The ancestors of the Paleoamericans:
invaded Beringia;
traversed "...the corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice..." (p. 168);
entered the fertile plains as the glaciers withdrew;
had a population explosion;
made the Clovis points;
eliminated most large American animals, including mammoth, horse and camel;
became the Amerindians.
A prehistoric history.
5 comments:
True. Not only that, but the Amerindians share with Europeans a partial descent from what the paleogeneticists call a "ghost population", the ANE -- Ancient North Eurasians, who contributed a lot of genes to the Yamnaya culture and through them to Europe. The ANE later pretty much vanished from their original homelands.
Ancient North Eurasians. I like it.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And was this "ghost population" of Ancient North Eurasians also partly descended from the Neanderthals? I have a bit of a soft spot for them!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: probably. All non-African humans have some Neanderthal ancestry, though not much. Apparently most episodes of interbreeding didn't produce lasting descendants. The percentage of Neanderthal and Denisovan genes is highest in Papua-New Guinea and among Australian aboriginies, btw.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Probably only three percent of our personal ancestry is from the Neanderthals. Cool, what you said about Papua New Guinea and Australian aborigines!
Ad astra! Sean
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