Solutrean Hypothesis for the Peopling of the Americas

Record summary

The Solutrean hypothesis proposes that people associated with Upper Paleolithic Solutrean culture crossed the North Atlantic and contributed to the earliest population of North America, sometimes linking Solutrean bifacial technology to Clovis points. It gained visibility through Stanford and Smithsonian-associated debates but has generally been rejected by most archaeologists and geneticists because of chronological gaps, technological differences, lack of secure intermediary sites and ancient DNA evidence. It remains useful for comparing diffusion arguments, fringe migration models and multidisciplinary testing.