DNA clue to early human migrations in America
 In the 14 July issue of Nature there is an intriguing account of an investigation into the early migrations of humans from southern Alaska into new territories in Illinois, California, Mexico, Ecuador and Chile.
Human remains, including a mandible and some teeth, were discovered in 1996 in
a cave on Prince of Wales Island off the coast of Alaska. They yielded a radiocarbon
date of 10,300 years before present.
Attempts to extract telltale DNA samples from the mandible bone failed but teeth
yielded mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down the maternal line, and Y-chromosome
DNA, which is inherited by the male route.
When the mitochondrial DNA was compared with some 3,500 specimens derived from
native American sources there were 47 matches achieved. Most of them used material
from modern individuals but some used older material up to 1,500 years old. More
than half the matches related to members of the coastal tribes of the Cayapa
in Ecuador. Others related to individuals of the Chumash tribe of California,
the Klunk Mound tribe of Illinois, the Tarahumara of Mexico, and the Mapuche
and Yaghan of Chile.
The original DNA carriers are believed to have originated in Asia, showing a
close match with members of the Han ethnic group from Qindao in eastern China.
These findings demonstrate that in the early world of human culture there must
have been an almost incredible number of tribal movements, many of them remaining
to be detected as the fine art of DNA testing gathers momentum.
Back to Top
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal