Ancient DNA Links Native Americans to Europe

Science Magazine ^ | 11/5/13 | Michael Balter

[ek_hornbeck]

SANTA FE—Where did the first Americans come from? Most researchers agree that Paleoamericans moved across the Bering Land Bridge from Asia sometime before 15,000 years ago, suggesting roots in East Asia. But just where the source populations arose has long been a mystery.

Now comes a surprising twist, from the complete nuclear genome of a Siberian boy who died 24,000 years ago—the oldest complete genome of a modern human sequenced to date. His DNA shows close ties to those of today's Native Americans. Yet he apparently descended not from East Asians, but from people who had lived in Europe or western Asia. The finding suggests that about a third of the ancestry of today's Native Americans can be traced to "western Eurasia," with the other two-thirds coming from eastern Asia, according to a talk at a meeting* here by ancient DNA expert Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen. It also implies that traces of European ancestry previously detected in modern Native Americans do not come solely from mixing with European colonists, as most scientists had assumed, but have much deeper roots.

[DManA]

As opposed to coming through Alaska and Canada through a gap in the continental glaciers, as we were all taught.

[Wallace T.]

There were Caucasian populations in eastern Asia into historical times, e.g., the Tarim Basin mummies, who had European features and wore clothing similar to what was worn in neolithic Europe. The Tocharian languages, of the same Indo-European language family as English and Latin, were spoken in parts of western China until around 900 AD. There are still some instances of light eyed and brown or blond haired people, not of Russian origin, in western China, Mongolia, and the Central Asian republics formerly parts of the Soviet Union.

If there were European-like people in eastern Asia in prehistoric times and a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, as many suppose, they could have used this land bridge to migrate into the Americas as did those of Mongolian background. This may be more plausible than the suggestion that western Europeans, possibly like the Basques, migrated across the Atlantic via small boats.

[alphadog]

Google “Solutrean”

[warchild9]

While there is little doubt neat things are concealed near—or beneath—the Bering Strait, they’re pretty much inaccessible.

I’ve been there, and can assure you nobody’s going to find much evidence of anything other than fog and ice for quite a long time.

[ek_hornbeck]

I’m sure that a lot of Mormons were disappointed to find out that this study didn’t find any Middle Eastern ancestry among American Indians (since they make the ridiculous claim that American Indians are actually one of the “Lost Tribes” or somesuch)!

[driftless2]

According to a book I’m currently reading (Invented Knowledge by Ronald Fritze), the Clovis culture idea that most paleontologists and those sorts of people believe (the first Americans came over about 12000-14000 years ago) is false. Bone fragments indicate earlier people by thousands of years.

[ek_hornbeck]

Anyone ever consider that DNA links Europe to Native Americans and they have it backwards? Native Americans didn’t come from Europe. Europeans came from Native Americans.

Since the oldest human skeletons from Europe predate the oldest from the Americas by tens of thousands of years, this doesn't sound very plausible.

[11th Commandment]

So are Indians that have blond hair and blue eyes offended by the team name Redskins?

[ek_hornbeck]

You’re right, politically this is irrelevant. I posted it because it was interesting, not because I thought that this information would help eliminate all of the Federal perks that Indians get.

[Cacique]

You are speaking of the Ainu who were the original inhabitants of Japan before the invasions from China over two milenia ago. Yes they were/are caucasians..

[Psalm 73]

"As opposed to...."

I know - I was just being a smart-ass.......

[Wuli]

when my siblings and I used to ask our parents “where were we from” my dad would say “we are all mongrels”

[windcliff]

ping

[MestaMachine]

It’s more plausible than we all showed up from Africa one day when Africa hasn’t yet fully evolved as of one second ago.
Has there ever been a theory accepted as fact for years that has not had to be ‘rethought’?

[trisham]

There is no such thing as a “native American”.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ek_hornbeck.

• First Americans came from Europe NOT Asia?
• European Roots for Native Americans?

[null and void]

Why did Constantinople get the works?

[ForGod'sSake]

Ainu? You might consider THEIR likely ancestors, the JOMON ...

[ApplegateRanch]

The smart ones left millennia ago; only the morons and Democrat-equivs stayed in Africa.

[Gene Eric]

Yeah, they were Vikings.