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dc.contributor.authorRaghavan, Maanasa
dc.contributor.authorDeGiorgio, Michael
dc.contributor.authorAlbrechtsen, Anders
dc.contributor.authorMoltke, Ida
dc.contributor.authorSkoglund, Pontus
dc.contributor.authorKorneliussen, Thorfinn S.
dc.contributor.authorGronnow, Bjarne
dc.contributor.authorAppelt, Martin
dc.contributor.authorGullov, Hans Christian
dc.contributor.authorFriesen, T. Max
dc.contributor.authorFitzhugh, William
dc.contributor.authorMalmstrom, Helena
dc.contributor.authorRasmussen, Simon
dc.contributor.authorOlsen, Jesper
dc.contributor.authorMelchior, Linea
dc.contributor.authorFuller, Benjamin T.
dc.contributor.authorFahrni, Simon N.
dc.contributor.authorStafford Jr, Thomas W.
dc.contributor.authorGrimes, Vaughan
dc.contributor.authorRenouf, M. A. Priscilla
dc.contributor.authorCybulski, Jerome S.
dc.contributor.authorLynnerup, Niels
dc.contributor.authorLahr, Marta Mirazon
dc.contributor.authorBritton, Kate
dc.contributor.authorKnecht, Rick
dc.contributor.authorArneborg, Jette
dc.contributor.authorMetspalu, Mait
dc.contributor.authorCornejo, Omar E.
dc.contributor.authorWillerslev, Eske
dc.contributor.authoret al.
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-08T06:01:14Z
dc.date.available2017-12-08T06:01:14Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.identifier.issn1095-9203
dc.identifier.doi10.1126/science.1255832
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/172195
dc.description.abstractIntroduction: Humans first peopled the North American Arctic (northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland) around 6000 years ago, leaving behind a complex archaeological record that consisted of different cultural units and distinct ways of life, including the Early Paleo-Eskimos (Pre-Dorset/Saqqaq), the Late Paleo-Eskimos (Early Dorset, Middle Dorset, and Late Dorset), and the Thule cultures. Rationale: We addressed the genetic origins and relationships of the various New World Arctic cultures to each other and to modern-day populations in the region. We obtained 26 genome-wide sequences and 169 mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient human bone, teeth, and hair samples from Arctic Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and high-coverage genomes of two present-day Greenlandic Inuit, two Siberian Nivkhs, one Aleutian Islander, and two Athabascan Native Americans. Twenty-seven ancient samples were radiocarbon dated for accurate cultural assignment, of which 25 were corrected for marine reservoir effect to account for the dominant marine component in these individuals’ diets. Results: Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA data unequivocally show that the Paleo-Eskimos are closer to each other than to any other present-day population. The Thule culture represents a distinct people that are genetic and cultural ancestors of modern-day Inuit. We additionally find the Siberian Birnirk culture (6th to 7th century CE) as likely cultural and genetic ancestors of the Thule. The extinct Sadlermiut people from the Hudson Bay region (15th to 19th century CE), considered to be Dorset remnants, are genetically closely related to Thule/Inuit, rather than the Paleo-Eskimos. Moreover, there is no evidence of matrilineal gene flow between Dorset or Thule groups with neighboring Norse (Vikings) populations settling in the Arctic around 1000 years ago. However, we do detect gene flow between the Paleo-Eskimo and Neo-Eskimo lineages, dating back to at least 4000 years. Conclusion: Our study has a number of important implications: Paleo-Eskimos likely represent a single migration pulse into the Americas from Siberia, separate from the ones giving rise to the Inuit and other Native Americans, including Athabascan speakers. Paleo-Eskimos, despite showing cultural differences across time and space, constituted a single population displaying genetic continuity for more than 4000 years. On the contrary, the Thule people, ancestors of contemporary Inuit, represent a population replacement of the Paleo-Eskimos that occurred less than 700 years ago. The long-term genetic continuity of the Paleo-Eskimo gene pool and lack of evidence of Native American admixture suggest that the Saqqaq and Dorset people were largely living in genetic isolation after entering the New World. Thus, the Paleo-Eskimo technological innovations and changes through time, as evident from the archaeological record, seem to have occurred solely by movement of ideas within a single resident population. This suggests that cultural similarities and differences are not solid proxies for population movements and migrations into new and dramatically different environments, as is often assumed.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom1255832-1
dc.relation.ispartofpageto1255832-9
dc.relation.ispartofissue6200
dc.relation.ispartofjournalScience
dc.relation.ispartofvolume345
dc.subject.fieldofresearchPopulation, Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode060411
dc.titleThe genetic prehistory of the New World Arctic
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorWillerslev, Eske


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