Analysis of genetic material from the remains of two ice age infants discovered in Alaska has revealed connections to two ancient lineages of Native Americans, according to a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers in Alaska and Utah have documented that the infants had different mothers and were descended from two distinct lineages not previously identified in the Arctic.
“These infants are the earliest human remains in northern North America and they carry distinctly Native American lineages,” said O’Rourke, a senior author on the paper. “These genetic variations had not previously been known to have existed this far north and speak to the early genetic diversity of the time.”
The research supports the theory that this community descended from an earlier Beringian population, O’Rourke said.
“You don’t see any of these lineages that are distinctly Native American in Asia or even Siberia, so there had to be a period of isolation for these distinctive Native American lineages to have evolved away from their Asian ancestors. We believe that was in Beringia,” O’Rourke said.
The Upward Sun River infants are among human remains at only eight sites in North America older than 8,000 years from which researchers have obtained mitochondrial DNA, genetic information inherited only from mothers. Tackney, the paper’s lead author, said all five major Native American lineages have been found in these eight sites.
“The children also appear to have died during summer months when food should be the most plentiful,” Potter said. “This may indicate more resource stress than we have previously thought.”
Excavations of the site revealed human dwellings as well as animal remains, indicating a broad diet that included large and small mammals and, interestingly, fish. Potter and others identified these as chum salmon in a paper published by the same journal last month. The fish remains confirmed the earliest human use of salmon in North America. Researchers continue to explore the ancient lifeways reflected at this and other nearby sites.
Potter said these findings also lead to a better understanding of how ancient Native Americans adapted to dynamic climate conditions in the Arctic, the stressors they faced and how they engaged with their environment.
“Understanding human relationships to their environment in the ice age allows us to more accurately explore modern effects of climate change on human systems,” Potter said. “This new genetic analysis allows us to further understand the human capacity to deal with changing landscapes and natural resources as they and related populations expanded into the New World.”
For more, see University of Alaska Fairbanks
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