Understanding the Paleoamerican and its Probable Extinction, Through Comparative and Experimental Inferences

  • Héctor M. Pucciarelli División Antropología. Museo de La Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Keywords: Migration-Replacement, American Aboriginals, Population Theories, Experimentation

Abstract

On the basis of previous studies, we searched for samples comprising supposed Paleoamerican and amerindian skulls that, in variable proportions, were discovered in the functional cranial basis America 12.sys . We worked with 49 samples randomly selected and arranged in seven sub-samples through seven groups, ordered in a decreasingly Paleoamerican proportion. The aim was to build a model that simulates a migration-replacement effect, in which Paleoamericans would be gradually banished in function of an amerindian expansion. amerindian prevalence at the end of the test would suggest that the effect considered was present, i.e. the theoretical replacement of Paleoamericans by amerindians. Only the first two samples of group I contained 100% Paleoamericans (pericues and algonquinos), while the remaining five samples of the same group were Lagoa Santa, Lauricocha, Aguazuque, Checua and Tequendama-Mosquera; all of them with variable proportions of the amerindian component. It was found that: a) Paleoamericans represented 100% at the beginning of the trial, while at the end they were reduced to 2.4%; b) This process was progressively carried out through the seven steps in which the simulation lasted, to be ended at the slowest level. We were able to reach this objective completely because there were so many samples. The Gaia index reached 97.6% of amerindian saturation, being the remnant attributed to stochastic factors. This implied that, according to our model, migration-replacement could be the possible cause of the Paleoamerican extinction, resulting from a saturation process of the amerindian component.

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Author Biography

Héctor M. Pucciarelli, División Antropología. Museo de La Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Doctor en Ciencias Naturales. Profesor Titular-UNLP. Investigador Superior-CONICET
Published
2009-07-30
How to Cite
Pucciarelli, H. M. (2009). Understanding the Paleoamerican and its Probable Extinction, Through Comparative and Experimental Inferences. RUNA, Archivo Para Las Ciencias Del Hombre, 30(1), 9-27. https://doi.org/10.34096/runa.v30i1.847
Section
Open Space - Original Articles