Remains of baby reveal Asia link to Native Americans
NEW YORK - The remains of an ancient infant who died about 11,500 years ago in what is now the northern US state of Alaska is providing better evidence that all Native Americans can be traced back to the same population that emigrated from East Asia, a new study has revealed.
The female infant, which was between six and 12 weeks old when she died, was unearthed in a burial pit in the Tanana River valley in central Alaska in 2013. Analysis of her DNA indicated that the child was from a previously unknown population of Native Americans, which scientists dubbed "Ancient Beringian".
It has long been believed that a group of people migrated from East Asia through Beringia, a now-submerged land bridge that once linked Siberia and Alaska, to form the first population of Native Americans.
