯恩茅斯大学环境和地理科学教授马修·罗伯特·班尼特、英国伯恩茅斯大学人类古生态学首席学者萨莉·克里斯汀·雷诺兹）
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Our species began migrating out of Africa around 100,000 years ago. Aside from Antarctica, the Americas were the last continents humans reached, with the early pioneers crossing the now-submerged Bering land bridge that once connected eastern Siberia to North America.
我们这个物种大约在10万年前开始从非洲向外迁移。除去南极洲，南北美洲是人类最后抵达的大陆，早期的拓荒者跨越了现在已经被淹没的白令陆桥，该陆桥曾经把西伯利亚东部和北美连成了一片。
我们这个物种大约在10万年前开始从非洲向外迁移。除去南极洲，南北美洲是人类最后抵达的大陆，早期的拓荒者跨越了现在已经被淹没的白令陆桥，该陆桥曾经把西伯利亚东部和北美连成了一片。
At times throughout the Pleistocene ice age, which ended 10,000 years ago, large ice sheets covered much of Europe and North America. The water locked in these ice sheets lowered the sea level, allowing people to walk the bridge from Asia through the Arctic to Alaska. But during the peak of the last glacial cycle, their path south into the Americas was blocked by a continental-wide ice sheet.
在结束于一万年前的整个更新世冰期中，巨型冰盖覆盖了欧洲和北美的大部分地区。被锁在这些冰盖中的水降低了海平面，这就使人们能利用这座陆桥经由亚洲穿过北极地区走到阿拉斯加。但是在最后一个冰川周期的极盛期，他们向南进入南北美洲的通路被一整个大陆那么大的冰盖封堵住了。
在结束于一万年前的整个更新世冰期中，巨型冰盖覆盖了欧洲和北美的大部分地区。被锁在这些冰盖中的水降低了海平面，这就使人们能利用这座陆桥经由亚洲穿过北极地区走到阿拉斯加。但是在最后一个冰川周期的极盛期，他们向南进入南北美洲的通路被一整个大陆那么大的冰盖封堵住了。
Until now, scientists believed humans only travelled south into the Americas when this ice barrier began to melt – at the earliest, 16,500 years ago. But together with our colleagues, we have discovered a set of fossil footprints that suggest humans first set foot on the continent thousands of years earlier.
科学家们至今都认为：直到这个由冰组成的屏障开始融化时，人类才能南下进入南北美洲，最早也是在16500年前了。但我和我的同事们一起发现了一组脚印化石，表明人类首次踏足这片大陆的时间，比之前认为的还要早几千年。
科学家们至今都认为：直到这个由冰组成的屏障开始融化时，人类才能南下进入南北美洲，最早也是在16500年前了。但我和我的同事们一起发现了一组脚印化石，表明人类首次踏足这片大陆的时间，比之前认为的还要早几千年。
These footprints, unearthed at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, were made by a group of teenagers, children and the occasional adult, and have been dated to the height of the last glacial maximum, some 23,000 years ago. That makes them potentially the oldest evidence of our species in the Americas.
这些脚印出土于新墨西哥州的白沙国家公园，是当年的一群少年、孩童和偶尔混迹其中的成年人留下的，经测定，时间是在最后一次冰期的极盛期，大约是在23000年前。这样，它们就很可能成为我们这个物种涉足美洲的最古老证据。
这些脚印出土于新墨西哥州的白沙国家公园，是当年的一群少年、孩童和偶尔混迹其中的成年人留下的，经测定，时间是在最后一次冰期的极盛期，大约是在23000年前。这样，它们就很可能成为我们这个物种涉足美洲的最古老证据。
Our findings support the idea that humans were present in the southern part of North America before the last glacial peak – a theory that has so far been based on disputed and potentially unreliable evidence.
我们的发现支持了“人类在最后一次冰期的极盛期之前就在北美洲南部现身了”的观点，这一理论到目前为止，都只是基于有争议的以及可能并不可靠的证据。
我们的发现支持了“人类在最后一次冰期的极盛期之前就在北美洲南部现身了”的观点，这一理论到目前为止，都只是基于有争议的以及可能并不可靠的证据。
Step change
脚步的变化
脚步的变化
There are literally tens of thousands of fossil footprints at White Sands. Together, they tell stories of how prehistoric humans interacted with extinct Ice Age megafauna, such as Columbian mammoths and giant ground sloths.
