Excerpted Anthropological Research Articles: July 1998 - May 1999
Compiled by Alvah M. Pardner Hicks
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CONTENTS:
AFRICA
POLYNESIA
SIBERIA
HISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
NORTH AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA
LANGUAGE
GENETICS
SCIENCE and RELIGION
PRIMATES
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Page 43
AFRICA
Watson, E., Forster, P., Richards, M., and Bandelt, H. Mitochondrial Footprints of Human
Expansions in Africa. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1997), 61:691-704.
Furthermore, little is known about expansion events within Africa and about their relation
to expansions in other parts of the world (compare Di Rienzo and Wilson 1991; Harpending et
al. 1993; Sherry et al. 1994; Graven et al. 1995; Eller and Harpending 1996).
Here, we apply a novel intraspecific phylogenetic-network method (Bandelt et al. 1995) in
conjunction with new outgroup information (Zischler et al. 195) and a recent confirmation of the
mitochondrial control-region mutation rate (Forster et al. 1996), to 407 published African
sequences, in order to investigate these questions. We find that most African mitochondrial
sequences appear to be the result of demographic expansions that started ˜ 60,000-80,000 years
ago, the earliest of which led to the colonization of Eurasia. p. 691
All clusters are starlike, with smooth unimodal pairwise distributions (fig. 2), and are
geographically widespread, suggesting both demographic and geographic expansion. The
remaining 13% of the sequences, which are not shared between populations and are thus termed
"isolated lineages" (L1i), are not clearly starlike or unimodal in the pairwise analysis (fig. 2),
although the pairwise distribution is nevertheless approximately bell shaped, possibly suggesting
that these lineages are the relics of a less dramatic and more ancient expansion event across
1
Africa. The network in figure 3 presents the phylogenetic relationships of the isolated African
lineages to the four major African expansion clusters. p. 694
The oldest subcluster of this expansion (L3a (fig. 1), consists mainly of eastern-African
sequences, suggesting a possible eastern-African origin for the L2/L3 expansion. A lower bound
can be set for the arrival of the L3 expansion in western Africa, because of the occurrence of a
western African-specific subcluster of L3b, coalescing in a lineage with transitions at np 16124
and 16223 (but not at np 16278), relative to the CRS. Its coalescence time indicates that the
expansion of cluster L3 reached western Africa by 30,000 years ago. p. 695
The oldest subcluster within L3a (characterized by transitions at np 16223 and 16311) is eastern
African specific, suggesting an eastern-African origin for L3a and thus also for Eurasians. A
possible alternative, the Middle East (Stringer 1988; Di Rienzo and Wilson 1991), is less likely
to be the origin of L3a, since L2, the sister cluster of L3 (fig. 1), is virtually African specific. p.
696
It has been suggested that a subset of cluster L1a, defined by a 9-bp deletion at np8272-8289
(Vigilant 1990), may represent an expansion of Bantu-speakers (Bandelt et al. 1995; Chen et al.
1995; Soodyall et al. 1996). Another possible marker for Bantu expansions that merits
investigation is the sequence motif np 16124-16223-16278 found in southwestern Africa (among
the Herero, Nama, and Dama in the data of Vigilant [1990] and Soodyall [1993]. This motif is a
subset of L3b, which is widespread in western Africans who mainly speak languages of the
Niger-Kordofanian family, of which Bantu is a member. p. 697
This is evident in the example of Watson et al. (1996), in which the populationcoalescence times are frequently the result of the fusion of several of the ancient phylogenetic
clusters discussed above and therefore, in themselves, are not related to the age of the individual
populations–indeed, the individual population phylogenies frequently coalesce on the
mitochondrial Eve sequence itself (Bandelt and Forster, in press).
The present work suggests that the starlike phylogenies previously discovered by use of
pairwise distributions (Harpending et al. 1993; Sherry et al. 1994) and phylogenetic analysis
(Mountain et al. 1995)‚ were generated in eastern Africa 60,000-80,000 years ago by the
expansion of a small, closely knit subset of a diverse ancestral mtDNA pool. This implies that
the low diversity of modern humans, in comparison with other hominoids (Ruvolo et al. 1994),
both within and outside Africa, can be at least partly accounted for by a founder effect that
occurred long after the origin of anatomically modern humans. Our sample of isolated lineages
is, at present, still too small to allow firm conclusions concerning the period before these major
expansions. p. 697
It is curious that only one mitochondrial sequence or, at most, a set of very closely related
lineages (the ancestors of L3–and possibly, of L2) should have participated in the earliest major
expansion, given that all parts of Africa today harbor diverse, phylogenetically isolated lineages
from the earlier period. Since a general environmental change in one area is unlikely to have
directly triggered population expansion in only a single mitochondrial lineage, it is possible that
a small subpopulation carrying it acquired some advantage, perhaps in response to
environmental change, such as the onset o the Last Glacial. p. 697
2
Alvah’s Comments: If Africa was not the source for human expansions but a place were humans
expanded into, this paper could be seen to identify Eastern Africa as the original location for the
later total colonization of Africa. As an “Out of the Americas via out of Asia” advocate the
methods of human dispersals could be seen to mimic that from Australia, being aided by coastal
navigation and subsequent migration into the interior. This would help explain the
archaeological data from Africa with the earliest sites for Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens
near coastal locations including Klaisies River.
Relethford, J. H. Mitochondrial DNA and Ancient Population Growth. American Journal of
Physical Anthropology (1998), 105:1-7.
In recent years, the study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation has entered a new phase
with an increasing emphasis on interpretations of demographic, rather than phylogenetic, history.
Human mtDNA variation fits a "sudden expansion" model, where the human species expanded
rapidly in size during the Late Pleistocene. This paper examines the sudden expansion model
with the goal of partitioning total mtDNA diversity in contemporary populations into two
components–diversity that existed prior to the population expansion and diversity that arose after
the expansion. A method is developed for estimating these components. Analysis of mtDNA
diversity within selected human populations shows that 64-80% of mtDNA diversity in
contemporary populations arose after the expansion, a consequence of a high mutation rate
relative to the number of generations since expansion. p. 1
Results suggest that excess sub-Saharan African mtDNA diversity is due to the combined effects
of the sub-Saharan African population being larger in size prior to the expansion and expanding
earlier. p. 1
The issue of excess African diversity also came into question with the demonstration that
diversity is not likely to track the age of a population (Rogers and Jorde, 1995), and with
analyses showing a larger long-term effective population size in Africa (Relethford and
Harpending, 1994; Relethford, 1995). p. 1
The first approach provides a way to partition modern mtDNA sequence diversity into two
components–diversity that arose before the expansion and diversity that arose after the
expansion. The second approach is an extension to the comparison between two populations,
and addresses contributions to excess mtDNA diversity in sub-Saharan populations. p. 2
The mismatch distribution of most human populations shows a smooth wave-shaped curve.
Rogers and Harpending (1992) found that such curves do not resemble the curves expected
under a theoretical model that assumes an equilibrium distribution obtained from a constant
population size over time. p. 2
While mathematically interesting, simplified models are useful only if their assumptions are
valid and they show a good fit to real data. To date, the model has proven remarkably robust to
violations of the assumptions including starting from equilibrium q0 (Rogers, 1992; Rogers et
al., 1996). p. 3
3
The two-parameter model has now been applied to mtDNA data from 25 human samples from
around the world. Of these, 23 show an excellent fit to the model of sudden expansion, and the
two outliers are cases with known recent population bottlenecks that compromise results (Sherry
et al., 1994). p. 3
An alternative interpretation is that Africa had the largest long-term effective population
size (Relethford and Harpending, 1994, 1995; Relethford, 1995), an interpretation compatible
with both replacement and multiregional models (Wolpoff and Caspari, 1997)
An effective population size is useful mathematically, but can mask a variety of patterns
of demographic change. Possible models are limited by the sudden expansion model–rapid
growth from a small to a very large population. p. 5
It is clear from equation (10) that if the population sizes of A and B are equal then the excess
diversity of A is due entirely to differences in the timing of expansion. Likewise, if populations
A and B both expanded at the same time then the excess diversity of A is entirely due to
differences in initial population size. p. 5
There are three different ways in which Africa could have a larger long-term effective population
size under the sudden expansion model: 1) Africa was larger prior to an expansion which took
place across the Old World at the same time; 2) there was no difference in population size among
geographic regions across the Old World prior to the expansions, but Africa expanded earlier
than other regions; or 3) Africa was larger prior to the expansions, and it also expanded earlier.
p. 6
The results presented here do not bear directly on the question of multiregional evolution versus
replacement, but instead refocus the genetic data on questions of ancient demography. p. 6
Alvah’s comment: When the authors address the evidence of Mutational-drift equilibrium found
in Native Americans they automatically dismiss the likelihood that they could be the ancestors of
modern humans because it is a philosophical given that the “Native” of the Americas originated
in Asia. For example “Of these, 23 show an excellent fit to the model of sudden expansion, and
the two outliers are cases with known recent population bottlenecks that compromise results
(Sherry et al., 1994).” Also, greater Tribal diversity supports a larger base population in the
Americas and little if any evidence for bottlenecks as evident in the mtDNA of Native Americans.
As an alternative to the Wallace Labs contention of a bottleneck is back-migration at the end of
the Pleistocene as Franz Boas identified a hundred years ago.
