An arctic ice bridge is one way ancient settlers may have visited America tens of thousands of years before modern voyages. Evidence suggests native migration patterns followed ancient routes through Alaska and as far south as Colorado following the mountain range. With that in mind, it wouldn't be too much further, all considering, to venture into Central and South America as well, let alone spread out toward the Eastern countryside. Further examination of those 40,000 year old migration routes will help us understand the paths our ancestors followed to eventually build the foundations of the western world. We know there was a thriving human population in North America long before it was claimed as a new world by European explorers.
Theories on Aztec origins for example, the mythical homeland of Aztlan, talk of a a great white land as the cultural point of origin. This pinpoints much further north than Mexica establishments in Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco after their arrival in Central America. Tracing through ancient maps, university professor Armando Sol-rzano believes the location could be in northern Utah. By the narrative, it's quite possible someone may interpret salt flats as a white land. Similar theories identify historic sites much further north, into Canada, to be part of the great land of white where the Aztecs originated. The naming of an Indian settlement in Wisconsin, Aztalan, is meant to represent the location we find in ancient lore, but artifacts found at the site later suggest a different tribe established the fort.
Further ideas bolster this concept by suggesting the critical similarities in creation myths between various ancient Indian tribes may have started from one source, only then to develop slight differences over time as tribes split off. Future archaeological evidence may confirm these theories by placing ancient cultures in the areas at the correct time. There is an interesting connection to the 40,000 year old Siberian-Arctic North American migration routes, and a sudden growth in human population, known as the second wave in expansion. The first wave dates to around 60,000 years ago as the time when modern humans began to migrate out of Africa to Asia, Europe and Australia. The second wave of population growth is thought to attributed to an adaptation for colder climate survival.
DNA migration mapping shows us macrohaplogroup M (ABCDX) followed an ancient route across the ice bridge between 10,000 to 30,000 years ago. On the same map, we see A concentrating in Central America, north United States, and northern Canada; with a smaller concentration residing in the Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico area. Given this evidence, it looks like Sol-rzano is on the right track by investigating Utah for the Aztec's place of origination. However, with the same DNA evident much further north, it remains to be determined if the great land of white refers to salt flats or snow.
