DNA reveals history of vanished 'Paleo-Eskimos'
28 August 2014
DNA reveals history of vanished 'Paleo-Eskimos'
By Jonathan Webb
Science reporter, BBC News
A new "genetic prehistory" provides the best picture ever assembled of how the North American Arctic was populated, from 6,000 years ago to the present.
DNA sequences from living and ancient inhabitants show a single influx from Siberia produced all the "Paleo-Eskimo" cultures, which died out 700 years ago...
...Using DNA from more than 150 ancient human remains, the researchers showed that all the Saqqaq and Dorset peoples, further bundled together as Paleo-Eskimos, represent a single genetic lineage. They all stem from a migration across the Bering Strait from Siberia that began some 6,000 years ago.
"A single founding population settled, and endured the harsh environmental conditions of the Arctic, for almost 5,000 years - during which time the culture and lifestyle changed enough to be represented as distinct cultural units," explained Dr Maanasa Raghavan, first author of the new paper...
...The findings also confirm that before the Paleo-Eskimo culture suddenly disappeared around 700 years ago, there was no mixing between those communities and the Inuit ancestors, who arose from a second, distinct Siberian migration....
MORE at http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28965227
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I love when my love of anthropology, history and genealogy all kind of blend together in one big study 