Amanda B. Spurdle and Trefor Jenkins The Origins of the “Lamba Jews” of Soth Africa:
Evidence fromp12F2 and other Y-Chromosome Markers Am. J. Hum. Gen. 1996
The results ability of Y-chromosome polymorphisms to provide a record of male-specific gene
flow and human variation has long been recognized, and numerous studies using different Y
markers have indicated the value of this approach. p. 1126
4
The Lemba population of southern Africa Constitutes a group of Bantu-speakers who claim
Jewish ancestry. Historically, the Lemba were distinct from their Bantu-speaking Negroid
neighbors by their means of livelihood, physical appearance, customs, and rituals (Van Warmelo
1974), and even nowadays the cultural differences between the Lemba and other Bantu-speakers
are recognized. p. 1126
More detailed descriptions of Lemba oral history by Professor Mathivha of the Lemba Cultural
Association (Mathivha 1992) suggest that the Jewish ancestors of the Lemba, as traders in the
7th century BC, migrated from “the north” to Yemen, where they established both a large
community at Sena (Sa’na) and several trading posts along the eastern African coast. The
Jewish community of Sena (Sa’na), termed “Basena” was later expanded by exiles escaping the
Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. At some later stage “trouble broke out between
the Basena and the Arabs,” resulting in the migration of some Basena to Africa. Here the group
split into two, one moving westward to settle in Ethiopia (the “Falashas”), the other (the Lemba)
moving southward, finally to establish communities in southern Africa. Dates for the migration
from Yemen appear to be inconsistent, and those quoted for settlement en route to southern
Africa range from 450 BC to 50 AD (Mathivha 1992). p. 1127
The Lemba exhibit a frequency of .26 for the p12F2/TaqI 8-kb allele. Since this allele is absent
in Africans and also was not observed in a sample of 60 Polynesians (A.B.S., unpublished data),
it would appear to be specific to Caucasoids. The p12F2 data suggest, therefore, that the Lemba
gene pool has received contributions from Caucasoid males. p. 1127
The currently available Y-chromosome genetic data do not support a close genetic relationship
between the Ethiopian Jews and the Lemba. In conclusion, the historical facts are not
incompatible with theories concerning the origin of Lemba, and the Y-specific genetic findings
presented here are consistent with Lemba oral history. p. 1132
Alvah’s comment: This paper demonstrates the value of historical myths and cultural identity
and genetic collaborations that help verify tribal accounts of the past. With this in mind we
should see greater value in testing other models based on Myth from other cultures, including
Siberians being descendants of Native Americans as identified by Boas. Alternatives to
anthropological “givens”, as to whether present populations in Siberia are/or ARE NOT the
ancestors of Native Americans, should be assessed anew.
EUROPE
Hovers, Erella. The origins of modern human behavior: a Levantine point of view.
Abstracts for the Paleoanthropolgy Society Meetings. p. A9
A comparison of several aspects of the archaeological record at Qafzeh and Amud Caves,
associated with AMH and Neandertals respectively, suggests that there were no significant
differences in the cognitive abilities of the two populations, in their capability for rational
organizational strategies, and in their capacities for symbolic behavior. It is also noted that the
archaeological manifestations of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in the Levant are not as
5
spectacular as in Europe. The implications of these observations for tracing the origins of
modern behavior and for understanding the conditions which favor its representation in the
material record are further discussed. p. A9
Alvah’s comment: Again, the “Levant” specimens were behaviorally closer to Neandertals and
Homo erectus bringing into question their inclusion into AMH groups despite whatever the
limited anatomical support that they were becoming “sapiens” might suggest.
Gauld, S.C. Allometric Patterns of Cranial Bone Thickness in Fossil Hominids. American
Journal of Physical Anthropology (1996), 100:411-426.
Many pre-Holocene populations of the genus Homo display mean cranial thickness values that
equal or exceed the maximum population averages characterizing recent H. sapiens (Brown,
1987). These differences have led researchers to conclude that, relative to anatomically modern
humans, the species H. erectus and archaic populations of H. sapiens exhibit greatly thickened
cranial bone (e.g., Jorant, 1938; Twisselman, 1941; Weidenreich, 1943, 1951; Howells 1966,
1980; Trinkaus and Howells, 1979; Murrill, 1981; Wolpoff, 1984; Kennedy, 1991). Because of
its differential distribution, cranial thickness is often cited as a relevant trait in cladistic analyses,
which rely on the distribution of autopomorphic and synapomorphic character states to establish
species' identity and relationships (Delson et al., 1977; Andrews, 1984; Stringer, 1984; Wood,
198; Bilsborough and Wood, 1986; Hublin, 1986; Turner and Chamberlain, 1989). Indeed, some
researchers suggest that the thickened cranial and/or postcranial bone found in some early
hominids may represent a unique condition among anthropoids (Weidenreich, 1943) or all
mammals (Kennedy, 1985). p. 411
Several studies have addressed the significance of differences in cranial bone thickness in
modern H. sapiens. The strong covariance between extant primate body size and cranial
thickness, as well as its positive allometric relationship, are similar to patterns documented for
postcranial bone thickness across a broad range of vertebrates, including primates (Biewener,
1982; Ruff, 1987, 1990; Selker and Carter, 1989; Anyonge, 1993; Nelson 1994). In the
postcranium this relationship is usually considered a byproduct of the functional interaction
between mass and skeletal support. While this may be so, the cranial data demonstrate that the
association between mass and thickness is also expressed in non-weight-bearing portions of the
skeleton. The strength of the association suggests that, at the interspecific level., measures of
bone thickness throughout the skeleton covary primarily in relation to size, with specific
biomechanical influences exhibiting secondary, localized influences. It is possible that this
covariance is established and maintained through the pleiotropic effects of genetically mediated
growth hormone systems that target coordinated growth of the entire organism (Nelson and
Gauld, 1994; Shea, 1992). The interaction between mass and cranial thickness, and its effects on
intragroup variation, have not been carefully investigated in any primate species. However, a
relationship between size and thickness can be found in support for human developmental
studies, which show steady, rapid thickness increases during growth (Roche, 1953; Adeloye et
al., 1975; Brown et al., 1979). Moreover, in measuring the effects of sex, age, race, height, and
weight on cranial thickness in a large cadaver sample, Pensler and McCarthy (1985) demonstrate
that only weight covaries consistently, and significantly, with thickness. p. 420
6
The findings presented here support recent body-weight prediction studies of H. erectus in
suggesting that Asian, as well as African, members of this species were characterized by
substantially large body size (McHenry, 1988; Gauld, 1992; in preparation; Ruff and Walker,
1993; Aiello and Wood, 1994). p. 423
Alvah’s comments; The quadruped motion of apes leads to the heavier bone mass in Homo
erectus while the generalized posture of modern humans could have been predated by a long
term stasis from a less quadrapedal/more hominid-like bipedal primate ancestor.
Cole, T.M. The use of matrix permutation tests for evaluating competing hypotheses of
modern human origins. Journal of Human Evolution (1996), 31:477-484.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of matrix permutation tests is their tremendous flexibility (e.g.,
Hubert & Schultz, 1976; Smouse & Long, 1992), where the specification of different hypotheses
seems limited only by imagination of the investigator. p. 482
More than a decade of debate (recently reviewed by Lahr & Foley, 1995) has failed to produce a
consensus with respect to the origins of anatomically modern humans. Perhaps the most
interesting finding of Waddle's (1994a) study is that the data are, in fact, significantly associated
with nearly all of the models, so that the same data could be used to argue as effectively for one
hypothesis as for another. When Waddle's (1994a) results are considered in the context of earlier
studies, they suggest that the failure to resolve the issue of modern human origins results from
the tremendous complexity of the problem. p. 483
Alvah’s comment: By removing Amerindians from the search for Homo Sapiens’s wellspring a
compatible resolution to Human Origins supporting the Replacement hypothesis remains
complex. Every study of Native American origins starts with an “Asian origin” as a given, but
what if this is wrong?
Relethford, J.H. Evolution of Skin Color in Yemenite Jews. Current Anthropology (1998),
Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 150-152.
How long did the evolution of modern human skin color take? Does skin color change rapidly
(on the order of a millennium or so), or does it represent evolution over much longer periods of
time? On the basis of computer simulation, Livingstone (1969) suggested that modern
differences in skin color could have arisen in as few as 800-1,500 generations (roughly 20,00037,500 years). However, such simulations show us only what could happen and not necessarily
what actually did happen. p. 151
Haldane proposed something along this line when he suggested that, because American Indians
near the tropics are not as dark as tropical populations in the Old World, they had not yet fully
adapted to their new environment and therefore the evolution of modern human skin color
differences took longer than the time since initial habitation of the New World (cited in
Livingstone 1969). This paper uses similar logic and extends it to a quantitative analysis of a
7
specific human population with a known history of movement into a different latitude–the
Yemenite Jew. p. 151
The predicted latitude for the Habbani Jews based on their skin color is roughly 32° north
latitude, which is the geographic center of Israel. Even though the Habbani Yemenite Jews spent
between 1,500 and 2,600 years in a different environment, there has been no change in skin
color. It seems that the evolution of human skin color requires greater time depth and is not
indicative of a rapid microevolutionary change. Other populations, also with known histories,
must be examined to provide further insight into the rate of microevolution in skin color. The
basic method here can also be applied to other traits that show a strong geographic relationship.
p. 152
Alvah’s comment: Archaeological evidence for the initial expansion of humans ~45,000 years
ago could, if one looks outside of Africa for the source of this migration, dictate that Old World
population variance in skin color, from white in Europe to dark in Africa and India, are
primarily climate related.
Comas, D., Calafell, F., Mateu, E., Perez-Lezaun, A., Bosch, E., Martinez-Arias, R., Clarimon,
J., Facchini, F., Fiori, G., Luiselli, D., Pettener, D., and Bertranpetit, J. Trading Genes along
the Silk Road: mtDNA Sequences and the Origin of Central Asian Populations. Am. J.
Hum. Genet. (1998), 63:1824-1838.
Central Asia, as defined by Soviet scholars, encompasses the territories east of the Caspian Sea
to the current boundaries of China along the Pamir, the Hindu Kush and farther to the northeast,
and it comprises the republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizstan, and part of
Kazakhstan; in Western literature, Mongolia, Tibet, and Sinkiang (pinyin Xinjiang, western
China) sometimes are included. p. 1824
The role of central Asia in early human evolution and history is not well established. According
to an old, long-dismissed hypothesis, the nearby Altai region could have been the origin of
humankind. It is known that the region was populated during the lower Paleolithic, and there is
ample evidence of settlement during the middle Paleolithic, including Teshik-Tash, the
easternmost site from which Neanderthal remains have been recovered. It is not clear, however,
whether the region was part of a "maturation" phase of anatomically modern humans, a thruway
in the colonization of Europe and eastern Asia, or a place where Asian and European groups met
after their expansion (Bowles 1977). p. 1825
For a sequence to be assigned either to eastern Asia or to Europe, it had to be identical to, or to
differ in no more than two nucleotides from, a sequence found exclusively in Europe or eastern
Asia. That approach allowed us to identify 93.7% of central Asian sequences as belonging to an
already sequenced eastern Asian or European lineage (table 3). An average of 33.2% of the
individuals in our central Asian samples bore a sequence belonging to a European lineage. This
fraction became 35.4% when the unassigned sequences were not taken into account. The
proportion of eastern Asian, European, and unassigned sequences was not significantly different
across central Asian populations (x2 = 7.67, 6 df, P = .264). p. 1830
8
Torroni et al. (1994) did not find, in mtDNA RFLPs in Tibetans, any selective effects
attributable to high altitude; we can reach similar conclusions with control-region sequences
when comparing lowland and highland central Asian populations. p. 1830
The results of the present study consistently show that the central Asia mtDNA sequences
present features that are intermediate between those found in Europe and eastern Asia. This is
especially patent in the following: (i) the cline of the frequency of certain nucleotides in specific
positions, such as those found at positions 16223 and 16362; (ii) polymorphism at the nucleotide
level, as measured by nucleotide diversity–even when the effects of clinal nucloetide positions
are discounted; (iii) the average pairwise-difference values, which are intermediate between
those of Europe and those of Eastern Asia; and (iv) genetic distances, which locate the central
Asian populations between Europe and eastern Asia. Several population history scenarios could
have produced the intermediate genetic features of central Asian mtDNA sequences; some
hypotheses that could be put forth–such as an Asian colonization of Europe, or vice versa–find
no support in archaeological knowledge and would contradict other mtDNA evidence (Ballinger
et al. 1992). However, some of the analyses that we performed will allow us to assess the degree
to which other, more plausible hypotheses are supported by mtDNA evidence. p. 1830
Alvah’s comment: Archaeological support for an Asian origin can be found in looking to dated
encounters between Neadertals and H. Sapiens in western Siberia and by looking at the
evolution of the earliest progenitors to the Upper Paleolithic in the Russian Steep as Leanova
suggests. Also, Johnson et al. 1983 identified Asia as a source for both Europeans and African
populations in one of the first mtDNA studies related to anthropology.
Carbonell, E. and Vaquero, M. Behaviroal Complexity and Biocultural Change in Europe
Around Forty Thousand Years Ago. Journal of Anthropological Research (1998), Vol. 54,
pp. 373-383.
Differences between the [Middle Paleolithic] MP and [Upper Paleolithic] UP are usually
assessed by establishing a series of archaeological parameters (technology, spatial organization,
symbolic behavior, settlement patterns, etc.) and comparing the documented evidence of each
one for both periods (see, e.g., Mellars 1973; White 1982; Kozlowski 1990). p. 374
Two types of factors have had an impact on the scientific community in recent years. On
the one hand, empirical and methodological factors have affected the whole range of data
published. On the other hand, theoretical and conceptual perspectives underlie the most polemic
aspects of the discussion and reflect the multiplicity of paradigms current in the discipline.
In the first place, the contributions made by the field of human paleontology should be
mentioned. The theoretical struggle between the multiregional model (e.g., Wolpoff 1989) and
the "Out of Africa" theory (e.g. Stringer and Andrews 1988) has highlighted the explanatory
weakness of scenarios concerning the transformations which affected hominids and their
activities during isotopic stage 3. p. 374
Were the association of the cultural innovations of the UP and [anatomically modern humans]
AMH valid, the "Out of Africa" hypothesis would imply an African origin for the UP. However,
9
with the data available at the moment, it seems that the UP did not appear in Africa before it did
in other places (Ambrose and Lorenz 1990; Van Peer and Vermeersch 1990). p. 378
What seems to be obvious is that between 45 and 35 kyr B.P., Europe underwent a period of
technical effervescence, with processes of change affecting most of the continent. Both the socalled transitional complexes and the Aurignacian must be understood in this context. p. 379
The idea that transitional industries are the result of acculturation to the Aurignacian contrasts
with the differences between the two entities. The Chatelperronian does not appear to be a mere
copy of the Aurignacian, but rather a typologically and technologically well defined
technocomplex with elements of clear originality. J. Pelegrin (1995) casts doubt on the
hypothesis of acculturation, citing the considerable differences between the respective
technological systems. Harrold (1989) suggests that the Aurignacian affected the genesis of the
Chatelperronian but stresses the typological differences between them. p. 379
Some authors (e.g., Davidson and Noble 1993; Klein 1995; Mellars 1996; White 1989) define a
group of cultural features found in the archaeological record which are characteristic of a
completely modern type of behavior. Among these new patters are the appearance of art, the
development of bone, ivory, and antler technologies; great synchronic and diachronic variability
among lithic artifacts; complex organization of space; and more effective strategies of exploiting
the environment. The appearance of completely modern behavior would have been determined
by neurological changes which defined the development of a fully human brain. As Binford
(1989) has said, one cannot speak of the existence of a fully human culture before the UP. The
conception of AMH as a hominid who was more and better organized has been defended by
authors who find evidence of more complex social organization and who argue that there was no
significant point of contact between [archaic Homo sapiens] AHS and AMH. This argument has
been expressed in different fields of research, such as symbolic expression (Chase and Dibble
1987), lithic technology (Chauchat 1992; Dibble 1989), burial practices (Gargett 1989), and
spatial organization (Pettitt 1997). p. 380
The use of the concepts of mental template and planning as criteria for defining the MP/UP
transition involves difficulties which are similar to those related to the concept of style. In these
cases, speaking of radical differences between the UP and MP does not seem to be justified.
Transporting objects from one place to another and the planning for future needs that this implies
have been shown beyond all doubt to exist in the MP and are fundamental factors in determining
the variability of archaeological assemblages (Geneste 1985; Kuhn 1995). The ability to
mentally develop complex technical processes can be inferred from the operative capacity shown
in MP knapping strategies (Van Peer 1991; Boeda, 1994), as well as from the multiplicity of
reduction strategies used during the MP (Boeda 1993; Turq 1992; Revillion and Tuffreau 1994).
p. 381
One of the most important of these techniques is the excavation of large surface areas which
represent the entirety of the space occupied by human groups at particular sites. Only by this
means can the relationships among objects in space be plausibly reconstructed and,
consequently, the organization aspects of behavior interpreted. Below, we shall discuss the
10
conclusions that we have drawn from an approach of this type at a site belonging to the end of
the MP: the Abric Romani in Capellades (Barcelona Province, Spain). p. 382
The excavation of nine archaeological levels (levels B-J) pertaining to the end of the MP and
dated between 50 and 70 kyr B.P. (Bischoff, Julia, and Mora 1988; Bischoff et al. 1994) has
given us systematic access to evidence of the occupational variability of the last Neandertals. p.
383
Alvah’s comment: Interactions that occurred in the Old World are best divined from the robust
evidence from Europe and the accompanying evidence of a Transition from the MP to the UP.
The authors point out that this occurred in Europe before Africa. This should cause geneticists
to look outside of Africa for the source of Homo sapien expansion, but we seem unwilling to do
so.
Since the New World offers little if any evidence of any kind of Paleolithic in pre-Clovis
times, we must ascertain what we do have in archaeological support. The best example of human
behavior sustaining many pre-Clovis sites is the use of fire. If the indications of fire are simply
“geofacts” and not related to Human sapient activities then one might ask why similar evidence
of fires associated with hearths are NOT found in or about where Homo erectus lived. If they
had a great hoopla would exist, helping archaeologists discern that sapient technologies could
be allied with erectus or Neandertals. The evidence of humanly created fires in association with
hearths and human fingerprints in pre-Clovis times could help us in determining that they were
indeed the product of human behavior. The fact that - fires associated with hearths - are not
found in Middle Paleolithic Europe should help scientists in dismissing the fancy that only in the
New World do “geofacts” of fires enclosed in hearths, exist.
POLYNESIA
Holdaway, S. Stone artefact assemblage variability and scales of temporal resolution at
Bone Cave, Tasmania, Australia. Abstracts for the Paleoanthropolgy Society Meetings. p. A9
Bone Cave is one of a number of limestone caves in the southwest of Tasmania, Australia that
have produced a rich record of Pleistocene human occupation spanning the period from 10,000
to 35,000 BP. This paper reports the results of a technological analysis of 23,000 stone artefacts
excavated from Bone Cave. Artefacts found at the site were manufactured from both local and
imported stone, and suggest a variety of reduction strategies. Twenty-nine radiocarbon
determinations from the site permit a precise chronology to be constructed that indicates the site
was abandoned for substantial periods between occupations during the late Pleistocene. Stone
artefact assemblages constructed on the basis of the radiocarbon determinations are compared
through time to determine the significance of these periods of abandonment. Also considered are
the effects of differing temporal scales of resolution on measures of assemblage variability. p.
A9
Alvah’s comment; Human arrival in Tasmania is consistent with a 35-40 thousand year age. The
conservative dates associated with the radiation of Homo sapiens throughout the Old World
should rely on this timing by scientifically discriminating the consistency of this modern human
boundary for our arrival into the Old World as it continues to be consistently dated as being.
11
From REVIEWS. Geoffrey Irwin, University of Auckland. Reviewing: Goetzfridt, N.J.
Indigenous Navigation and Voyaging in the Pacific: A Reference Guide. Bibliographies
and Indexes in Anthropology No. 6. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992. 294 pp. bib., inds. np.
(cloth).
This myth held that, after initial colonisation, many Polynesian islands were so isolated that they
could be regarded as laboratories for the study of cultural evolution. However, we now have
some predictive modelling for probable prehistoric inter-island contacts, and archaeology,
linguistics and biological anthropology are beginning to fill in the facts. p. 415
Evidently there are many observations and arguments in the literature which perhaps have not
received the attention and acknowledgment they deserve. Moreover, the annotations themselves,
while tersely written, are substantial. Goetzfridt makes no written judgments about the books
and articles he summarises but, so far as I am able to tell, what he has to say about them draws
out the major and essential points correctly. Altogether, this book comes as a pleasant surprise
in being a comprehensive, accurate and therefore most useful, guide to the literature. p. 415
Alvah’s comment; Again, the arrival of Oceanic populations ~40,000 years ago did not lead to a
further expansion as remote Polynesia was only settled 3,600 years ago. The Americas have
been given little serious consideration despite the fact that genetic links to the Americas are
clearly not those associated with the earliest radiation’s Out of Asia for these earliest Oceanic
peoples, as they did not continue into Polynesia.
Betty, D.J., Chin-Atkins, A.N., Croft, L., Sraml, M. and Easteal, S.. Multiple Independent
Origins of the COII/tRNALys Intergenic 9-bp mtDNA Deletion in Aboriginal Australians.
Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1996), 58:428-433.
However, AW222 has C at position 16189; this individual's control region sequence persistently
groups with the six Asia-Pacific individuals with the deletion (fig. 1). None of the eight
individuals we found with the deletion shares the "Polynesian motif" comprising the C at
position 16217, plus G at position 16247 and T at position 16261 (Hagelberg and Clegg 1994;
Redd et al., in press). p. 429
It is now clear that there have been multiple deletions and insertions at this site. Thse findings
do not remove the deletion's utility as a mitochondrial population marker. However, these
results do mean that a common origin of the 9-bp mtDNA deletion in different individuals or
populations must be tested, and not just assumed. p. 431
Alvah’s comment; By looking to the Americas admixture can be assessed against the background
of the 9bp’s distribution (or lack of) in interior populations. If it is found without the Polynesian
motif could it represent selection or an ancient linkage to a common haplotype.
12
Lum, J.K., Cann, R.L., Martinson, J.J., and Jorde, L.B. Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genetic
Relationships among Pacific Island and Asian Populations. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1998),
63:613-624.
By examining different genetic systems from the same individuals, we have generated patterns
consistent with both views. As described above, our mtDNA data are correlated with linguistic
data and suggest island Southeast Asia as the origin of Remote Oceanic Islanders. These data
are consistent with the express train model. Our STR data, in contrast, are not correlated with
linguistic data and highlight affinities between Near Oceanic and Remote Oceanic populations.
We have argued that the differences between these patterns result from postcolonization malebiased gene flow. Genetic interactions between populations after initial colonization may have
been mediated by a predominately male segment of voyaging societies, engaged in the control of
resources. This bias served to preserve pre-existing linguistic differences, lines of status, and
hierarchical divisions among matrilineal kinship groups. Thus, we see female settlement as an
express train and male gene flow as an entangled bank. p. 622
Alvah’s comment; Did the mtDNA express train come from the Americas or is this idea to
unscientific to address? Certainly nuclear DNA would indicate admixture with Native Oceanic
Peoples who had previously colonized southeast Asia (and beyond) ~40,000 thousand years
earlier.
Heathcote, G.M., Stodder, A.L.W., Buckley, H.R., Hanson, D.B., Douglas, M.T., Underwood,
J.H., Taisipic, T.F., and Diego, V.P. On Treponemal Disease in the Western Pacific:
Corrections and Critique. Current Anthropology (1998), Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 359-367.
Their position that climate "would appear not to be the significant determinant of treponemal
disease manifestation" (p. 560) is at extreme odds with epidemiological patterning of treponemal
infections in the Pacific Islands, where climatic conditions associated with yaws endemicity are
tightly circumscribed and include a mean temperature exceeding 18°C throughout the year
combined with an average annual rainfall of 1,650 mm, with rainfall exceeding 65 mm for each
month (Pirie 1971-72). p. 359
Thus, the treponematoses are conceptualized as discrete diseases outside of an
evolutionary ecology framework. This is puzzling, given the claim that "mutation" brought
about a replacement of yaws by syphilis in the New World (p. 560). How such a transmutation
was operationalized and how it is reconciled with the advocacy of universal differential patterns
(yaws versus syphilis) is not discussed.
We do not dispute that the comparative study of treponemal-like lesion distribution in
archaeologically recovered skeletal series can be sound and revealing. Bogdan and Weaver
(1992) have shown that such an approach can be useful in distinguishing patterns more closely
associated (in subcontemporary populations) with nonveneral than with venereal transmission.
pp. 363-364
13
The Rothschilds' only concession to heterogeneity of expression is the assertion that "the osseous
reaction to treponemal infection, although reproducible for each variety, is not uniform among
them" (p. 556). "Reproducible" is the key word here, and this leads us to a consideration of the
elements chosen and ignored for examination of treponemal changes. p. 364
In view of such a provocative position–that all tibial periostitis may be treponemal in origin–we
wonder why no detailed exposition is offered on other (competing) causes of tibial involvement
in the Western Pacific. Attention to the differential changes of leprosy (Moller-Christensen
1967, Andersen, Manchester, and Roberts 1994) would have been appropriate, given the claim of
pre-Spanish antiquity for leprosy in Guam and the Western Pacific region (Trembly 1995).
Tropical ulcers of the shin of nontreponemal origin (Brown and Middlemiss 1956, Ennis, Gueri,
and Sergeant 1972) and trauma to the shin with consequent bacterial or fungal infection should
likewise have received attention. We are aware of sound criteria regarding differential
pathogenesis and skeletal lesions of leprosy, ulcers, and trauma (as well as for their potential for
interaction), but in view of the fragmentary and incomplete nature of the Gognga-Gun Beach
skeletons a frank discussion of interpretive problems and more detailed discussion on differential
regional patterning and appearance of tibial lesions would have been beneficial. p. 364
However, we take issue with elective and unexplained omissions of certain complementary
criteria as well as some heterodox claims as to differences in tibial involvement among the
treponematoses, including the following:
1. The lack of an explanation why treponemal infection would affect the tibia differently
in syphilis versus bejel versus yaws; criteria for differential diagnosis ought to be grounded in
underlying biology and patho-physiology.
2. A conspicuous absence of consideration of cranial lesions (e.g., the caries sicca
sequence, including stellate scars versus crater lesions) and degree of nasal region destruction
(see Hackett 1951, 1976; Steinbock 1976; Ortner and Pustchar 1981).
3. Absence of attention to osseous and dental changes encountered in congenital syphilis
such as osteochondritis, periosteal cloaking, foci of osteomyelitis on the medial surfaces of
proximal tibiae (Wimberger's sign), mulberry molars, and Hutchinson's incisors (see Bogdan and
Weaver, 1992).
4. Failure to recognize several recent contributions toward a differential diagnosis of
yaws. Such distinctive osseous involvement is in keeping with clinical observations that juxtaarticular nodes (joint effusions) are found in yaws cases but not in venereal syphilis (Kampmeier
1982:586).
5. Failure to consider the skeletal impact of coinfections or secondary infections. Others
have found evidence from lesion morphology and distribution that is suggestive of secondary
bacterial and/or fungal infections (Hanson 1991, Stodder, Trembly, and Tucker 1992) and coinfection with leprosy (Stodder, Trembly, and Tucker 1992, Trembly 1995) in late prehistoric
and early historic Mariana Islanders. p. 364-365
Weisler, M.I. Hard Evidence for Prehistoric Interaction in Polynesia. Current Anthropology
(1998), Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 521-530.
14
While some may bemoan the smallness of the sample of three adzes from three sites in two
archipelagoes, the great distances involved and the chronological placement of these finds are
important for prehistoric Polynesian interaction studies. The voyage to Mangareva from the
Marquesas is the longest straight-line distance now documented in the eastern Pacific and attests
to the remarkable, purposeful voyages of prehistoric Polynesians. The ties between the Society
Islands and the Marquesas, long suspected on the basis of artifact styles (of items such as
fishhooks, octopus lures, and adzes), plant distributions (Role 1996: 532), language, and shared
human physical characteristics, are clearly demonstrated here by actual artifact transfer. This
demonstration has implications for the interpretation of the suspected Fiji ceramic sherds in the
Marquesas. Such exotic sherds could represent items brought by colonizing groups which are
now in a disturbed, later stratigraphic context (Green 1974:246-47) or the remnants of pots
transferred during subsequent interarchipelago interaction. It is unlikely that transfer of Fijian
pots was made directly, and the Society Islands may have been part of the conduit of transfer.
pp. 528-529
The study results also provide empirical support for Biggs's (1972:149) idea of multiple intraPolynesian migration and settlement (1972:149; see also Green 1981). This suggestion fits well
with Rolett's "interaction and cultural continuity: model, in which two-way voyaging linked
distant archipelagoes during early East Polynesian prehistory (1993:47). The radiocarbon dates
clearly associated with two Eiao artifacts exported to the Societies and Mangareva and
interarchipelago interaction models based on detailed sourcing studies from the Cooks (Walter
and Sheppard 1996, Weisler and Kirch 1996) and the Mangareva-Pitcairn interaction sphere
(Weisler 1995, 1996, 1997a) clearly demonstrate that long-distance interarchipelago interaction
continued long after colonization. Additional sourcing studies of basalt adze material will
provide the necessary hard evidence for the scale, frequency, and duration of long-distance
interaction, thus providing a firm foundation for understanding the evolution and transformation
of Polynesian island societies. pp. 529-530
SIBERIA
Starikovskaya, Y.B., Sukernik, R.I., Schurr, T.G., Kogelnik, A.M., and Wallace, D.C. mtDNA
Diversity in Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos: Implications for the Genetic History of
Ancient Beringia and the Peopling of the New World. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1998), 63:14731491.
Our first survey of mtDNA variation in the Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos involved partial
haplotype analysis and showed that the "reindeer" Chukchi exhibited three (A, C, and D) of the
four mtDNA haplogroups (A-D) observed in Native Americans but lacked the COII/tRNALys
intergenic 9-bp depletion associated with haplogroup B (Torroni et al. 1993a, 1993b). In
contrast, Siberian Eskimos showed mtDNAs from only two of these haplogroups (A and D), and
appeared to be the only aboriginal Siberian group lacking "other" haplotypes-that is, mtDNAs
that are not within haplogroups A-D (Torroni et al. 1993b; Sukernik et al. 1996). When native
Siberian mtDNAs were subjected to high-resolution restriction analysis, most of these "other"
haplotypes were shown to be ethnic-, tribal-, or region-specific haplotypes that clustered into
15
additional haplogroups. This was seen most clearly in the Udegeys of the Sikhote Alin and in
the Nivkhs of the lower Amur/Sakhalin Island region (Torroni et al. 1993b). p. 1473-1474
Of these 17 haplotypes, 7 were found to belong to haplogroup A, 6 to haplogroup D, 2 to
haplogroup C, and 0 to haplogroup B. In addition, two haplotypes detected in four Chukchi
individuals were identified as belonging to haplogroup G, a predominant mtDNA lineage in the
Koryaks and Itel'men of Kamchatka (Schurr et al., in press).
Table 2 outlines the distribution of these haplotypes, within and between Chukotkan
samples. Haplogroup A haplotypes SIB41 and SIB56 were found to be the most frequent in all
Chukchi and Eskimo subdivisions, with the exception of the Naukan, which SIB56 was missing,
probably because of the restricted sample size of this group. SIB53, which was observed in two
of the three Eskimo subdivisions, did not appear in the Chukchi. The most common haplogroup
D haplotype in the Chukchi and the Eskimo was SIB50, with related haplotypes occurring
infrequently in either one or the other subdivision(s). p. 1477
All Chukotkan CR sequences specific to haplogroup A exhibited the np 16111 CÆT (16111T)
transition, which characterizes both Na-Dene and Amerindian haplogroup A mtDNAs but which
was not observed in those from Asian populations (Torroni et al. 1993b; Horai et al. 1996).
Aside from the 16111T mutation, either the CÆT transition at np16192 (16192T) or the AÆG
transition at np16265 (16265G) further subdivided Siberian haplogroup A mtDNAs and
differentiated Chukotkan haplogroup A sequences from related mtDNAs observed in the
Koryaks and Itel'men of Kamchatka (Schurr et al., in press). p. 1478
Both sublineages shared the np 16298 TÆC transition (16298C), which defines haplogroup C
mtDNAs in both Asia and the New World (Torroni et al. 1993a, 1993b). p. 1477
For haplogroup C, the nodal haplotype is SIB26. It is identical to the Asian haplotype
AS65 and to the Native American haplotype AM43 (Schurr et al. 1990; Ballinger et al. 1992;
Torroni et al. 1993a). SIB59, which occurred in one Sireniki Eskimo, differed from SIB26 by
having two additional mutations not previously seen in other haplogroup C mtDNAs.
For haplogroup D, the nodal haplotype is SIB13. This is identical to AS25 in central and
eastern Asia (Ballinger et al. 1992; Torroni et al. 1993a) and to AM88 in the New World
(Torroni et al. 1992, 1993a). Interestingly, SIB13 was not observed among the Chukchi and
Eskimos, who exhibited a set of haplotypes distinct from those seen in other Siberian
populations. Furthermore, the most divergent haplotype in the Chukotkan groups, SIB40 (fig. 3
and table 1), which assumed a terminal position in the cluster, occurred in the Chukchi and
Naukan Eskimos, as well as in the Koryaks of northeastern Kamchatka (Schurr et al., in press),
suggesting that it belonged to a common gene pool of the latest inhabitants of western Beringia.
p. 1481
The haplotypes from haplogroup Y (SIB01-SIB07) and the "other" category (SIB17 and SIB20SIB25) are also found in Siberia but not in the Americas (Torroni et al. 1993a, 1993b; Schurr et
al., in press). p. 1481
Another cluster, encompassing many of the Haida haplogroup A CR sequences and one Bella
Coola haplogroup A CR sequence, was defined by the presence of the 16355T mutation in the
16
absence of the 16331 transition. This mutation differentiates the Haida from other Na-Dene
populations and reveals its relatedness to Northwest Coast Amerindians (Torroni et al. 1992,
1993a; Shields et al. 1993) (fig. 5). p. 1483-1484
Finally, the haplogroup A CR sequences that harbored the 16129A mutation delineated a North
American Amerindian cluster that encompassed mtDNAs from the Haida, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and
Bella Coola, as well as the Ojibwa. p. 1484
These findings at the phylogenetic level were also reflected in the distribution of shared CR
sequences among northern Pacific Rim tribal groups, as summarized in table 6. The putative
founding CR sequence for haplogroup A, 07, is identical to CIR11 in the Nuu-Chah-Nulth (Ward
et al. 1991). This CR sequence occurs in the Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos, as well as in all of
the major linguistic groups of Native Americans residing in the northern Pacific Rim (Ward et al.
1991; Shields et al. 1993; present study). However, the remaining CR sequences from
haplogroup A occurred in either the Haida and Northwest Coast Amerindians, the Na-Dene
Indians other than Haida, or the Siberian Eskimos and Chukchi. p. 1484
However, recent analyses of CR sequence variation in Native Americans indicate that
haplogroup B may be as diverse as haplogroups A, C, and D (Bonatto and Salzano 1997; Stone
and Stoneking 1998). p. 1487
Alvah’s comment: In a May 1999 gathering of molecular anthropologists Dr. Denise O’Rourke
from the U. of Utah reported that Type A mtDNAs was present in ancient Aleutian Island
Populations dating to 2000 BC but in frequencies < 10%. Similar reduction in frequencies of
Type A in other samples of ancient North American populations could indicate that type A is
recently derived being only one mutation beyond mtDNA C and D. Worth noting is the
prevalence of C and D in Northeast Asian populations (coupled with the virtual absence of Type
A), the eastern perimeter encompassing Boas’s “Eskimo wedge.” Back migration from the
Americas for Siberians, and more recently, the Eskimo, could explain genetic similarities
between them and Native Americans yet Boas’s conclusions made 100 years ago are rarely, if
ever,cited by these authors.
Erlandson, J.M., Tveskov, M.A., and Byram, R.S. The Development of Maritime Adaptations
on the Southern Northwest Coast of North America. Arctic Anthropology (1998), Vol. 35,
No. 1, pp. 6-22.
Here, we address three primary issues in the archaeology of the southern Northwest Coast: (1)
the antiquity of maritime adaptations; (2) the economic significance of sea mammal hunting; and
(3) the nature and importance of fishing and weir technologies. We conclude that the antiquity
of widespread maritime adaptations in the area is unknown, that pinniped hunting is best
understood as an integrated part of broader subsistence adaptations, that coastal fishing was more
diverse and eclectic than previously believed, and that the socioeconomic complexity of some
southern Northwest Coast cultures was greater than previous models have suggested. p. 6
Although adapting to the exploitation of sea mammals, fish, shellfish, and birds led to certain
parallels in technology, demography, and cultural complexity, significant differences also
17
evolved due to local variations in marine and terrestrial environments, migration or in situ
development of distinctive ethnic groups, interaction with neighboring coastal and interior
peoples, and other factors. p. 6
Some of this gap is due to the fact that much of the area is distant from major population
centers and large research institutions. Some archaeologists may also have been discouraged
from studying an area where "little of historical importance" (Drucker 1939:81) was ever
supposed to have happened and relatively little published ethnography was available.
Statements such as Drucker's helped foster the misconception that the southern Northwest
Coast was peripheral to the main currents of North Pacific cultural developments. Such views
were facilitated by the dearth of detailed published accounts on the early history or ethnography
of Native cultures of the area. p. 7
As we define it here, the southern Northwest Coast encompasses most of the eastern margins of
Washington, Oregon, and northern California, from just south of Cape Alava on the north to
Cape Mendocino on the south (Fig. 1). Like much of the Pacific Rim, this roughly 1000 km
stretch of coast is rugged and mountainous, with relatively narrow coastal plains and continental
shelves. This juxtaposition of mountains and the sea provided coastal peoples with access to a
wide variety of habitats and a diverse suite of marine, estuarine, freshwater, and terrestrial
resources. p. 7
Prior to commercial overexploitation, salmon, sturgeon, eels, trout, and other fish were
abundant in coastal rivers, some seasonally and others year round. In the early 1900s, annual
salmon runs appear to have numbered in the hundreds of thousands in several area rivers and
several million in the Columbia River (Cobb 1930).
On land, vegetation communities are comprised primarily of coniferous rain forests, with
the coast redwood forest zone dominant in northern California and the Sitka spruce zone to the
north (Franklin and Dyrness 1988). The latter is dominated by Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis),
western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and red cedar (Thuja plicata). Compared to more
northern areas, plants with edible nuts, seeds, or berries are diverse, with acorns and root plants
(e.g., camas and wapato) locally abundant. The most important large game in much of the area
were deer and elk, but bears and a variety of medium and small mammals once were abundant.
p. 7
Kuzmin, Y.V. and Orlova, L.A. Radiocarbon Chronology of the Siberian Paleolithic.
Journal of World Prehistory (1998), Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 1-53.
The area under study may be subdivided into two parts: Siberia proper and the Russian Far East.
In American geography textbooks they are often described together (e.g., Simmons, 1990).
Russian geographers, however, separate these two regions because of significant differences in
climate and vegetation (e.g., Suslov, 1961). The territory of Siberia belongs to the Arctic Ocean
drainage basin, and the Russian Far East belongs to the Pacific Ocean drainage basin (Fig. 1). p
3
18
Instead, the Mousterian-Upper Paleolithic transition seems to have occurred gradually in Siberia
and the Russian Far East, within the time interval ca. 43,000-28,500 BP. p. 31
Hence, we accept this age of ca. 23,500 BP as a maximum for Ust-Mil 2 (see also Kuzmin, 1994,
p. 368). This interpretation also fits well with the general developmental scheme of microblade
industries in Northeast Asia (Yi and Clark, 1985; Abramova, 1989). The anomalous C-14 dates
from Ust-Mil 2 [30,000 ± 500 BP (LE-1001), 33,000 ± 500 BP (LE-1000), and 35,400 ± 600 BP
(LE-954)] might be explained by the redeposition of "ancient" wood from early Karginian
sediments in the lower part of the section into the younger deposits containing the Dyuktaiculture artifacts (cf. Clark, 1988). Similar caveats about the unsuitability of wood as a material
for precise C-14 dating of the Dyuktai culture have also been made by Abramova (1979c, 1989)
and Yi and Clark (1985). pp. 36-37
It is clear that the Afontovo and Kokorevo cultures coexisted in the Yenisei River basin during
the interval from ca. 21,000 to ca. 11,700 BP. The sequence at Listvenka (Afontovo-like in
layers 14-19, Kokorevo in layers 7-13; and Afontovo again in layers 2-6) (Drozdov et al., 1990,
pp. 131-147) probably reflects the intrusion, at about 15,000 BP, of a Kokorevo population,
northward from the core area some 15,000 BP, of a Kokorevo population, northward from the
core area some 150-200 km away. p. 37
During the last 15 years, after larger-scale excavations of the Dyuktai sites, some new dates have
been obtained. For Ikhine 2, there are two new dates on bone [presumably submitted after the
minor excavations of 1992 (Mochanov and Fedoseeva, 1996, p. 195)]: 20,080 ± 150 BP
(SOAN-3185) and 19,695 ± 100 BP (SOAN-3186). These are significantly younger than the
previous C-14 dates, which range between 31,200 and 24,300 BP. Ikhine 1 was first dated in the
1980s to 16,660 ± 270 BP (IM-452) (Kashin, 1991). Ezhantsy, for which an age of ca. 35,000
BP was originally suggested (Mochanov, 1977), was dated in the 1980s to 17,150 ± 345 BP (IM459) (Kashin, 1991). Thus, we may accept a preliminary conclusion that the youngest C-14
dates from Ikhine 2, ca. 24,600-24,300 BP (Mochanov, 1977), along with newly released dates
from Ikhine 1 and Ezhantsy, accord quite well with the general model of the appearance of
microblades in Siberia ca. 23,000-20,000 BP. pp. 38-39
The distinctive feature of Sartan Glaciation pollen spectra from Yakutia is a very low
content of arboreal pollen. We can see the same feature in the Ikhine 1 pollen diagram for the
upper part of layer 3 (the overlying layer 2 with artifacts is dated to ca. 16,600 BP). A very low
arboreal pollen content is characteristic of Ezhantsy, layer 3, containing Dyuktai tools and dated
to ca. 17,200 BP; and for Ikhine 2, layer 4, dated to ca. 31,200-24,300 BP. Based on all the
observed data, the radiocarbon age of the Dyuktai culture may be estimated at ca. 24,600-10,000
BP.
