First settlement of the Americas
by ~23,000 years ago · Event
People reach the Americas from Siberia by at least about 23,000 years ago, as footprints at White Sands, New Mexico, suggest; routes and timing remain debated, and Clovis and pre-Clovis sites attest the later spread.
On these timelines: Master, Human Origins & the Ice Age
Around 21000 BCE
- Last Glacial Maximum (22000 BCE)