What Do Molecular Genetic Studies Tell Us About the Peopling of the Americas?
Currently the archaeological, geographic, and ethnographic evidence indicates that the ancestors of today’s American Indians migrated into the Americas from north Asia some 15,000-13,000 years ago. This evidence has long been the basis for standard theories concerning the peopling of the Americas. However, with the development of new technologies comes new evidence; evidence that at times challenges long held theories. Such a restructuring of our knowledge is currently taking place, changing how we understand the early history of people in the Americas. With the advent of molecular genetic equipment and methods, theories concerning the early peopling of the Americas are slowly beginning to push back the date of first entry. Two types of data are the basis for the molecular genetic evidence, which argues that the initial migration into the Americas originated somewhere in south-central Siberia between 35,000-20,000 years before present. These dates are much earlier than previous estimat
