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I
would like to quote from Dr. H. M. Wormington's 5th Edition of ANCIENT MAN
IN NORTH AMERICA.
The term "Paleo-Indian" (Paleo = Old) is often used to refer to the
earliest inhabitants of North America in order to differentiate them from the
later peoples (Roberts, 1940). It is an undesirable term if we give it a racial
connotation. The later American Indians were Mongoloids, but this is not
necessarily the racial type of the first comers to the New World. Some physical
anthropologists think that the Mongoloid race represents a relatively recent
development in Asia. Since we do not know when men first reached this
Hemisphere, we are not in a position to say what their racial type may have
been. However, if we use the term Paleo-Indian simply in the sense of a
designation for the oldest inhabitants it seems acceptable. It will be used here
to refer to people who hunted animals which are now extinct, to the people who
occupied the western United States prior to about 6,000 years ago, and to the
makers of the fluted points found in the eastern United States.
(1964:3) Dr. Wormington's definition and comments still work for me.
I will add that in the central New Mexico there is a "bright line" separating
the Paleoindians from the Archaic. The Paleoindians used crytocrystalle rocks
and the Archaic used basalt. In other locations where basalt was not available
and of which I have knowledge, there still appears to be a difference based on
material selection. The Paleoindians imported material unless the local material
was extremely desirable and the Archaic were content to use the local stuff.
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