不夸张地说，白沙国家公园里有数以万计的化石脚印。它们共同讲述了史前人类是如何与已经灭绝的冰河时代巨兽（如哥伦布猛犸象和巨型大地懒）互动的故事。
（译注：哥伦布猛犸象是长毛猛犸象的近亲，可能是地球上曾经生活过的体型最大的象；大地獭是冰河时期美洲的第三大陆生兽，体重可达5吨）
不夸张地说，白沙国家公园里有数以万计的化石脚印。它们共同讲述了史前人类是如何与已经灭绝的冰河时代巨兽（如哥伦布猛犸象和巨型大地懒）互动的故事。
（译注：哥伦布猛犸象是长毛猛犸象的近亲，可能是地球上曾经生活过的体型最大的象；大地獭是冰河时期美洲的第三大陆生兽，体重可达5吨）
The tracks were deposited around the margins of a large wetland – perhaps a lake after the rainy season, but at other times more like a patchwork of water bodies. Until now, the problem had been dating these footprints. We knew they were imprinted before the megafauna became extinct, but not precisely when.
这些足迹沉积在一个大型湿地的边缘，也许是雨季过后形成的一个湖，但到了其他季节更像是各个水体汇聚而成的。在今天以前，确定这些脚印的年代一直都是个问题。我们知道它们是巨兽们灭绝前留下的印记，但无从得知具体的时间。
这些足迹沉积在一个大型湿地的边缘，也许是雨季过后形成的一个湖，但到了其他季节更像是各个水体汇聚而成的。在今天以前，确定这些脚印的年代一直都是个问题。我们知道它们是巨兽们灭绝前留下的印记，但无从得知具体的时间。
This changed in September 2019 when the team found tracks with undisturbed sediment above and below them. Within that sediment were layers containing hundreds of seeds of the common ditch grass Ruppia cirrhosa. These seeds, when radiocarbon dated, would reveal the age of the footprints themselves. Analysis revealed the seeds range in age from 21,000 to 23,000 years old, suggesting humans made repeated visits to the site over at least two millennia.
情况在2019年9月发生了变化，当时我们的团队发现，在脚印的上方和下方都有无恙如初的沉积物。在这些沉积物中，有好几层含有数百颗很常见的沟渠草（螺旋流苏）的种子。这些种子通过放射性碳定年法，能揭示出脚印本身的年龄。分析显示，这些种子的年龄从21000年至23000年不等，这就表明人类在至少两千年的时间里反复造访过这个地点。
情况在2019年9月发生了变化，当时我们的团队发现，在脚印的上方和下方都有无恙如初的沉积物。在这些沉积物中，有好几层含有数百颗很常见的沟渠草（螺旋流苏）的种子。这些种子通过放射性碳定年法，能揭示出脚印本身的年龄。分析显示，这些种子的年龄从21000年至23000年不等，这就表明人类在至少两千年的时间里反复造访过这个地点。
（图解：从这些足印中提取的一部分种子）
The White Sands footprints provide unequivocal evidence that people were in the Americas at the height of the last glacial maximum, rather than some time after, as was previously thought. That’s a big deal for our understanding of the peopling of the Americas and the genetic composition of indigenous Americans.
白沙公园的脚印提供了明确的证据，证明了和从前认为的不同，人类在最后一次冰期的极盛期就已经进入了美洲，而不是在更晚的时间点。对我们了解美洲的族群分布和美洲原住民的基因成分来说，这可是一件大事。
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白沙公园的脚印提供了明确的证据，证明了和从前认为的不同，人类在最后一次冰期的极盛期就已经进入了美洲，而不是在更晚的时间点。对我们了解美洲的族群分布和美洲原住民的基因成分来说，这可是一件大事。
原创翻译：龙腾网 https://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
Using the DNA of modern indigenous Americans, scientists have worked out that their ancestors arrived from Asia in several waves, some of which became genetically isolated. The cause of this isolation is not clear. Now, our new footprint evidence provides an explanation, suggesting that the earliest Americans were isolated south of the North American ice sheet, only to be joined by others when that sheet melted.
