Mitogenome evidence shows two radiation events and dispersals of matrilineal ancestry from northern coastal China to the Americas and Japan Yu-Chun Li 10 :May 09, 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112413
Highlights • The Native American lineage D4h3a can trace its ancestry to northern coastal China • Radiations of D4h contribute to gene pools of Native Americans and Japanese • Coastal radiations of D4h support the coastal route of early Native Americans Summary Although it is widely recognized that the ancestors of Native Americans (NAs) primarily came from Siberia, the link between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineage D4h3a (typical of NAs) and D4h3b (found so far only in East China and Thailand) raises the possibility that the ancestral sources for early NAs were more variegated than hypothesized. Here, we analyze 216 contemporary (including 106 newly sequenced) D4h mitogenomes and 39 previously reported ancient D4h data. The results reveal two radiation events of D4h in northern coastal China, one during the Last Glacial Maximum and the other within the last deglaciation, which facilitated the dispersals of D4h sub-branches to different areas including the Americas and the Japanese archipelago. The coastal distributions of the NA (D4h3a) and Japanese lineages (D4h1a and D4h2), in combination with the Paleolithic archaeological similarities among Northern China, the Americas, and Japan, lend support to the coastal dispersal scenario of early NAs. Graphical abstract
Introduction As the last continent settled by modern humans, the peopling of the Americas and subsequent dispersals within the continent have been the focus of intense interest by geneticists.1,2,3,4,5,6 Previous studies have shown that the ancestors of Indigenous Americans, also called Native Americans (NAs), originated in Asia, most likely in the eastern part of Asia,3,6,7,8,9 and settled in the Americas by means of multiple dispersals through Siberia/Beringia10 via the coastal route and possibly the inland ice-free corridor,11 followed by later divergence into sub-groups.12 The origin of early NAs, to date, has been attributed to a complex process involving multiple dispersals from different source places. As indicated by substantial investigations, besides the widely recognized Siberian ancestry, ancestries from other places, although limited, have also been identified, including North Asia,6,9 East Asia,6,13 Southeast Asia,14 and even Australo-Melanesia.15 In agreement with these observations, evidence from uniparental markers further indicates that the majority of NAs show closer genetic affinity to Siberians, as manifested by NA founder types, e.g., mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups A2, B2, C1, C4c, D1, etc.,16,17,18,19 and Y chromosome haplogroups Q-L54 (Q-Z780, Q-M848, and Q-M4303) and C-L1373 (C-MBP373),19,20,21,22,23,24 and thus may trace their ancestral sources in Siberia. In contrast, a sister lineage of the NA matrilineal founder D4h3a,25,26 viz., D4h3b, has been so far observed only in China25 and Thailand,27,28 suggesting that the ancestral maternal sources for early NAs were not restricted to Siberia but were from a much wider Asian geographic range.
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Much later some Native Americans seem to have migrated back into Asia
Wang, Ke et al 2023: Middle Holocene Siberian genomes reveal highly connected gene pools throughout North Asia. Current Biology
quote:Highlights
• A distinctive Middle Holocene Siberian ancestry is found in Altai hunter-gatherers
• It results from a mixture of paleo-Siberian and ancient North Eurasian ancestries
• A contemporaneous Altai individual carries ancient Northeast Asian ancestry
• Northeastern Siberians experienced a prolonged Native American-related geneflow
Summary
The peopling history of North Asia remains largely unexplored due to the limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Here, we report genome-wide data of ten individuals dated to as early as 7,500 years before present from three regions in North Asia, namely Altai-Sayan, Russian Far East, and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Our analysis reveals a previously undescribed Middle Holocene Siberian gene pool in Neolithic Altai-Sayan hunter-gatherers as a genetic mixture between paleo-Siberian and ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestries. This distinctive gene pool represents an optimal source for the inferred ANE-related population that contributed to Bronze Age groups from North and Inner Asia, such as Lake Baikal hunter-gatherers, Okunevo-associated pastoralists, and possibly Tarim Basin populations. We find the presence of ancient Northeast Asian (ANA) ancestry—initially described in Neolithic groups from the Russian Far East—in another Neolithic Altai-Sayan individual associated with different cultural features, revealing the spread of ANA ancestry ∼1,500 km further to the west than previously observed. In the Russian Far East, we identify 7,000-year-old individuals that carry Jomon-associated ancestry indicating genetic links with hunter-gatherers in the Japanese archipelago. We also report multiple phases of Native American-related gene flow into northeastern Asia over the past 5,000 years, reaching the Kamchatka Peninsula and central Siberia. Our findings highlight largely interconnected population dynamics throughout North Asia from the Early Holocene onward.
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In 2021 well preserved human footprints were found in White Sands in New Mexico. They were dated to between 21 000 and 23 000 years old.
Later these results were questioned. Among other things that were discussed were that there might have been a reservoir effect for carbon 14 in the seeds from aquatic plants that were used to date the foot prints.
Recently a new study was conducted where the datings were complemented with the radiocarbon dating of terrestrial pollen, and optically stimulated luminescence dating. The new results seem to confirm the original datings.
quote:Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum
Despite a plethora of archaeological research over the past century, the timing of human migration into the Americas is still far from resolved. In a study of exposed outcrops of Lake Otero in White Sands National Park in New Mexico, Bennett et al. reveal numerous human footprints dating to about 23,000 to 21,000 years ago. These finds indicate the presence of humans in North America for approximately two millennia during the Last Glacial Maximum south of the migratory barrier created by the ice sheets to the north. This timing coincided with a Northern Hemispheric abrupt warming event, Dansgaard-Oeschger event 2, which drew down lake levels and allowed humans and megafauna to walk on newly exposed surfaces, creating tracks that became preserved in the geologic record. —AMS
quote:Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the same stratigraphic horizons as those of the Ruppia seeds, along with optically stimulated luminescence ages of sediments from within the human footprint–bearing sequence, to evaluate the veracity of the seed ages. The results show that the chronologic framework originally established for the White Sands footprints is robust and reaffirm that humans were present in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum.
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