RECENT ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING THE GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF THE PEOPLING OF THE ICE FREE CORRIDOR

The early Paleoindian occupation of western Canada has long been poorly documented and even more poorly understood. The primary causes of this lack of understanding are the sparse and highly localized distribution of modern populations in western Canada and the lack of highly detailed information on the dating of ice sheet retreat and subsequent landscape and vegetation changes. More recent data has elucidated both of these issues. This paper reviews the history of the problematic understanding of the early Paleoindian occupation of the ice-free corridor and suggests multiple hypotheses for explaining the current understanding of their distribution and timing. Both early and late arrival hypotheses are discussed in with reference to both the distribution of archaeological materials and the geologic context of their discovery.