ABSTRACT
The controversies over the first Americans raged long before the Folsom excavations, and they are still among the most vigorous of all debates in archaeology (Barton et al., 2004). How long ago did humans set foot in the Americas? What manner of people were they? By what route did they reach the New World? These questions have preoccupied scientists since soon after Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492. This chapter discusses these controversies and describes the diverse later hunter-gatherer societies of the Americas.