In the Russian Far East, the earliest C-14 date for microblades is from Ust-Ulma 1, layer
2b, at ca. 19,400 BP. Other typical microblade industries from the middle Amur River basin and
the Primorye are dated to ca. 15,300-10,100 BP, while in Northeaster Siberia, microblade
assemblages are dated to ca. 13,400-8000 BP. p. 39
The Mesolithic layers have dates of ca. 10,500-8200 BP. However, on the basis of the most
recent series of C-14 dates, the boundary between the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic at
19
Eleneva Cave (the contact of the sixteenth and seventeenth cultural layers) dates to ca. 96009300 BP (Orlova, 1998). In the Angara River basin, Mesolithic sites are dated to ca. 9900-7300
BP. On the shore of Lake Baikal, where Mesolithic cultures are well defined (Medvedeve et al.,
1990), they are dated to ca. 10,300-6500 BP. In the Transbaikal, the Mesolithic as a separate
stage (Konstantinov, 1994) is radiocarbon-dated to ca. 12,600-6700 BP. p. 40
In Russian archaeology, the most important criterion for defining the Neolithic is the beginning
of pottery manufacture (e.g., Krushanov, 1989). The emergence of pottery in East Asia at the
end of Pleistocene, ca. 14,000-12,000 BP, was one of the most revolutionary innovations in Old
World prehistory (Barnes, 1993, pp. 64-72). Thus, the end of the Paleolithic and the beginning
of the Neolithic mark a very important chrono-cultural boundary. p. 40
Thus, we now have strong evidence for the existence of the earliest pottery in the Russian Far
East occurring at ca. 13,300 BP (Kuzmin et al., 1997). In the Amur River basin and the
Transbaikal, the Paleolithic-Neolithic transition goes back to ca. 13,300-10,400 BP. In other
parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East, the transition took place much later: at ca. 7900-6700
BP in the Yenisei and Angara River basins and at ca. 6000 BP in the Lake Baikal area and
Yakutia. p. 41
The archaeology and radiocarbon chronology of the Siberian Paleolithic provide the background
for modeling the peopling of the Americas (Morlan, 1987; Powers, 1996). According to West
(1996), the initial peopling of extreme northwestern North America (Alaska and adjacent areas)
took place ca. 11,800-11,700 BP. Thus, the Siberian cultures which may be the "progenitors" of
the Paleoindian cultural complexes must be at least 13,000-12,000 C-14 years old. p. 41-42
Some publications on the peopling of the New World (e.g., Dikov, 1979; Morlan, 1987;
Laukhin, 1990) show the glaciation in this region as a vast and continuous glacial belt in the
mountain ranges, which could have prevented migration toward Alaska. However, the most
recent data (Velichko, 1993) show that glaciation was quite limited in most mountain systems,
and glaciers were numerous only in the Verkhoyansk Range and the Kamchatkan mountains
(Fig. 3). During the Sartan Glacial maximum, the level of the Bering and Chukchi Seas was
about 100 m below that of today and the vast landmass known as the Bering Land Bridge
connected Siberia and North America. Thus, between 20,000 and 18,000 BP several migration
routes to the New World were accessible. Nevertheless, there are no reliable Paleolithic finds of
this or comparable age east of the Lena River basin. p. 42
Using the most reliable dates–those on charcoal from primary stratigraphic contexts–we
concluded that the age of the Clovis progenitors was at least ca. 24,000 BP (Ust-Kova). This
suggests that Clovis progenitors could have migrated to North America from southern Siberia
before the maximum of the Last Glaciation. However, the complete absence of macroblade sites
in Northeastern Siberia (except for the very young sites of Ushki-1 and Kukhtui 3) prevents our
tracing the routes of such migrants. This situation constrains all existing models for the peopling
of the New World. p. 44-45
The earliest C-14 dates for the Nenana cultural complex in Alaska are ca. 11,200 BP and perhaps
11,800 BP (West, 1996). The oldest C-14 age of the Clovis cultural complex in central and
20
southwestern North America is ca. 11,600 BP (Haynes, 1992, 1993; Taylor et al., 1996). The
age of Monte Verde in southernmost South America, which is claimed to be the oldest in the
Americas, is ca. 12,500 BP (Dillehay and Pino, 1997). The fact that Monte Verde is some 500900 C-14 years older than any other widely-accepted Paleoindian site has resulted in much
speculation about the possible timing and routes for the peopling of the Americas. However, the
concept of the "practicable accuracy" of archaeological C-14 dates (Krenke and Sulerzhitsky,
1992) makes it difficult to assert that Monte Verde is actually older than the Nenana and Clovis
complexes. They are all quite close to each other in age, with differences of <1000 C-14 years,
while internal variations in their series of dates are at least 500-800 C-14 years. p. 45
The numerous radiocarbon dates from the Siberian Paleolithic allow us to elucidate the
chronology of the most important changes in Siberian prehistoric life and technology. The
Middle-Upper Paleolithic boundary may be drawn approximately between 43,000 and 28,500
BP; the Early-Late Upper Paleolithic boundary may be placed at ca. 24,000-19,000 BP; and the
Paleolithic-Neolithic boundary, between ca. 13,000 and 6000 BP. p. 46
Alvah’s comment: What is clear from this paper is that the Upper Paleolithic is in it’s infancy at
43,000 and that it continued to develop following its derivation, becoming full blown Upper
Paleolithic as sapiens migrated into Europe. If the dates are correct the first encounters between
Homo sapiens and Homo erectus may have occurred in Western Siberia. Following this
encounter the use of lithic tools by H sapiens expanded along with their range. If this trail is
traced back into the Americas then the use of “bone before stone” could help in linking preClovis bone tool technologies to Alaska and then into western Siberia. Only in the Americas does
an ancestor to Homo sapiens exist that would not require a metamorphous from the separate
species that was H erectus.
Park, R.W. On the Dorset/Thule Analogy for the Middle/Upper Paleolithic Transition.
Current Anthropology (1998), Vol. 39, pp. 355-356.
The specific parallels that she postulates (p. 588) between the Thule and the Upper Palaeolithic
(and thus distinguishing them from the Dorset and the Middle Palaeolithic respectively) are
"population increase, rapid geographic dispersal, permanent human presence, increased
sedentism, larger sites, a denser archaeological record, technological innovation, abrupt
disappearance of an earlier cultural substratum, and displacement/extinction/absorption of earlier
peoples." I would like briefly to address some of these issues for Thule and Dorset. p. 355
HISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Boas, F. The Jesup North Pacific Expedition. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International
Congress of Americanists. (1905) Easton, PA: Eschenback Printing pp. 91-100.
The diversity of types, languages, customs and beliefs is so great that even a brief sketch of the
fundamental features would occupy too much space and time. p. 95
21
While it is impossible to trace linguistic relationship between the numerous stocks inhabiting the
area in question, it has become clear that morphologically the languages of northeastern Asia are
not related to the Ural-Altaic group of languages. The Chukchee, Koryak and Kamchadal, which
are closely related to each other, are polysynthetic, like many of the American languages. They
incorporate the noun in the verb, and resemble in all their fundamental traits typical American
languages. To a less extent the same may be said of the Yukaghir. In a broad classification of
languages, the languages of northeastern Siberia should be classed with the languages of
America. p. 95
Owing to the great differentiation of the American race on the Pacific coast, and to the large
intermixture of Tungus and Turkish blood in Arctic Siberia, the conditions are so complex that it
is difficult to discover relationships without a very detailed study of the anatomical material. p.
95
On the other hand, Mr. Smith discovered that in early times the art of stone-flaking was practised
extensively in southern British Columbia, while in later times and in other regions of the coast
this art seems to have been almost entirely absent. Furthermore, he found a remarkable change
in type between the prehistoric inhabitants of this area and the present race, the former having
long and narrow faces and elongated heads, while at present very wide and heavy faces and short
round heads prevail. All this goes to show that there must have been a considerable change of
population in this region, which in all probability was due to an invasion of tribes from the
interior, by which the population of the coast was considerably modified. It is very interesting to
know that this conclusion, which is based on archaeological evidence, is borne out by linguistic
and ethnological studies. p. 96
Extended migrations must have taken place also in northern British Columbia and in the
adjoining parts of Alaska. Here we find the Haida on Queen Charlotte Islands, the Tlingit in
southern Alaska, and the Tsimshian on the coast of northern British Columbia. p. 97
While the first two have a type of language somewhat similar, in morphological characteristics,
to the Athapascan, the Tsimshian is quite different. The first two have no reduplication, while
Tsimshian abounds in reduplication. The first two have an elaborate verbal system, while the
Tsimshian has a very simple method of verb composition. p. 97
The results of the expedition in regard to probable migrations in the Arctic are even more
remarkable, and have an important bearing upon the question of the relationship between the
tribes of Siberia and those of America. p. 97
This feature is so striking that Mr. Bogoras and Mr. Jochelson have independently reached the
conclusion that a close affiliation exists between eastern Siberian folk-lore and that of southern
Alaska and British Columbia. Mr. Jochelson finds that the Koryak have many incidents in their
tales in common with the Old World and with the North American Indians, and quite a number
which are common to the Koryak, the Eskimo and the Indians, but none that belong to the
Koryak and to the Eskimo alone. p. 98
22
This clew once given, we investigated the cultural similarities in this whole area, and found
ample evidence that there must have been, at an early period, an intimate relationship between
the Indian tribes of the Pacific coast and the peoples of eastern Siberia. p. 98
It seems, therefore, that the expedition has established, on the other hand, a break between
the East Siberian tribes and the Eskimo: and, on the other hand, a relationship between the East
Siberian tribes and the coast Indians. The investigations of Messrs. Jochelson and Bogoras have
also resulted in clearing up the relationship of the Northeast Siberian tribes to the adjoining
Asiatics, particularly to the Tungus and Yakut. There is a fundamental break between the types
of culture of these Asiatic tribes and of the East Siberian tribes; and comparisons of type,
language and culture make it at once evident that the Northeast Siberian people are much more
closely akin to the Americans than to other Asiatics.
