A new autosomal study has concluded that Native Americans arrived in 3 waves

The New York Times has published this article about an study of Native American autosomal DNA.

"North and South America were first populated by three waves of migrants from Siberia rather than just a single migration, say researchers who have studied the whole genomes of Native Americans in South America and Canada.

Some scientists assert that the Americas were peopled in one large migration from Siberia that happened about 15,000 years ago, but the new genetic research shows that this central episode was followed by at least two smaller migrations from Siberia, one by people who became the ancestors of today’s Eskimos and Aleutians and another by people speaking Na-Dene, whose descendants are confined to North America. The research was published online on Wednesday in the journal Nature."

Wasn't there evidence of European migration to America in ancient times recently uncovered as well? There are a lot of archaeological similarities and some bones, if I recall.

Very interesting article, by the way.

JFWR said:

Wasn't there evidence of European migration to America in ancient times recently uncovered as well? There are a lot of archaeological similarities and some bones, if I recall.

Very interesting article, by the way.

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I remembered reading articles about 16k year old bones found in America few years ago, looking caucasian, at least. I don't see any follow ups on this subject in recent anthropological articles though.
Other than that it makes sense that it it possible for more than one wave of Siberians coming to America through Beaufort. I believe there was also a wave of of boat people coming through Pacific Ocean related more to Peloponnese people.

LeBrok said:

I remembered reading articles about 16k year old bones found in America few years ago, looking caucasian, at least. I don't see any follow ups on this subject in recent anthropological articles though.
Other than that it makes sense that it it possible for more than one wave of Siberians coming to America through Beaufort. I believe there was also a wave of of boat people coming through Pacific Ocean related more to Peloponnese people.

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Joseph Campbell pointed to mythological and archaeological similarities between Polynesians and South Americans, with South Americans being dated later by anthropological research.

As for the caucasoids: It may be politics that has hidden some of it. The archaeological evidence is enough to raise some eyebrows, but Caucasoid skeletons should work to significantly challenge current orthodoxy on this. It isn't like primitive peoplel can't do amazing sea voyages: See the Madagassy and the Polynesians.

It is an interesting conclusion, although nothing particularly new. The Eskimo-Aleut have long been confirmed as separate from the rest of Native America, and the Na Dene have generally been assumed to be, as well. Y-DNA studies support the mtDNA finds, as the frequencies of haplogroups Q vs. C vary significantly between the Eskimo-Aleut, Na Dene, and the rest.

It's interesting that the Eskimo-Aleut and Na Dene are distributed in the least hospitable areas of the Americas, from the far North to the desert areas of the modern USA (did you know?: the Navajo are among the Na Dene). That indicates a "passive" migration, where these two groups filled in the areas that were not yet populated in order to avoid conflict. Compare that to the later European migrations to the Americas, "aggressive" migrations, which quickly took the best land. An interesting consequence is that the tribes that were most affected by the European migrations were non-Eskimo-Aleut non-Na Dene groups, and so the tribes that have the highest continued use of their languages today tend to be Eskimo-Aleut and Na Dene, at least in North America where all three groups can be found.

LeBrok said:

Other than that it makes sense that it it possible for more than one wave of Siberians coming to America through Beaufort. I believe there was also a wave of of boat people coming through Pacific Ocean related more to Peloponnese people.

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The Peloponnese coming to America through the Pacific? I don't get it. Do you mean Polynesians?

I've read that the Fuegians may have had a an additional component to their population that came via the ocean.

sparkey said:

The Peloponnese coming to America through the Pacific? I don't get it. Do you mean Polynesians?

I've read that the Fuegians may have had a an additional component to their population that came via the ocean.

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Yes, sorry, I meant Polynesians.