Paleo-Eskimo mtDNA genome reveals matrilineal discontinuity in Greenland.
The Paleo-Eskimo Saqqaq and Independence I cultures, documented from archaeological remains in Northern Canada and Greenland, represent the earliest human expansion into the New World's northern extremes. However, their origin and genetic relationship to later cultures are unknown. We sequenced a mitochondrial genome from a Paleo-Eskimo human by using 3400-to 4500-year-old frozen hair excavated from an early Greenlandic Saqqaq settlement. The sample is distinct from modern Native Americans and Neo-Eskimos, falling within haplogroup D2a1, a group previously observed among modern Aleuts and Siberian Sireniki Yuit. This result suggests that the earliest migrants into the New World's northern extremes derived from populations in the Bering Sea area and were not directly related to Native Americans or the later Neo-Eskimos that replaced them.
Center for Ancient Genetics, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
M Thomas P
MT
Gilbert
Toomas
T
Kivisild
Bjarne
B
Grønnow
Pernille K
PK
Andersen
Ene
E
Metspalu
Maere
M
Reidla
Erika
E
Tamm
Erik
E
Axelsson
Anders
A
Götherström
Paula F
PF
Campos
Morten
M
Rasmussen
Mait
M
Metspalu
Thomas F G
TF
Higham
Jean-Luc
JL
Schwenninger
Roger
R
Nathan
Cees-Jan
CJ
De Hoog
Anders
A
Koch
Lone Nukaaraq
LN
Møller
Claus
C
Andreasen
Morten
M
Meldgaard
Richard
R
Villems
Christian
C
Bendixen
Eske
E
Willerslev
D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D005828:Genetics, Population; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D006116:Greenland; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006239:Haplotypes; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000235:genetics; D004930:Inuit / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial