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ALTERNATE EXPLANATIONS.
The traditional theory answers a lot of questions but it also leaves many unanswered. One problem is with the migration from north to south. Most migration occurs laterally because weather variance is less dramatic and in the short time of 1,000 years (50 generations), cultures would not have been able to adapt from the cold climate to the temperate regions so quickly. This type of problem with the old model along with the emergence of new evidence has opened the door to new and exciting theories.
One theory that explains the rapid expansion and contests the original model is the coastal-entry theory. First proposed by Dr. Knut Fladmark of Simon Fraser University over 30 years ago, it has been tested by Ruth Gruhn and Alan Bryan of the University of Alberta and has accumulated many supporters in recent years. The coastal-entry theory .
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asks the question if boats have been around for 50,000 years, why couldn't the first Asian settlers have made the southbound voyage by watercraft earlier than 12,000 years ago? .
Another theory that has embroiled scientists in a bitter conflict and has revolutionized paleo-anthropology, is that the first Americans were not only from Mongoloid descent, but crowded the new world from different places like East Asia, South Asia, and even Ice Age Europe. The discovery of the Spirit Caveman and the Kennewick Man has provided evidence of peoples who did not look anything like typical Native Americans (Beagley: 1991). These Skulls appear to be of South Pacific origin, which adds more problems to the traditional theory. The most conclusive evidence that the first Americans were not only of mongoloid stock was the discovery of "Lucia" in Brazil. She is dated to have arrived about 12,000 years ago and is an Australian aborigine (Wilford: 1999). This theory suggests that Mongoloid and Negroid races both inhabited the Americas, and perhaps lived side by side in some regions.