The Solutrean Hypothesis

Proposes that the earliest human migrants to the Americas originated in Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum, around 21,000–17,000 years ago, rather than solely from Asia via the Bering land bridge or coastal routes. (Which were themselves a mix of Ancient North Eurasians, East Eurasian Siberians, and Basal Asians) Archaeologists Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley argue that Solutrean people from southwestern Europe, notably the Solutré region in France, traveled by boat or along the edge of the North Atlantic pack ice, following marine mammals and resources in a maritime adaptation, eventually reaching eastern North America and influencing or giving rise to the Clovis culture around 13,000 years ago.

Similarities in lithic (stone tool) production between Solutrean and Clovis artifacts, including bifacial points made with overshot flaking techniques, as well as other shared traits, such as caching behaviors and tool forms, are cited as evidence for this theory. We can also point to certain genetic markers, notably mtDNA haplogroup X2a, found in some Native American populations, common in eastern North America, which they suggest could indicate a pre-Columbian western Eurasian contribution, potentially filling chronological gaps left by pre-Clovis sites like Meadowcroft Rockshelter or Cactus Hill. While some see this theory as “fringe”, it's only thought of as such because it would undermine the narrative that White Europeans don’t belong on the North American continent and “stole” the land from the Amerindian “Natives”.