Photo: New World Settlers Took 20,000-Year Pit Stop

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The first peopling of the Americas may have occurred in a three-step process, as seen in these chronological maps.

That's because Asian migrants, thwarted by impassable glaciers, endured a 20,000-year layover on the land bridge that connected Asia to the Americas, scientists say.

Maps courtesy Kitchen A. et al., PLoS ONE

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