The data collected by the expedition thus establish the fact that the Chukchee, Koryak,
Kamchadal and Yukaghir must be classed with the American race rather than with the Asiatic
race. p. 99
Future researchers may somewhat modify our views as to the lines of migrations here discussed,
particularly, it seems possible that a more thorough investigation of the Alaskan Eskimo may
correct our present conclusions as to the role that this tribe played in communicating Asiatic
culture to America, and American culture to Asia, but it may be expected that the question which
the expedition tried to solve will be modified by these researchers only in detail. The main fact
of the existence of a close relation between the aborigines of Siberia and of America seems to be
well established. p. 100
Alvah’s comment: Few researchers site this work and/or the conclusions made of a backmigration following the end of the last Glacial. Boas’s “Eskimo Wedge theory” encompasses
two separate migrations; the Eastern Siberian Populations then the ancestors of the Eskimo.
Both of these groups were identified by Boas as coming from North America. Thus, according to
Boas, populations often identified as the ancestors of Native Americans, could actually be
refluxes of aboriginal Amerindians into the Old World. Since this paper is rarely cited I thought
Mother Tongue should at least qualify its existence!
Harkin, M. Past Presence: Conceptions of History in Northwest Coast Studies. Arctic
Anthropology (1996), Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 1-15.
The question of history, and even more, of temporality, is central to the way anthropologists
view their "others," and hence the image that is constructed of them. Johannes Fabian 91983), in
his critique of anthropological theory and practice, describes the central issue as a "denial of
coevalness." That is, anthropologists (whose opinions are influential in shaping those of other
members of their societies) have depicted the "other" in such a way that it is impossible to
imagine that he inhabits the same world as we "moderns." These tribal people dwell in
historyless worlds that are "cold" in the Levi-Straussian sense. p. 1
I do not believe it is correct to view anthropology as merely reactive to changes happening in the
larger world. Rather, anthropology has changed as well due to its own internal institutional and
intellectual dynamics. These changes have often themselves had an important effect upon the
23
larger world. Not only the popularizers, such as Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, but the
systematizers, such as Claude Levi-Strauss and Leslie White, the originators, such as Franz Boas
and E.E. Evans-Pritchard, and the auteurs, such as Clifford Geertz and Bronislaw Malinowski,
have had a lasting influence on the sensibilities of the educated middle class in North America
and western Europe. That is why periodic reexaminations of our professional past are so
important. p. 2
But are these phases paradigms? Can we even speak of paradigms in the human sciences? In
anthropology at least there have always been multiple voices, multiple churches of orthodoxy.
The closest we can come to a paradigm in the Kuhnian sense is probably the central position of
Boasian method and theory between 1900 and 1930. (This is the only phase for which I have
used the term "paradigm.") This is especially clear in Boas' home field of the Northwest Coast.
While Boasians were jousting with their evolutionary-minded British cousins. p. 10
Ethnohistory, in the sense it has developed on the Northwest Coast and elsewhere in recent
years, is very much a product of this world. It has numerous advantages, both ethical and
theoretical, over previous styles in Northwest Coast research. It highlights, not ignores, the
unfair and often barbarous treatment First Nations received at the hands of people of European
descent and their institutions, which has occurred in the recent past, and even up to the present
day. It views the "native" as an agent, and sees historical processes as dialogic, and not merely
local reactions to universal processes (as both acculturation and World Systems theory have it).
At the same time, its emphasis on the specificity of culture makes it difficult to view indigenous
people as merely bourgeoisie in cedar bark dress (Sahlins 1995:145-189). Finally, it engages
current political realities in a way that previous styles of ethnography never could. Legal claims
to territory and resources may be strengthened by ethnohistorical research: certainly a sense of
historical identity and connectedness with the past may be. It seems that, finally, anthropologists
have hit upon the theme that aboriginal people are truly interested in, and which provides a great
deal of common ground between the two camps. p. 10
Alvah’s comment: Should we examine the Native American contention that they have always
been here?As Harkin staes “That is why periodic reexaminations of our professional past are so
important (p. 2).” Back migration was one of Franz Boas most powerfull observations yet it
seems unherd of in todays assesments of gentic linkage between Siberians and Native Americans.
Harkin asserts; “In anthropology at least there have always been multiple voices, multiple
churches of orthodoxy. The closest we can come to a paradigm in the Kuhnian sense is probably
the central position of Boasian method and theory between 1900 and 1930. (This is the only
phase for which I have used the term "paradigm.") This is especially clear in Boas' home field of
the Northwest Coast. While Boasians were jousting with their evolutionary-minded British
cousins (p. 10).”
Introductory remarks by Fewkes, J.W., President of the American Anthropological Association.
The Problems of the Unity or Plurality and the Probable Place of origin of the American
Aborigines. American Anthropologist (January-March, 1912), Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 1-59.
At what epoch man came to our continent from a former home; how he made his way hither; and
his history since he came, are questions that possess greater and greater attraction as the science
24
of man becomes broader and deeper. While the majority of anthropologists hold that man's
original home was in Eurasia, there are those who advance reasons which in their judgment are
equally adequate to prove that he was autochthonous in America, whence he spread to the Old
World. Some students have held that America was peopled from the Old World because
conditions of life were more complex on that continent than in the New, and because the simians
most closely allied anatomically to man are indigenous to the Eastern Hemisphere. As none of
the higher apes occur in America, it is reasoned that man, who is regarded as related to these
animals, could not have been evolved in America. If we accept the theory that man originated in
the Old World, it is evident that his colonization of America is a question of mode of migration,
which resolves itself into a geographical or a geological one. p. 2
It can readily be seen that the question becomes a paleontological one, and so far as the
determination of the age of the strata in which the anthropologist finds human remains is
concerned, a purely geological problem. Unless we are prepared to accept an autochthonous
origin of man or his evolution from higher animals in America, the means of primitive migration
available, and the conditions of culture implied by a sea voyage, must not be overlooked. It is
evident that the situation of islands, the configuration of land, and changes in its contour, are
directly connected with all theories of the peopling of America. p. 2
Holmes, W.H. Bearing of Archeological Evidence on the Place of Origin and on the
Question of the Unity or Plurality of the American Race.
With regard to this question, the consensus of opinion among students of the subject
favors the view that the Old World gave birth to the human kind. Traces of human occupancy
are found in the Old World associated with geological formations that may be safely assigned to
the close of the Tertiary period, and it is incumbent on those who hold to the theory of American
origin to establish occupancy of the New World. Two regions only in America have furnished
testimony worthy of serious consideration in this respect–California and Argentina. The
testimony in both of these cases is striking and picturesque, giving American man a place in the
far Eocene, and is supported with much enthusiasm by a few students who are ready to stake
their scientific reputations on the outcome. Recent investigations relating to North American as
well as South American early man show that the testimony, if it is to stand, must have much
additional support.
In view of these conditions, the theory of an autochthonous origin of the American race
may be set aside, and the problem of the arrival in the New World of racial elements originating
in the Old World need alone receive consideration. pp. 30-31
Fletcher, A.C. Some Ethnological Aspects of the Problem.
The various kinship groups composing a tribe are apt to be so combined as to express a
recognition of the apparently dual natural forces, represented by Day and Night, Summer and
Winter, Sky and Earth. This duality concept sometimes takes on an anthropomorphic form and
the forces are regarded as male and female, or, they are reflected in social conditions, and
represented as War and Peace. The two parts always stand for dissimilar but complementary
forces or powers.
Not only in the tribal organization does this duality concept appear, but it is to be found
reflected in many of the religious ceremonials of the people. It is to the latter that one must turn
for the more direct expression of "religious ideas." It may safely be stated that among the
25
American race what may be termed "religious ideas" are fundamental to all ceremonials and
upon them is built the tribal organization.
These "religious ideas," briefly stated, are founded upon the native conception of the
cosmos. In this conception man views all things from his own personality and from this
standpoint predicates his relationship to animate and inanimate nature.
Conscious within himself of an ability to move and to bring to pass, he regards motion,
whether of body or of mind, as a universal ability and as the simplest and most fundamental
manifestation of a mysterious, indwelling power that has brought all things into existence and is
the cause of all movement; of the winds, the clouds, the storm, the rivers, the growth of
vegetable forms, the activities of animals, and the physical and mental life of man. There is no
visible thing within which this mysterious power does not dwell and that is not made active or
stable by it. To man, this mysterious power is invisible and only knowable indirectly through its
manifestations in nature and living forms. Since all things (for nothing to the Indian is strictly
inanimate), including man, derive life and motion from this mysterious power, all things are
regarded as in a sense, related to each other, because of the mysterious power that pervades and
sustains all natural forms. pp. 37-38
Chamberlain, A.F. The Problem from the Standpoint of Linguistics.
It may be said here that the American languages are younger than the American Indians, and
that, while the latter may have reached the New World in very remote times via Bering strait, the
former show no evidence of either recent or remote Asiatic (still less European) provenance.
There is thus absolutely no satisfactory evidence, from a linguistic standpoint, of the ultimate
Asiatic derivation of the American aborigines; nor is there any of such a character as to argue
seriously against such a view, which seems, on the whole, both reasonable and probable. Certain
real relationships between the American Indians and the peoples of northeastern Asia, known as
"Paleo-Asiatics," have, however, been revealed as a result of the extensive investigations of the
Jesup North Pacific Expedition, which have been concerned with the somatology, ethnology,
mythology, folk-lore, linguistics, etc., of the peoples on both sides of the Pacific, from Columbia
river to Bering Strait and from the Amur to the extreme point of northeastern Asia. The
monographs containing the scientific results of the Jesup Expedition are still in course of
publication. The ones most significant for American-Asiatic relations are those of Sternberg on
the tribes of the Amur, Jochelson on the Koryak and the Yukaghir, and Bogoras on the Chukchee
and the Siberian Eskimo. The general conclusion to be drawn from the evidence disclosed by
the Jesup Expedition is that so-called "Paleo-Asiatic" peoples of northeastern Asia, i.e., the
Chukchee, Koryak, Kamchadale, Gilyak, Yukaghir, etc., really belong physically and culturally
with the aborigines of northwestern America; and they probably reached the parts of Asia they
now inhabit (or once inhabited, for some of them had formerly a larger area of distribution) from
America at a time more recent than the original peopling of the New World from Asia by way of
Bering strait. Like the modern Asiatic Eskimo, they represent a reflux from America to Asia and
not vice versa. In brief, these peoples may be said to be "modified Americans." It is the opinion
of good authorities also that the "Paleo-Asiatic" peoples belong linguistically with the American
Indians rather than with the other tribes and stocks of northern or southern Asia. Here we have,
then, the only real relationship of a linguistic character that has ever been convincingly argued
between tongues of the New World and tongues of the Old. The special resemblances of the
Gilyak with the American Indian languages, from a morphological point of view, has been
treated by Sternberg, in a paper read before the Congres International des Americanistes at
26
Stuttgart in 1904. In his sketch of the grammar of the Yukaghir, Jochelson points out a number
of respects in which that language also resembles the American Indian rather than the UralAltaic tongues of the Asiatic continent. And finally, Dr. Franz Boas, in his article on
"Ethnological Problems in Canada," makes this statement: "A consideration of the distribution,
and the characteristics of languages and human types in America and Asia, have led me to
formulate the theory that the so-called Paleo-Asiatic tribes of Siberia must be considered as an
offshoot of the American race, which may have migrated back to the Old World after the retreat
of the Arctic glaciers." p. 56
Dixon, R.B. Mythology.
