“Ancient DNA Reveals Shocking Truths About Our Prehistoric Ancestors—What Secrets Are Hidden in Our Genes?”
This begets the question: how did these two groups of people end up in the same place at the same time?
However, Sunrise Girl Belonged To A Mysterious Third Group
Surprisingly, Sunrise Girl did not belong to either of these groups. This means that the Ancient Beringians split into at least three groups, if not more.
With demographic modeling, scientists estimated that Native Americans left East Asia 36,000 years ago. By 20,000 years ago, this group split. But if they split, why were these two infants buried together?
All Groups Split Off From One
In the study, archaeologists hypothesized that the two groups stuck together at least once–hence why the girls were related. They proposed two possibilities for this.
The Beringians might have split before crossing the bridge, only to reunite later. Or, the Beringians might have separated after crossing. Potter prefers the latter theory.
Perhaps They Split Before Beringia
Potter has a theory for how these two groups came together. During an interview with The Atlantic, he suggested that both groups independently crossed Beringia. Perhaps they traveled on different paths at separate times.
Usually, this theory would seem a bit far-fetched. But there is some evidence to back it up.
Support For Potter’s Theory
In 2017, archaeologists examined the Bluefish Caves in Canada’s Yukon Territory. According to a study on these caves, scientists found evidence of human-cut markings that were 24,000 years old.
If this is accurate, as Raff believes it is, then humans had crossed Beringia at least 24,000 years ago. That was over a decade before the two girls were born.
Still, There Are Many Unanswered Questions
Although the discovery of the girls proved many hypotheses, it also raised several questions. What happened to the Beringians? How did they get to Siberia in the first place?
Given how rare these findings are, it is unlikely that these questions will be answered soon. And to make things more complicated, not all experts are on board with Potter’s theories.
Some Experts Argued Against Potter’s Conclusions
The main argument against this finding is just that: It’s a single finding. Dennis O’Rourke, a geneticist and archaeologist, says that the one sample is not enough evidence to study the entire human population.
“We could know something about the extent of diversity in this early Beringian population with greater certainty if we had multiple genomes,” O’Rourke told The Smithsonian Magazine.
However, These Findings Are Exceptionally Rare
But finding more than one sample is easier said than done. “It’s hard to impress upon you how rare they are,” Potter told The Atlantic.
According to co-researcher Willerslev, before this finding, scientists only had modern-day Alaskans and Siberians to study this genome. Without more samples, nobody will know where the Beringians came from.
Plus, Upward River Is Too Young For Ancient Humans
Despite the age of Upward River’s burial grounds, archaeologist Brian T. Wygal claims that it is too young to understand early humans.
“The earliest proven trace of human activity in eastern Beringia dates to around 14.1-thousand-years-ago,” Wygal explained, “making the Upward Sun River site nearly 3,000 years too young to be representative of the initial human colonization of the New World.”
What Happened To The Beringians?
After Potter’s study released–which is in the scientific journal Nature–many have asked what happened to the Beringians. “We don’t know,” Potter told CNN.
Again, this question needs more evidence to answer. However, Potter plans to take DNA samples from the neighboring residents. Since scientists know what Beringian DNA looks like, they can determine if the gene still exists in Natives
What Were The Beringians Like?
Research has revealed a snapshot of the Beringian’s life. According to Potter, they were expert hunters, eating bison, elk, rabbits, squirrels, and birds.
They likely hunted through organized parties. Potter also found evidence of “salmon exploitation” dating back 6,000 years, meaning that the Beringians likely fished and traded as well.
