14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new scientific investigation, it would appear that Native Americans from both North and South America can trace their origins back to the Clovis culture, which developed over what is now the United States and Canada around 13,000 years ago.
In a paper published in a recent issue of the top scientific journal Nature, researchers at the Texas A&M University, led by archaeologist Michael Waters, detail a genetic analysis of samples collected from individuals who lived on both Americas millennia ago.
This batch of samples included one collected from a baby found inside a Clovis burial site in Montana, called the Anzick site. Specimens found here are extremely similar from a genetic standpoint to most Native Americans that occupied the Western Hemisphere over the coming millennia, NPR reports.
“We have no idea exactly where the U.S. fits in this pattern. And to be completely honest we have no idea how they actually moved through time, these different groups throughout the continent. In order to answer that question there's only one way to go, and that is sequencing more genomes from ancient remains,” says University of Copenhagen expert Eske Willerslev, a member of the study team.