Palaeo-Eskimo genetic ancestry and the peopling of Chukotka and North America

Pavel Flegontov (), N. Ezgi Altınışık, Piya Changmai, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Nicole Adamski, Deborah A. Bolnick, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Francesca Candilio, Brendan J. Culleton, Olga Flegontova, T. Max Friesen, Choongwon Jeong, Thomas K. Harper, Denise Keating, Douglas J. Kennett, Alexander M. Kim, Thiseas C. Lamnidis, Ann Marie Lawson, Iñigo Olalde, Jonas Oppenheimer, Ben A. Potter, Jennifer Raff, Robert A. Sattler, Pontus Skoglund, Kristin Stewardson, Edward J. Vajda, Sergey Vasilyev, Elizaveta Veselovskaya, M. Geoffrey Hayes, Dennis H. O’Rourke, Johannes Krause, Ron Pinhasi, David Reich () and Stephan Schiffels ()
Additional contact information
Pavel Flegontov: Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava
N. Ezgi Altınışık: Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava
Piya Changmai: Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava
Nadin Rohland: Harvard Medical School
Swapan Mallick: Harvard Medical School
Nicole Adamski: Harvard Medical School
Deborah A. Bolnick: University of Connecticut
Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht: Harvard Medical School
Francesca Candilio: University College Dublin
Brendan J. Culleton: Pennsylvania State University
Olga Flegontova: Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava
T. Max Friesen: University of Toronto
Choongwon Jeong: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Thomas K. Harper: Pennsylvania State University
Denise Keating: University College Dublin
Douglas J. Kennett: Pennsylvania State University
Alexander M. Kim: Harvard Medical School
Thiseas C. Lamnidis: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Ann Marie Lawson: Harvard Medical School
Iñigo Olalde: Harvard Medical School
Jonas Oppenheimer: Harvard Medical School
Ben A. Potter: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Jennifer Raff: University of Kansas
Robert A. Sattler: Tanana Chiefs Conference
Pontus Skoglund: Harvard Medical School
Kristin Stewardson: Harvard Medical School
Edward J. Vajda: Western Washington University
Sergey Vasilyev: Russian Academy of Sciences
Elizaveta Veselovskaya: Russian Academy of Sciences
M. Geoffrey Hayes: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Dennis H. O’Rourke: University of Kansas
Johannes Krause: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Ron Pinhasi: University of Vienna
David Reich: Harvard Medical School
Stephan Schiffels: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Nature, 2019, vol. 570, issue 7760, 236-240

Abstract: Abstract Much of the American Arctic was first settled 5,000 years ago, by groups of people known as Palaeo-Eskimos. They were subsequently joined and largely displaced around 1,000 years ago by ancestors of the present-day Inuit and Yup’ik1–3. The genetic relationship between Palaeo-Eskimos and Native American, Inuit, Yup’ik and Aleut populations remains uncertain4–6. Here we present genomic data for 48 ancient individuals from Chukotka, East Siberia, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and the Canadian Arctic. We co-analyse these data with data from present-day Alaskan Iñupiat and West Siberian populations and published genomes. Using methods based on rare-allele and haplotype sharing, as well as established techniques4,7–9, we show that Palaeo-Eskimo-related ancestry is ubiquitous among people who speak Na-Dene and Eskimo–Aleut languages. We develop a comprehensive model for the Holocene peopling events of Chukotka and North America, and show that Na-Dene-speaking peoples, people of the Aleutian Islands, and Yup’ik and Inuit across the Arctic region all share ancestry from a single Palaeo-Eskimo-related Siberian source.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1251-y

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