ABSTRACT
Understanding the nature of the first Northwest Coast cultures requires knowledge of their antecedents, the first human inhabitants of the Western hemisphere. In this chapter we first describe the peopling of the New World and then Clovis, the earliest definite New World culture. Clovis has long been known south of Canada, but a related, and probable antecedent culture in Alaska, the Nenana Complex, has recently been discovered, and we review this new material, as well as new evidence on the possible routes between interior Alaska and the Northwest Coast. Later in this chapter we describe the probable relationship between Clovis and the first archaeological cultures on the south and central coasts.
