Was the New World Settled Twice?

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Was the New World Settled Twice?

by Andrew Lawler on June 14, 2010 4:02 PM | Permanent Link | 5 Comments

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Were the primary ancestors of today's Native Americans really the first ADVERTISEMENT
ENL AR GE IM AGE
people to set foot in the New World? Genetic evidence suggests so, but
ancient skeletons tell a different story. Now, the most detailed analysis
yet of ancient American skulls concludes that there were two distinct
waves of colonizers from Asia, suggesting that another group got here
first.

A team of paloeanthropologists compared the skulls of several dozen

Paleoamericans, which date back to the early days of migration 11,000
years ago, with those of more than 300 Amerindians, which date to 1000
years ago. The Paleoamerican remains came from four sites in South
and Central America, and the researchers also compared them with
more than 500 skulls from East Asia. In all, the team found clear
differences in the shapes and sizes of the Paleoamerican and
Amerindian samples. That suggests that more than one group of
individuals migrated to the Americas from Asia, the team reports online
today in PLoS ONE. And due to the age of the skeletons, the
researchers say, this other group of individuals arrived before the primary
ancestors of today's Native Americans.
Facing the past. This 11,000-year-old
Paleoamerican skull from Lagoa Santa,
Team member Katerina Harvati of Germany's Tübingen University says Brazil, may provide clues to separate
that although the study does not rule out a single migration, it migrations from Asia to the Americas.

demonstrates "that the story of the peopling of the New World was most Credit: LEEH-IB-USP

likely more complex than is commonly thought."

The work is "solid" and "perhaps the most sophisticated analysis of craniofacial traits undertaken to date," says
Theodore Schurr, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Schurr's own recent work on DNA
in living people has led him to favor a single migration, but he says he is "willing to accept that there were pulses
of migration into the Americas from Northeast Asia at different times."

Nevertheless, Schurr warns that the lack of large numbers of Paleoamerican skulls makes progress difficult and
that the small sample sizes may not show the true morphological and genetic diversity of early American
populations. The field, he notes, continues to be hampered by the lack of ancient DNA data because of poor
bone preservation. Genetic studies of modern populations, by contrast, can draw on large numbers of samples.
Dennis Stanford, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., adds that the authors could
have benefited from additional samples from North America as well as more Asian skulls. He believes that there
likely were three or four major migrations.

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Was the New World Settled Twice? - ScienceNOW 10-08-03 7:47 PM

Harvati hopes that further studies will include more samples and agrees that "ancient DNA would be extremely
helpful." But so far, she notes, such studies have not had much success.

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Posted in Anatomy, Morphology, Biomechanics | Anthropology | Asia/Pacific | Genetics | Latin America | Paleontology

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joy.breeze
As just an interested person with no knowledge of the subject, i am nevertheless intrigued by the size of the
scull. It looks a lot higher than normal to me. Is it? or is the photo or my imagination?
July 21, 2010, 8:37:18 AM CDT – Flag – Like – Reply

warren webb
The Olmecs were exiled Brahmins from India.
June 26, 2010, 6:38:12 PM CDT – Flag – Like – Reply

Edward Kaahui jr
Very interesting in the finds I always knew there was different migration patterns of different groups that
came to the american continents I beleive there were also polynesian contacts way before the time previously
thought the DNA studys should be able to trace the groups of there ethnic background
June 18, 2010, 7:15:41 PM CDT – Flag – Like – Reply

olive oil
Very interesting--don't tell some of the tribes in california--they won't be able to handle real information like
this.
June 14, 2010, 9:59:08 PM CDT – Flag – Like – Reply

r0n77
Exactly. It sounds like the Amerindians stole the land from the Paleoindians? I guess they should pay
restitution, right?
June 15, 2010, 2:34:37 PM CDT – Flag – Like – Reply
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