利用生活在现代的美洲原住民DNA，科学家们已经得到了答案：他们的祖先分好几波从亚洲出发抵达这里，其中的一部分逐渐成为了基因孤岛。发生这种隔绝的原因尚不明确。现在，我们掌握的新脚印证据给出了一个解释，表明最早的美洲人被隔绝在了北美冰盖以南，直到冰盖融化时其他族群的人才加入了他们。
利用生活在现代的美洲原住民DNA，科学家们已经得到了答案：他们的祖先分好几波从亚洲出发抵达这里，其中的一部分逐渐成为了基因孤岛。发生这种隔绝的原因尚不明确。现在，我们掌握的新脚印证据给出了一个解释，表明最早的美洲人被隔绝在了北美冰盖以南，直到冰盖融化时其他族群的人才加入了他们。
Our discovery may also reopen speculation about other archaeological sites in the Americas. One of them is Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico. Archaeologists recently claimed that evidence from this cave suggests humans occupied the Americas around 30,000 years ago – 7,000 years before people left the White Sands footprints.
我们的发现也可能重开对其他美洲考古遗址的推测。其中之一就是墨西哥的Chiquihuite洞穴。最近考古学家们声称，该洞穴中的证据表明，人类大约在3万年前占领了美洲，这比人们在白沙公园留下的脚印早了7000年。
我们的发现也可能重开对其他美洲考古遗址的推测。其中之一就是墨西哥的Chiquihuite洞穴。最近考古学家们声称，该洞穴中的证据表明，人类大约在3万年前占领了美洲，这比人们在白沙公园留下的脚印早了7000年。
But the Chiquihuite Cave findings are disputed by some, as stone tools can be difficult to interpret and tool-like stones can form via natural processes. Stone tools can also move between layers of sediment and rock. Fossil footprints can’t. They are fixed on a bedding plane, and so provide more reliable evidence of exactly when humans left them.
但Chiquihuite洞穴（译注：墨西哥中北部）的一系列发现遭到了一些人的质疑，因为那些石器可能很难解释，而且近似于工具的石块是可以通过自然过程形成的。石器也是可以在各沉积物和岩石层之间移动的。但脚印化石就不能了。它们被固定在了一个层理面上，也便由此成为了更可靠的证据，证明了人类留下这些脚印的确切时间。
(译注：层理是岩石沿垂直方向变化所产生的层状构造)
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但Chiquihuite洞穴（译注：墨西哥中北部）的一系列发现遭到了一些人的质疑，因为那些石器可能很难解释，而且近似于工具的石块是可以通过自然过程形成的。石器也是可以在各沉积物和岩石层之间移动的。但脚印化石就不能了。它们被固定在了一个层理面上，也便由此成为了更可靠的证据，证明了人类留下这些脚印的确切时间。
(译注：层理是岩石沿垂直方向变化所产生的层状构造)
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（图解：左侧为现代人的足迹，右侧为有数千年历史的古人足迹）
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Teenage kicks
We tend to picture our ancestors engaged in life-or-death struggles – forced to battle the elements simply to survive. Yet the White Sands evidence is suggestive of a playful, relatively relaxed setting, with teenagers and children spending time together in a group.
在我们的设想中，我们的祖先往往会投入到生死攸关的斗争中去，他们被迫与各种因素战斗，仅仅是为了活下来。然而，白沙公园的证据表明，那是一个有玩闹有嬉戏的相对闲适的环境，少年和孩童们在群体活动中消磨时光。
We tend to picture our ancestors engaged in life-or-death struggles – forced to battle the elements simply to survive. Yet the White Sands evidence is suggestive of a playful, relatively relaxed setting, with teenagers and children spending time together in a group.
在我们的设想中，我们的祖先往往会投入到生死攸关的斗争中去，他们被迫与各种因素战斗，仅仅是为了活下来。然而，白沙公园的证据表明，那是一个有玩闹有嬉戏的相对闲适的环境，少年和孩童们在群体活动中消磨时光。
This is perhaps not that surprising. Children and teenagers are more energetic and playful than adults and therefore leave more traces. Adults tend to be more economical in their movement, leaving fewer tracks.
也许这也不至于让人惊讶。孩童和少年的精力比成年人更旺盛，也更爱玩闹，因此留下了更多的足迹。成年人在行动时往往会更简练，留下的足迹也就更少了。
也许这也不至于让人惊讶。孩童和少年的精力比成年人更旺盛，也更爱玩闹，因此留下了更多的足迹。成年人在行动时往往会更简练，留下的足迹也就更少了。
But another interpretation of this new footprint evidence is that the teenagers were part of the workforce in these early bands of hunter-gatherers. It’s possible that the tracks were left by young people fetching and carrying resources for their prehistoric parents.
