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Tracking how humans got to different parts of the world is difficult since it happened so long ago and there is often very little evidence to work with. Fortunately, modern DNA and genetics helps to be able to paint a clearer picture, and in many cases, correct old beliefs.
One of the most studied people are the Native Americans, who were believed to originally have come to North America from the Jomon people who lived in ancient Japan. They migrated over the Bering Land Bridge into modern day Alaska, and then over the generations, worked their way south and spread out.
The first of the Jomon people to come into North America were thought to have done it around 15,000 years ago.
A new study that has been published in the journal PaleoAmerica, however, shows that this is almost certainly not true. Professor Richard Scott of the University of Nevada-Reno led the team who analyzed various ancient teeth that were found throughout the Americas, the Pacific, and Asia.
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The teeth found in North America had very little relationship to the Jomon people, and genetic testing further confirmed that fact. In a statement, Professor Scott said:
“We found that the human biology simply doesn’t match up with the archaeological theory. We do not dispute the idea that ancient Native Americans arrived via the Northwest Pacific coast—only the theory that they originated with the Jōmon people in Japan. These people (the Jomon) who lived in Japan 15,000 years ago are an unlikely source for Indigenous Americans. Neither the skeletal biology or the genetics indicate a connection between Japan and the America. The most likely source of the Native American population appears to be Siberia.”
In addition to the genetic evidence that was gathered, there was also a footprint found in a lakebed that has been determined to be from somewhere between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago. This is far further back than it was believed humans ever came to the Americas. The evidence about this footprint was published in the journal Science.
Dr. Sally Reynolds is the co-author of the team that analyzed these prints, and she recently told IFLScience:
“In the light of the findings, this means the earliest migrations would have come via Asia, over the Bering Land Bridge, and into Alaska. We previously thought that they would move south after around 16,000 [years ago] when the Ice sheets melted and a migration corridor opened, but the earlier date from White Sands shows that humans were already in the Americas. This means that humans migrated into the Americas much earlier, but still via the same route.”
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These additional factors show that people have been in North America for thousands of years longer than previously believed.
It just goes to show that long held beliefs are often incorrect, and it highlights the importance of constantly looking for new evidence and following it wherever it goes.
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