Tango01 | 09 Dec 2014 12:26 p.m. PST |
… the way the Americas were peopled? "How has Kennewick Man changed our understanding of the way the Americas were peopled? I think we're coming to realize that people got into the New World thousands of years earlier than what we'd anticipated and by different means of locomotion than we'd expected. I don't doubt people were going back and forth across the Bering land bridge. But people of this time period also knew about boats, probably made of skin. If you were following the coastline in this time period, there would have been places where glaciers would have projected out into the ocean. So you'd have to either walk over them, which would've been difficult, or skirt around them using boats. I think there were no boundaries. You have people following along the coastline. There is also good evidence there are not just people coming in at this time period from the Pacific side, of which Kennewick Man is a representative. My colleague Dennis Stanford has been finding more and more evidence that indicates that people got into the New World on the Atlantic side across the pack ice from Spain and France 17,000 to 20,000 years ago…" See here link Amicalement Armand |
ochoin | 09 Dec 2014 1:09 p.m. PST |
Very interesting article. I *think* the DNA evidence shows no links with modern Native Americans? |
goragrad | 09 Dec 2014 1:41 p.m. PST |
There is a find in Central America that has DNA of a mixed AmerInd and Asian heritage dating back 10,000 years or so as I recall. As opposed to the Kennewick man whose closest relatives are the Ainu. Interesting bit about the possible cross Atlantic connection. I have seen reconstructions that show the British Isles connected to the European continent at about that time. As the sea level rose they became islands. Haven't checked to see how that would have impacted the North American, Greenland, or Iceland coasts as to shortening the distance between, but as noted the sea level rise was the result of ice melt and there could have been sufficient ice to form a decent 'bridge.' |
Zephyr1 | 09 Dec 2014 3:23 p.m. PST |
I think they've underestimated the ability of prehistoric man to travel. Young'uns are always itching to get out there and explore, and once word got back that there were some decent places found to live in, people would pack up and head for them (if for no other reason than to get away from annoying neighbors…. ;-) |
rvandusen | 10 Dec 2014 4:32 a.m. PST |
There is growing evidence that early man could make some sea voyages. Have you heard of the 130,000 year-old stone tools on Crete? link These hominids somehow managed a 40 mile water crossing and were not even modern people yet. The 130,000 year date is the youngest, and the tools may be up to 700,000 years old! |
zippyfusenet | 10 Dec 2014 5:47 a.m. PST |
Was the water crossing 40 miles 130,000 years ago? Or were sea levels much lower during an ice age? |
latto6plus2 | 10 Dec 2014 10:04 a.m. PST |
Look at modern inuit as an example for an atlantic crossing. If early people skirt the edge of the european ice shelf, fishing, sealing etc then eventually theyll likely get to america albeit in pretty tiny numbers |
Tango01 | 10 Dec 2014 10:19 a.m. PST |
Glad you enjoyed the article my friend. Amicalement Armand |
mandt2 | 10 Dec 2014 11:03 a.m. PST |
He looks like Captain Picard to me. |
Steve Wilcox | 10 Dec 2014 6:54 p.m. PST |
I *think* the DNA evidence shows no links with modern Native Americans? I don't think they've been able to get any useable DNA from Kennewick Man yet. If they do, I think it is most likely he will be shown to be related to modern Native Indians, seeing as the DNA evidence from a 12,000-13,000 year-old find in Mexico shows both the link to modern Native Indians and that skull morphology appears to not be an indicator of race in these ancient remains. Abstract of the Late Pleistocene Human Skeleton and mtDNA Link Paleoamericans and Modern Native Americans paper: "Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry." link Human Skeleton is One of Oldest Found in North America: link Oldest most complete, genetically intact human skeleton in New World: link Ancient girl's skeleton changes scientist's mind on human migration: "The young woman's skeleton shares many of the physical traits that led Chatters to question Kennewick Man's relationship to modern Native Americans. "Even though she is extremely feminine looking and he is very masculine, they look a lot alike," he said. Both skeletons have narrow brain cases, short faces and prominent foreheads typical of people from the Pacific Rim, Australia and Africa. Native Americans more closely resemble people from northeast Asia. That jibes with genetic studies documenting their descent from Siberians believed to have migrated east into the land mass that once linked Asia and Alaska, and thence into the Americas beginning about 17,000 years ago. To explain why the bones of the Western Hemisphere's oldest inhabitants — called paleoamericans — have such an unexpected appearance, Chatters and other scientists hypothesized that the Americas were colonized twice in prehistoric times: first by people from Southeast Asia or even Europe, then by migrants from Siberia. But DNA extracted from Naia's teeth changed his mind. Genetic analyses conducted at Washington State University and other labs show a clear link between the girl in the cave and modern Native Americans. The study is the first to show that despite having unusual features, at least one paleoamerican — Naia — is descended from the same ancestors as modern Native Americans, said WSU anthropologist Brian Kemp." link |
ochoin | 11 Dec 2014 5:08 a.m. PST |
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Tango01 | 11 Dec 2014 3:43 p.m. PST |
Yes, many thanks for share! Amicalement Armand |
Steve Wilcox | 11 Dec 2014 4:53 p.m. PST |
You're very welcome, guys! :) |
goragrad | 12 Dec 2014 8:02 p.m. PST |
Well, it would be nice if they would let the researchers get a better sample from Kennewick man. From the NPS report they got some replication, but it came back European so they decided it was contaminated… A tooth would be really nice. Good thing Naia wasn't found in the US. |
Steve Wilcox | 13 Dec 2014 4:05 p.m. PST |
From the NPS report they got some replication, but it came back European so they decided it was contaminated… It appeared to be contaminated by DNA from the researcher identified as FAK in the report: "In conclusion, the inability to amplify DNA except at extremely high extract concentrations (and then with corresponding sporadic amplification of negative controls), the lack of evidence for PCR inhibition, the inconsistencies in which extracts amplified at high concentration, the identical restriction digest results for Kennewick samples and negative extract controls to those of FAK, and the lack of correlation between amplification success and fragment length are most consistent with the absence or very low concentration of ancient DNA in the two bone fragments under analysis and the presence of very low levels of modern contamination in these extracts. Thus available technology and protocols do not allow the analysis of ancient DNA from these remains." link I wouldn't call that a decision as such, more of a case of that being where the evidence pointed. As you say, though, a better source for potential preserved DNA would be nice. :) |
Steve Wilcox | 19 Jun 2015 9:42 a.m. PST |
"The ancestry and affiliations of Kennewick Man" link "Genome Analysis Links Kennewick Man to Native Americans" link "Mystery solved: 8500-year-old Kennewick Man is a Native American after all" link :) |
ochoin | 23 Jun 2015 12:01 a.m. PST |
Hey, Steve, you've been working on this tirelessly for the past 6 months? 87)) Thanks for the links: now I know!
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Steve Wilcox | 23 Jun 2015 10:41 a.m. PST |
LOL! You're very welcome! :) |