DNA reveals history of vanished 'Paleo-Eskimos'

DNA sequences from living and ancient inhabitants show a single influx from Siberia produced all the "Paleo-Eskimo" cultures, which died out 700 years ago.

Modern-day Inuit and Native Americans arose from separate migrations.
Previously our understanding of this history was based largely on cultural artefacts, dug up by archaeologists.
The study, which has more than 50 authors hailing from institutions across the globe, was published in the journal Science.

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A single founding population settled, and endured the harsh conditions of the Arctic, for almost 5,000 years”

Dr Maanasa Raghavan Natural History Museum of Denmark

Multiple models

Researchers of North American prehistory have long disagreed about the lineages of Arctic peoples, ranging from the first arrivals who mostly hunted ox and reindeer, through at least four other cultural groupings, to the modern Inuit and their marine hunting culture.

"Since the 1920s or so, it has been heavily discussed what is the relationship between these cultural groups," said senior author Prof Eske Willerslev from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which is part of the University of Copenhagen.
"All kinds of hypotheses have been proposed. Everything from complete continuity between the first people in the Arctic to present-day Inuits, [while] other researchers have argued that the Saqqaq and the Dorset and the Thule are distinct people."
These three broadly-grouped cultures all occupied the north of North America: the Saqqaq until 2,500 years ago, followed by a series of Dorset cultures and then the Thule (Inuit ancestors) from about 1,000 years ago--READ MORE-.www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28965227