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Cited by 329Forensic and Genetic ResearchGenetic diversity and population structurePleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

The genetic prehistory of the New World Arctic

Open access
Raghavan, Maanasa, DeGiorgio, Michael, Albrechtsen, Anders, Moltke, Ida, Skoglund, Pontus, Korneliussen, Thorfinn S., Grønnow, Bjarne, Appelt, Martin +48 more·2014·Science
DOI 10.1126/science.1255832
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Abstract

The New World Arctic, the last region of the Americas to be populated by humans, has a relatively well-researched archaeology, but an understanding of its genetic history is lacking. We present genome-wide sequence data from ancient and present-day humans from Greenland, Arctic Canada, Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Siberia. We show that Paleo-Eskimos (~3000 BCE to 1300 CE) represent a migration pulse into the Americas independent of both Native American and Inuit expansions. Furthermore, the genetic continuity characterizing the Paleo-Eskimo period was interrupted by the arrival of a new population, representing the ancestors of present-day Inuit, with evidence of past gene flow between these lineages. Despite periodic abandonment of major Arctic regions, a single Paleo-Eskimo metapopulation likely survived in near-isolation for more than 4000 years, only to vanish around 700 years ago.

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Crossref · 10.1126/science.1255832

Cites

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  • Indigenous Americans have similar archaic allele frequencies to other Asian populations.

    “The increased Denisovan variation in Indigenous American ancestry tracts compared with European ancestry tracts suggests that Indigenous Americans have similar archaic allele frequencies to other Asian populations, consistent with their shared history (Dulik et al. 2012; Raghavan et al. 2014).”

    From The Impact of Modern Admixture on Archaic Human Ancestry in Human Populations (2023) · cites this paper as Raghavan et al. 2014

    The Origins of Paleo-Eskimos section describes genetic relationships among Native American and Asian populations, but does not compare their archaic allele frequencies. Searches for Denisovan variation, archaic admixture, and Native American–Asian allele-frequency comparisons found no passage addressing the claim; Denisovan appears in the retrieved References, not as a reported finding. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Muskoxen are among a handful of Arctic species that survived major shifts in climate.

    “Muskoxen are among a handful of Arctic species that survived major shifts in climate (Raghavan et al. 2014).”

    From Muskox status, recent variation, and uncertain future (2020) · cites this paper as Raghavan et al. 2014

    The passage on early Paleo-Eskimo hunting mentions musk ox, but does not say the species survived climatic shifts. The Discussion describes Paleo-Eskimo human survival through climatic and ecological cycles, not muskox survival. Searches for musk ox and climate-related survival found no passage supporting the claim. (LLM, conf=0.75)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 43

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Authors
Raghavan, M., DeGiorgio, M., Albrechtsen, A., Moltke, I., Skoglund, P., Korneliussen, T. S., Grønnow, B., Appelt, M., Gulløv, H. C., Friesen, T. M., Fitzhugh, W., Malmström, H., Rasmussen, S., Olsen, J., Melchior, L., Fuller, B. T., Fahrni, S. M., Stafford, T., Grimes, V., Renouf, M. A. P., Cybulski, J., Lynnerup, N., Lahr, M. M., Britton, K., Knecht, R., Arneborg, J., Metspalu, M., Cornejo, O. E., Malaspinas, A.-S., Wang, Y., Rasmussen, M., Raghavan, V., Hansen, T. V. O., Khusnutdinova, E., Pierre, T., Dneprovsky, K., Andreasen, C., Lange, H., Hayes, M. G., Coltrain, J., Spitsyn, V. A., Götherström, A., Orlando, L., Kivisild, T., Villems, R., Crawford, M. H., Nielsen, F. C., Dissing, J., Heinemeier, J., Meldgaard, M., Bustamante, C., O’Rourke, D. H., Jakobsson, M., Gilbert, M. T. P., Nielsen, R., & Willerslev, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • Uppsala University (SE)
  • National Museum of Denmark (DK)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
  • Smithsonian Institution (US)
  • Technical University of Denmark (DK)
  • Aarhus University (DK)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
  • Western University (CA)
  • Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK.
  • University of Aberdeen (GB)
  • Estonian Biocentre (EE)
  • Washington State University (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (CA)
  • Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics, Ufa Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia.
  • State Museum for Oriental Art, 12a, Nikitsky Boulevard, Moscow 119019, Russia.
  • Greenland National Museum & Archives (GL)
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
  • Research Centre for Medical Genetics of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 1 Moskvorechie, Moscow 115478, Russia.
  • Stockholm University (SE)
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • University of Kansas (US)
  • Stanford University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Albrechtsen, Anders
  • Moltke, Ida
  • Skoglund, Pontus
  • Willerslev, Eske
ORCID
Venue
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published
2014-08-29
Volume
345
Issue
6200
Pages
1255832-1255832
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.1255832
OpenAlex
W772004098
Cited by
329
References
121
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 7
FWCI
26.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Ministry of Culture Research Portal (publishedVersion)
  • DSpace Repository (Smithsonian) (acceptedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
  • Technical University of Denmark, DTU Orbit (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion)
  • The University of Adelaide
  • The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (9905090, 0732327, 9726126, 9974623, 0327676, 0327641)
  • Wenner-Gren Foundation
  • Villum Fonden (00007171)
  • Parks Canada
  • Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
  • National Research Foundation
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
  • Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
  • Eesti Teadusfondi
  • Lundbeckfonden (R109-2012-9995, R70-2010-6286, R155-2013-16338, R38-2008-3048, R24-2008-2527)
  • Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond
  • Augustinus Fonden
  • H. Lundbeck A/S
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  • Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/K006029/1)
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas
  • European Regional Development Fund (IUT24-1)
  • Office of Polar Programs
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Keywords
Paleo-Eskimo, Inuit, human migration to the Americas, ancient DNA, population continuity, gene flow, metapopulation, Aleutian Islands, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska
MeSH terms
Alaska, Arctic Regions, Base Sequence, Bone and Bones, Canada, DNA, Mitochondrial, Inuit, Greenland, Hair, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Siberia, Tooth, Genome, Human, Survivors, History, Ancient, Human Migration

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