|
|
Re: DNA and Native Americans
ray scupin (scupin@LINDENWOOD.EDU)
Tue, 6 Feb 1996 10:29:08 -0600
Hello Karl: =20
=09Thanks so much for your very informative comments on the Native
American migrations. Much food and good data to chew on for my=20
students. =20
Sincerely,=20
Ray Scupin
***************************************************************************
Raymond Scupin
Sociology/Anthropology Dept.
Lindenwood College
209 S. Kingshighway
St. Charles, MO 63301
314-949-4730 (Office)
314-949-9244 (Home)
314-949-4730 (Fax)
Not chaos-like, together crushed and bruised,
But, as the world harmoniously confused:
Where order in variety we see,
And where, though all things differ, all agree
Alexander Pope
"Windsor-Forest."
***************************************************************************=
***
On Mon, 5 Feb 1996, karl h schwerin wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Jan 1996, ray scupin wrote:
>=20
> > Colleagues:
> >=20
> > Back in 1993 Douglas Wallace at Emory did some mtDNA research o=
n
> > various populations around the world and concluded that Native American=
s
> > are closely related to Southeast Asians, Melanesians and Polynesians. =
He
> > claimed that ancient mariners must have come across the Pacific to the
> > Americas. I thought that this Thor Heyerdahl-like thesis had been
> > definitely debunked through other genetic studies that supported lingui=
stic and
> > archaeological research. (Wallace's research was also publicized in a
> > front page Wall St. Journal article, Nov. 10, 1993).
> >=20
> > Can anyone refer me to any work that would clarify, support, or
> > refute Wallace's hypothesis?
> >=20
> > Thanks in advance,
> >=20
> > Ray Scupin
> >=20
> > ***********************************************************************=
****
> > Raymond Scupin
> > Sociology/Anthropology Dept.
> > Lindenwood College
> > 209 S. Kingshighway
> > St. Charles, MO 63301
> > 314-949-4730 (Office)
> > 314-949-9244 (Home)
> > 314-949-4730 (Fax)
> >=20
> > Not chaos-like, together crushed and bruised,
> > But, as the world harmoniously confused:
> > Where order in variety we see,
> > And where, though all things differ, all agree
> >=20
> > Alexander Pope
> > "Windsor-Forest."
> > ***********************************************************************=
*******
> Ray -=20
> Both Southeast Asians and American Indians seem to be descended from a=20
> generalized "Mongoloid" population that originated somewhere in northern=
=20
> Asia during the Pleistocene, thus they would share a good deal of genetic=
=20
> similarity. The general view is that Polynesians and Melanesians=20
> developed out of Asian populations that moved into the Pacific and mixed=
=20
> with other populations of disparate genetic origins as they did so=20
> (perhaps with additional evolutionary adaptations as well). Thus they=20
> should all share some basic genetic characteristics.
>=20
> As to the second part of your query - I've always found it amazing that=
=20
> we readily accept the Polynesian expansion throughout the whole of the=20
> Pacific from New Zealand to Hawaii to Easter Island (geographic range,=20
> not temporal sequence), yet pull up short at any suggestion of contact=20
> with the Americas. Doesn't it seem likely that voyagers who could travel=
=20
> that widely would have come upon the American shore once or several=20
> times? What is important in that argument, however, is that if the=20
> dating for the Polynesian expansion is correct (sometime between 1000=20
> B.C. and 1 A.D.), their arrival in the Americas would have been too late=
=20
> to have had much cultural impact in terms of stimulating cultural=20
> development. The Americas were already developed - Maya and Teotihuacan=
=20
> in Mesoamerica, Chavin followed by numerous cities in the Intermediate=20
> Period on the Peruvian coast. =20
>=20
> In fact, it is generally accepted that the Polynesians had sweet=20
> potatoes prior to European contact. Since these originated in South=20
> America, how did they get them except by contact with some part of the=20
> American m
> So the critical question is not whether or not there was contact, but=20
> lwhen.
> (T=AC
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Karl Schwerin=09=09=09SnailMail: Dept. of Anthropology
> Univ. of New Mexico=09=09=09 Albuquerque, NM 87131
> e-mail: schwerin@unm.edu=09
>=20
> =09There are people who will help you get your basket
> =09on your head because they want to see what is in it.
> =09=09=09=09 -- African proverb
>=20
>=20
>=20
|