I have taken courses in anthropology/archaeology at university and was always annoyed by the prevailing attitudes of academics. Our professor who taught field work would only allow excavation down to the level of glacial till (a layer of gravel deposited at the end of the last ice age). I asked why don't we excavate below that level and was told that their was no human occupation in N.A. prior to that period, which made little sense to me. How do we know if humans were here or not if we don't look, isn't exploration part of the scientific process. Throughout my studies in this field I was amazed at the complexity exhibited by supposed early and primitive N.A. civilizations. There were large urban complexes (cities up to 100,000 people or more), extensive trade networks, and complex communication strategies for communication over long distances. Large west coast indian canoes lost in storms were often washed up on the shores of Hawaii and were then used by the local natives. By 1000 a.d. China had sailing ships of five stories and hundreds of feet long plying the oceans to the Horn of Africa, and beyond, and were trading extensively. Prior to this period, before the last ice age, people lived along the coast of asia and expanded along the coast lines and island hopped using ocean going canoes and boats. Would a mere 40-60 miles of ocean between asia and north america of the bering sea have stopped the settlement of america prior to the last ice age, I doubt it. Thanks to a few "radical" archaeologists some N.A. sites have been discovered that date ten of thousands years before present. Though still not fully accepted by the acedemics I believe over time additional sites will be discovered that will prove that man has inhabited america longer than currently accepted and that these people traded extensively with large portions of the world prior to "the re-discovery of america" in 1492. It is too bad that the "saving" of the savages of america by the "advanced" european cultures resulted in such a mindless loss of knowledge of our past to the world. It is to bad that the victors get to (re) write history.