GENETIC-VARIATION IN THE NEW-WORLD - ANCIENT TEETH, BONE, AND TISSUE AS SOURCES OF DNA

Examination of ancient and contemporary Native American mtDNA variatio n via diagnostic restriction sites and the 9-bp Region V deletion sugg ests a single wave of migration into the New World. This is in contras t to data from Torroni et al.(34) which suggested two waves of migrati on into the New World (the NaDene and Amerind). All four founding line age types are present in populations in North, Central, and South Amer ica suggesting that all four lineages came over together and spread th roughout the New World, ancient Native American DNA shows that all fou r lineages were present before European contact in North America, and at least two were present in South America. The presence of all four l ineages in the NaDene and the Amerinds argues against separate migrati ons founding these two groups, although admixture between the groups i s still a viable explanation for the presence of all four types in the NaDene.