Genetic Research Could Rewrite the History of the First Americans

The following excerpt is from an article by Mark Strauss, posted July 22, 2015 at the National Geographic website:

The Surui people of Brazil are related to indigenous Australians, a new genetic study shows. The research suggests that the prehistoric settlers of the New World could have arrived in two separate waves.  PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL NICHOLS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE.
The Surui people of Brazil are related to indigenous Australians, a new genetic study shows. The research suggests that the prehistoric settlers of the New World could have arrived in two separate waves. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL NICHOLS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE.

Since the 1930s, it’s been a generally accepted theory that indigenous Americans are descendants of Siberians who came to the New World by crossing a land bridge into Alaska around 15,000 years ago.

But, the details of that migration remain a source of contention. Did the Asians who trekked across the Bering Strait arrive in one or several waves? Were some of them isolated from the rest, settling on the land bridge until it submerged beneath the water of melting glaciers?

Two new studies—relying on genetic data from living individuals and ancient skeletons—offer possible answers, albeit with different interpretations.

Read the full article.

About Leland Meitzler

Leland K. Meitzler founded Heritage Quest in 1985, and has worked as Managing Editor of both Heritage Quest Magazine and The Genealogical Helper. He currently operates Family Roots Publishing Company (www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com), writes daily at GenealogyBlog.com, writes the weekly Genealogy Newsline, conducts the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour to the Family History Library, and speaks nationally, having given over 2000 lectures since 1983.

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