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The Bering Land Bridge was more like a swamp

Why did some species, including ancient humans, cross the Bering Land Bridge between modern-day Siberia and Alaska during the last Ice Age? The picture has only gotten more complex.

While scientists have long assumed that the now-submerged topography resembled the Ice Age landscape of these two regions, recent research paints a more complex picture. The landscape was not a literal bridge that necessarily compelled ancient humans and animals to cross it—it was a sprawling region in its own right that allowed for species to spread between Siberia and North America when sea levels were about 400 feet (122 meters) lower than today. In 2023, Hill and her colleagues conducted sonar readings and extracted sediment cores from regions of the Bering Sea floor where previous research had indicated the likely presence of prehistoric lakes.

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