但针对这些新足迹证据的另一种解释是，在这些早期的狩猎-采集者队伍中，少年是劳动力的一部分。这些足迹有可能是年轻人为他们的史前父母获取和搬运物资时留下的。
但针对这些新足迹证据的另一种解释是，在这些早期的狩猎-采集者队伍中，少年是劳动力的一部分。这些足迹有可能是年轻人为他们的史前父母获取和搬运物资时留下的。
In any case, the people that left their tracks on White Sands were some of the earliest known American teens. Set in stone, their footprints pay tribute to their forebears, who we now know walked the long land bridge into the Americas millennia earlier than what was commonly believed.
不管怎样，在白沙公园留下足迹的人都是已知最早的一批美洲青少年。他们的脚印亘古不易，在向他们的祖先致敬，我们现在知道了，他们行过长长的陆桥进入美洲的时间，比通常认为的要早几千年。
不管怎样，在白沙公园留下足迹的人都是已知最早的一批美洲青少年。他们的脚印亘古不易，在向他们的祖先致敬，我们现在知道了，他们行过长长的陆桥进入美洲的时间，比通常认为的要早几千年。
评论翻译
Paul Kyberd
Senior Lecturer in Particle Physics Informatics, Brunel University London
The discovery and investigation of these footsteps is of course interesting but the sentence “Until now, scientists believed humans only travelled south into the Americas when this ice barrier began to melt – at the earliest, 16,500 years ago” is simply inaccurate. For instance in November 2011 an article in Science says “Texas site confirms pre Clovis settlement of the Americas” indicating that early settlement in America was already an accepted truth.
（伦敦布鲁内尔大学粒子物理信息学高级讲师）
这批脚印的发现和相关科研当然是很有意思的，但“直到这个由冰组成的屏障开始融化时，人类才能南下进入南北美洲，最早也是在16500年前了”这句话根本不准确。比如说，2011年11月期的《科学》杂志中就有篇文章说，“德克萨斯州的遗址证实了，在克洛维斯文化之前，美洲就有人定居了”，这就表明早期美洲就有人类定居已经是一个广为接受的事实了。
Senior Lecturer in Particle Physics Informatics, Brunel University London
The discovery and investigation of these footsteps is of course interesting but the sentence “Until now, scientists believed humans only travelled south into the Americas when this ice barrier began to melt – at the earliest, 16,500 years ago” is simply inaccurate. For instance in November 2011 an article in Science says “Texas site confirms pre Clovis settlement of the Americas” indicating that early settlement in America was already an accepted truth.
（伦敦布鲁内尔大学粒子物理信息学高级讲师）
这批脚印的发现和相关科研当然是很有意思的，但“直到这个由冰组成的屏障开始融化时，人类才能南下进入南北美洲，最早也是在16500年前了”这句话根本不准确。比如说，2011年11月期的《科学》杂志中就有篇文章说，“德克萨斯州的遗址证实了，在克洛维斯文化之前，美洲就有人定居了”，这就表明早期美洲就有人类定居已经是一个广为接受的事实了。
American politics. Your education career would be destroyed if you ever made such a claim, up to very recent times. They still tried to sweep the native tribes under the genocidal carpet. Europeans were there first and had rightful claim nonsense. Even Columbus was was late to the party, both the Vikings and Chinese were in America centuries before Columbus. The US education system did not like to talk about that much in the 20th century.
Problem is that American artifacts are very rare given the technology the natives used, mostly biodegradable items.
（回）美国的政治是个问题。如果你提出过这样的主张，你的教育生涯就会被毁掉，直到最近都是如此。他们至今仍试图掩盖种族灭绝原住民部落的事。欧洲人第一个抵达那里，也就取得了胡说八道的正当权利。就算是哥伦布，入局时间都很晚，维京人和中国人进入美洲可是比哥伦布早了好几个世纪。二十世纪的美国教育系统并不喜欢大谈这些。
问题是，考虑到原住民使用的技术，美洲的出土文物是极为罕见的，大部分都是可生物降解的物品。
Problem is that American artifacts are very rare given the technology the natives used, mostly biodegradable items.
