It had long been believed that the first humans to come to the Americas got here via the land bridge over the Bering Strait. During the last ice age, this was not covered by water, so it made sense that people could have walked here while migrating across what is now Russia.

While it is indeed likely that groups of people migrated in this way, a new study published in the journal Science Advances gives weight to the idea that these people were not the first. Not by thousands of years.

The evidence that they complied suggests that instead, the first humans arrived as far back as 20,000 years ago and they came here by boat from Japan.

They looked at prehistoric stone tools that were found spread out across 10 different sites in the United States. These artifacts indicate that there were people here far earlier than the 13,000 years ago that it is believed those coming over the land bridge would have arrived.

The stone tools and other artifacts were found across multiple different states, spread out in what is now the continental United States. Since they were not found in Alaska or Canada, the researchers conclude that this land bridge is not how they arrived.

Loren Davis is the author of the study, and in a statement she explains:

“The discovery of this archaeological connection rewrites the opening chapter of human history in the Americas. It shows that the First Americans were not cultural isolates, but participants in the same Paleolithic traditions that connected people across Eurasia and Asia.”

While they cannot confidently say exactly what route was taken, it is likely that they followed the southern coastline of Beringia. The study authors explain:

” We suggest that early seafarers, well adapted to the use of boats on the open ocean, probably followed a circum-Pacific coastal route into the Americas.

It’s a powerful reminder that migration, innovation, and cultural sharing have always been part of what it means to be human.”

This massive journey likely included stops in many locations along the way, and shows that the humans living in that region at that time already likely had some very effective seafaring boats that could take them across large bodies of water.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?