Two contemporaneous mitogenomes from terminal Pleistocene burials in eastern Beringia.
Pleistocene residential sites with multiple contemporaneous human burials are extremely rare in the Americas. We report mitochondrial genomic variation in the first multiple mitochondrial genomes from a single prehistoric population: two infant burials (USR1 and USR2) from a common interment at the Upward Sun River Site in central Alaska dating to ∼11,500 cal B.P. Using a targeted capture method and next-generation sequencing, we determined that the USR1 infant possessed variants that define mitochondrial lineage C1b, whereas the USR2 genome falls at the root of lineage B2, allowing us to refine younger coalescence age estimates for these two clades. C1b and B2 are rare to absent in modern populations of northern North America. Documentation of these lineages at this location in the Late Pleistocene provides evidence for the extent of mitochondrial diversity in early Beringian populations, which supports the expectations of the Beringian Standstill Model.
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112; justin.tackney@anthro.utah.edu.
Justin C
JC
Tackney
Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775;
Ben A
BA
Potter
Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045;
Jennifer
J
Raff
DNA Sequencing Core, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112;
Michael
M
Powers
Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112;
W Scott
WS
Watkins
DNA Sequencing Core, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112;
Derek
D
Warner
Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775; Archaeology Department, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK 99775;
Joshua D
JD
Reuther
Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L33AF, United Kingdom.
Joel D
JD
Irish
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112;
Dennis H
DH
O'Rourke
D000413:Alaska; D001106:Archaeology / Q000379:methods; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002048:Burial / Q000266:history; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D049690:History, Ancient; D063426:Human Migration / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D009841:Oligonucleotides
Americas; Pleistocene burials; ancient mitochondrial DNA; paleogenomics; peopling