（回）美国的政治是个问题。如果你提出过这样的主张，你的教育生涯就会被毁掉，直到最近都是如此。他们至今仍试图掩盖种族灭绝原住民部落的事。欧洲人第一个抵达那里，也就取得了胡说八道的正当权利。就算是哥伦布，入局时间都很晚，维京人和中国人进入美洲可是比哥伦布早了好几个世纪。二十世纪的美国教育系统并不喜欢大谈这些。
问题是，考虑到原住民使用的技术，美洲的出土文物是极为罕见的，大部分都是可生物降解的物品。
It is also proven that South American natives did not come from the land-bridge to the north. I also heard speculation that a bridge also existed on the East coast of America.
也有证据证明：南美的原住民并不是从接通北方的陆桥过来的。我还听说过，有人猜测在美洲东海岸存在另一座陆桥。
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也有证据证明：南美的原住民并不是从接通北方的陆桥过来的。我还听说过，有人猜测在美洲东海岸存在另一座陆桥。
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Stan Fletcher
There is no proof that life started in Africa. It is only the place were the oldest fossils have been found and that is not conclusive proof. What it does prove is that these areas in Africa were the best environments to preserve fossils and evidence of human activity. Claiming that life started in Africa is as credible as the Bible claiming it all started in a garden called Eden.
Sometimes, Science is just as flawed as religion. Both can be very close minded.
没有任何证据能证明生命起源于非洲。只是在那里发现了最古老的化石而已，这并不是什么决定性的证据。它确实能证明：非洲的这些地区是保存化石和人类活动证据的最理想环境。声称生命起源于非洲，其可信度等同于《圣经》声称生命都起源于一个叫伊甸园的花园。
有时候，科学和宗教一样自带缺陷。这两者都有可能陷入深度的思想封闭。
There is no proof that life started in Africa. It is only the place were the oldest fossils have been found and that is not conclusive proof. What it does prove is that these areas in Africa were the best environments to preserve fossils and evidence of human activity. Claiming that life started in Africa is as credible as the Bible claiming it all started in a garden called Eden.
Sometimes, Science is just as flawed as religion. Both can be very close minded.
没有任何证据能证明生命起源于非洲。只是在那里发现了最古老的化石而已，这并不是什么决定性的证据。它确实能证明：非洲的这些地区是保存化石和人类活动证据的最理想环境。声称生命起源于非洲，其可信度等同于《圣经》声称生命都起源于一个叫伊甸园的花园。
有时候，科学和宗教一样自带缺陷。这两者都有可能陷入深度的思想封闭。
Nobody claims that life started in Africa, however the genetic diversity of the African human population is greater than any other human population. This indicates that the African population is older than any other population. Life did not start in Africa, but Africa is the origin for the surviving descendants of the first modern humans.
（回）没有人声称生命始于非洲，不过非洲人类族群的遗传多样性，比其他任何人类族群都要丰富。这就表明非洲人类族群比其他任何族群都要古老。生命并非始于非洲，但非洲是第一批现代人幸存后裔的发祥地。
（回）没有人声称生命始于非洲，不过非洲人类族群的遗传多样性，比其他任何人类族群都要丰富。这就表明非洲人类族群比其他任何族群都要古老。生命并非始于非洲，但非洲是第一批现代人幸存后裔的发祥地。
Frank Tuijn
It seems that the initial invasion of people into the Americas cannot have been by walking over the Bering land bridge. There is an alternative. Some 65000 years ago sea faring people reached Australia. Even earlier sea faring Hobbit people reached Flores. You might think that the seas were too cold for people to travel south of the ice from Asia to America but then I refer to the naked fishermen seen during the circumnavigation of the world by admiral Anson in the middle of the eighteenth century for the coast of Chile in a climate comparable to Norway’s.
最初人们涌入美洲的方式似乎不太可能是行经白令陆桥。存在一种替代选择。大约65000年前，航海民族到达了澳大利亚。而航海民族“霍比特人”到达弗洛勒斯岛的时间甚至还更早。你可能会认为海水太冷了，冷到人们无法从亚洲的冰层以南到达美洲，但你们可以参考十八世纪中期时，海军上将安森在环游世界期间看到的赤身裸体的渔民，他们所在的智利海岸的气候和挪威差不多。
（译注：弗洛勒斯人是近年发现的一种史前人类，为人属的一种，主要特征是体型小，大脑小，因此也被称作“霍比特人”；弗洛勒斯岛是印尼小巽他群岛中的一个岛屿）
It seems that the initial invasion of people into the Americas cannot have been by walking over the Bering land bridge. There is an alternative. Some 65000 years ago sea faring people reached Australia. Even earlier sea faring Hobbit people reached Flores. You might think that the seas were too cold for people to travel south of the ice from Asia to America but then I refer to the naked fishermen seen during the circumnavigation of the world by admiral Anson in the middle of the eighteenth century for the coast of Chile in a climate comparable to Norway’s.
最初人们涌入美洲的方式似乎不太可能是行经白令陆桥。存在一种替代选择。大约65000年前，航海民族到达了澳大利亚。而航海民族“霍比特人”到达弗洛勒斯岛的时间甚至还更早。你可能会认为海水太冷了，冷到人们无法从亚洲的冰层以南到达美洲，但你们可以参考十八世纪中期时，海军上将安森在环游世界期间看到的赤身裸体的渔民，他们所在的智利海岸的气候和挪威差不多。
（译注：弗洛勒斯人是近年发现的一种史前人类，为人属的一种，主要特征是体型小，大脑小，因此也被称作“霍比特人”；弗洛勒斯岛是印尼小巽他群岛中的一个岛屿）
Lord Andrew Barham
There is something the author is not considering, but which was a conclusion I reached in early January, 1989, in Tofino while talking with someone from the local Reserve during an oil spill clean up of Long Beach. Namely, that the first humans to arrive in the Americas, didn’t walk across a land bridge, but followed sea mammals they were hunting along its edges in small boats. I reckon even the land bridge between the two continents would have been glaciated and thus presented some difficulty with using it as a means of access to North America from Asia. The idea of an ice free corridor that they then travelled down to get to warmer climes also doesn’t hold up to scrutiny: it either would have been too arid to support life, or it would have been glaciated, making travelling down it impossible for our ancestors. It is now known that Australian Aborigines must have travelled to Australia by boats 40,000 years ago, since there is no other possibility, suggesting humans were making boats long before we used to think.
（安德鲁·巴勒勋爵）有一点作者没有考虑到，不过这一点是我1989年1月初在托菲诺（加）和原住民居留地的人清理长滩石油泄漏时得出的结论。也即，最早到达美洲的人类并不是通过陆桥而来的，而是乘坐小船沿着陆桥边缘一路跟着他们要猎捕的海生哺乳动物而来的。根据我的估计，即便是两块大陆间的陆桥也会布满冰川，因此利用它从亚洲进入北美洲是存在一些困难的。而这种“他们沿着一条无冰走廊前往更温暖的地区”的想法同样经不起推敲：那里要么荒芜到无法维持生命，要么覆盖有冰川，这样我们的祖先就不可能沿着它行进了。现在已经知道，澳大利亚原住民肯定是在4万年前坐船来到澳大利亚的，因为不存在其他可能性，这就表明人类制造船只的时间，远比我们过去认为的早。
There is something the author is not considering, but which was a conclusion I reached in early January, 1989, in Tofino while talking with someone from the local Reserve during an oil spill clean up of Long Beach. Namely, that the first humans to arrive in the Americas, didn’t walk across a land bridge, but followed sea mammals they were hunting along its edges in small boats. I reckon even the land bridge between the two continents would have been glaciated and thus presented some difficulty with using it as a means of access to North America from Asia. The idea of an ice free corridor that they then travelled down to get to warmer climes also doesn’t hold up to scrutiny: it either would have been too arid to support life, or it would have been glaciated, making travelling down it impossible for our ancestors. It is now known that Australian Aborigines must have travelled to Australia by boats 40,000 years ago, since there is no other possibility, suggesting humans were making boats long before we used to think.
（安德鲁·巴勒勋爵）有一点作者没有考虑到，不过这一点是我1989年1月初在托菲诺（加）和原住民居留地的人清理长滩石油泄漏时得出的结论。也即，最早到达美洲的人类并不是通过陆桥而来的，而是乘坐小船沿着陆桥边缘一路跟着他们要猎捕的海生哺乳动物而来的。根据我的估计，即便是两块大陆间的陆桥也会布满冰川，因此利用它从亚洲进入北美洲是存在一些困难的。而这种“他们沿着一条无冰走廊前往更温暖的地区”的想法同样经不起推敲：那里要么荒芜到无法维持生命，要么覆盖有冰川，这样我们的祖先就不可能沿着它行进了。现在已经知道，澳大利亚原住民肯定是在4万年前坐船来到澳大利亚的，因为不存在其他可能性，这就表明人类制造船只的时间，远比我们过去认为的早。
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