In its relations to the mythologies of other areas, the most important associations are to be
found with northeastern Asia. Here the degree of similarity is most striking, the myths of
northeastern Asia and of northwestern America forming practically one great group, the
members of which are allied not by form alone, but by actual content of the myths themselves.
Except for this area, no clear evidence of relationship has been shown.
This Asiatic relationship must not, however, be regarded as furnishing evidence relating to
the origin of the American Indian. It indicates a cultural relationship only, and far from pointing
to an Asiatic source for the culture even, the bulk of the evidence would favor the theory that the
similarity shown in the mythologies is the result of influences passing from America to Asia, and
not in the reverse direction. Such cultural influence, moreover, belongs to a stage in culture far
above that which must have been possessed by the ancestors of the present Indian at the time
when they first came to America and belongs to a period far more recent than that at which the
peopling of the American continent must have taken place. p. 59
Alvah’s comment: The preceding concepts helped to one; eliminate the Americas from the
search for human origins while the concordance of evidence would seem to qualify the unincorporated theory of a “back-migration” from the Americas into Siberia at the end of the last
Ice Age. Funny how we continue to dismiss, without testing further, the idea of human ancestors
in the Americas or, even, the fundamental Boasian contention - the unpublished results of the
Jesup Expedition - of “back-migration” by Natives Americans into Siberia after the termination
of the Last Glacial.
Was this conclusion, and the subsequent rattling of the British-evolutionists cage, to lead
Boas to become primarily a data collector. His later reluctance to feed the fire of
anthropological debate may stem from the contempt that surfaced when he first identified backmigration for links between Siberians and Native Americans.
Weil, J. Boasian Anthropology and Identity Politics. Current Anthropology (1998), Vol. 39,
No. 3, pp. 391-394.
Each new generation can benefit from a fresh look at the oft-cited passage from Ruth Benedict's
obituary of Boas; reiterated in George Stocking's editorial introduction: "he found anthropology
a collection of wild guesses and a happy hunting ground for the romantic lover of primitive
things; he left it a discipline in which theories could be tested and in which he had delimited
possibilities from impossibilities" (pp.3-4). p. 391
27
NORTH AMERICA
Hall, D.A. Though Science Sometimes Takes Time, The Consequences Can Be Spectacular.
Mammoth Trumpet (1997), Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 1, 14-17.
These two early Nevada men looked somewhat different from most of the people who are known
to have inhabited the area about 5,000 years later. Possibly they represent a population that
reached North America before other ancestors of today's Native Americans. Analysis of cranial
measurements of skeletons that date to around 9,000 years ago or earlier indicates those people
had different morphologies and may have had different roots than later Americans. Forensic
anthropologists, expert at determining the physical characteristics of crime and accident victims,
say these most-ancient Americans had certain generalized features they see in contemporary
Caucasian populations. p. 15
Alvah’s comment: Since the European mtDNA markers are found in northern North Americans
with little, if any, in South American Indians, then the idea that the First Americans were
displaced by later Asian migrants must explain why the European mtDNAs (X Type women
lineages) survived only in northern North American populations and/or why, if Europeans were
FIRST, European mtDNAs are not represented in South American Populations? The obvious
answer is that Europeans were more recent migrants to the Americas. Encounters, at the end of
the last Ice Age, between Europeans with Paleolithic technologies, and pre-existing pre-Clovis
populations not only fits the genetic data better but, moreover, suggests that intermarriage
between these once isolated groups, is an indicator of peaceful assimilation.
Plumet, P. and Lebel, S. Dorset Tip Fluting: A Second "American" Invention. Arctic
Anthropology (1997), Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 132-162.
Basal fluting of Clovis and Folsom Paleo-Indian points is usually considered as the earliest
technical "invention" made by an American population, some 12,000 years ago. The purpose of
this paper is to introduce, describe, and analyze another prehistoric American invention–tip
fluting of points–which was characteristic of the Early and especially the Middle Dorset cultures
in the Late Paleo-Eskimo period (2500-1250 BP). During this period the non-tip-fluted points
tended to be unifacial, whereas bifacial points dominated during the Late Dorset (1250-650 BP).
This very particular technique has not been observed in any other prehistoric culture in the New
or Old World.
Only some small North African Neolithic arrow points present an
apparentlysimilar feature, but they are much smaller at the very end (Fig. 1a). p. 132
Workman, W.B. and McCartney, A.P. Coast to Coast: Prehistoric Maritime Cultures in the
North Pacific. Arctic Anthropology (1998), Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 361-370.
Maritime adaptations are earlier in the ice-free North Pacific than farther north, with independent
centers of development in Asia and northwest North America. The available evidence from the
North Pacific rim suggests that maritime hunting and fishing were Holocene developments that
28
arose independently of any earlier coastal adaptations during the initial peopling of the
Americas. p. 361
Origins and Antiquity of Maritime Culture in the North Pacific
It seems clear that exploitation of marine resources was significantly earlier in more southerly,
ice-free seas, both in Asia and North America, than it was farther north. p. 367
The mid-Holocene Hokkaido Jomon people should probably be admitted to the roster of
maritime cultures, although farther south full-fledged commitment to maritime subsistence was
deflected in part by the richness and diversity of the terrestrial resource base, especially plant
food. This situation has parallels on the central and southern Northwest Coast in North America.
p. 367
In North America, sea-oriented peoples occupied the Kodiak Archipelago by 6000 years ago
(Hausler-Knecht 1993). It seems fully possible that people with a subsistence based on maritime
resources had made their way into the eastern Aleutians by or before 8000 years ago. Dated
human occupations approaching the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary beyond 10,000 BP are
documented for southeastern Alaska and the Queen Charlotte Islands on the Northwest Coast. p.
367
Geographic realties strongly suggest that the early hearths of maritime culture in northeast Asia
and northwestern North America developed independently of each other. p. 368
We see nothing in the evidence provided in this volume to make us alter a previously expressed
judgment (Workman 1989) that maritime adaptations are mainly a Holocene phenomenon, one
of many expensive economic strategies adopted by the ancestors to survive and prosper in a
somewhat resource-depleted post-Pleistocene world. p. 368
Stone, A.C., and Stoneking, M. mtDNA Analysis of a Prehistoric Oneota Population:
Implications for the Peopling of the New World. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1998), 62:1153-1170.
Sequence data indicate a correspondence between each marker and particular hypervariable
region I (HVI) mutations (Ginther et al. 1993; Horai et al. 1993; Bailliet et al. 1994; present
study). Bailliet et al. (1994) suggested a fifth cluster of lineages that has a unique HVI mutation
at nucleotide 16278 and does not possess any of the characteristic markers. p. 1153
A total of 328 bp (nucleotides 16056-16383) of the HVI common to all sequences were used for
these analyses. Using the quartet-puzzling method to relate Native American and Mongolian
sequences with maximum likelihood resulted in a poorly resolved tree. Of 14,463,090 quartets,
49.3% were unresolved, which indicates that these data are not good for this type of analysis.
The g rate heterogeneity parameter a was estimated from the data, giving a = .30. p. 1159
Typically, group D lineages are rather dispersed, with very low bootstrap support. This results
from the characteristic group D mtDNA HVI mutations that include those at nucleotide 16223
(also found in group A and C lineages) and at nucleotides 16325 and 16362, which fall into the
29
highly variable class of sites (Hasegawa et al. 1993) found in many other lineage clusters. The
Yanomami haplogroups X6 and X7, identified by Easton et al. (1996) as new, independent
Native American haplogroups, are generally interspersed among the group D sequences, often
sharing the same branch with group D sequences. p. 1160
When only two regions, North America and Haida, were examined, the variation among regions
(9.96%) was not significant (P = .21), which indicates that mtDNA sequences from the Haida,
classified as Na-Dene speakers by Greenberg (1987), are not significantly different from those
found in North American Amerind speakers. p. 1163
Thus, according to these data, Mongolians and Native Americans look like members of the same
population that began an expansion ~95,000 years before the present (B.P.) (48,000 years under
the faster rate). Similar results were obtained when the Mongolian data were subdivided into
Dariganga and Khalkha cultural groups and compared to the Norris Farms Oneota. p. 1163
The Norris Farms Oneota possessed a high percentage of single lineages (73.9%) compared to
most modern populations. However, this could also reflect Oneota population history.
Additional precontact populations should be examined to determine whether a high number of
rare lineages is a general feature. p. 1164
Instead, lineage 24 groups with Mongolian sequences that belong to Asian haplogroup F in
Kolman et al. (1996). Moreover, as noted by Bailliet et al. (1994) and Forster et al. (1996), NuuChah-Nulth lineages 1-4 probably do not belong to one of the four primary Native American
haplogroups. In this research, they cluster with Norris Farms lineage 24 in phylogenetic trees of
Native American lineages and with group F Mongolian lineages in phylogenetic trees of Native
American and Mongolian lineages (fig. 2). p. 1166
Thus, as noted by Forster et al. (1996), the HaeIII site should not be used alone to define any
new haplogroup , and it may be questionable to assume that the site is informative about the
number of founding lineages. As a result, the conclusion that X6 and X7 represent new founding
lineages does not seem warranted, and it seems more likely that they are derived from C and D
lineages. p. 1166
The pairwise comparison of sequences from Native Americans and Mongolians sheds some light
on the debate over the number and diversity of migrant populations. The data indicate that
Mongolian and Native American populations, including the Haida, have not been isolated from
one another for a sufficiently long period of time to generate the mutations needed to result in a
leading intermatch distribution. These intermatch distributions resemble the distribution
generated when two populations diverge and then expand at approximately the same time
(Harpending et al. 1993). p. 1167
The AMOVA analysis between the Haida and other North American populations also does not
indicate that the Haida are significantly different from other Native Americans. These data thus
suggest that the ancestors of the Haida were included in the initial colonization of the Americas
and not the product of a later separate migration from Asia. p. 1167
30
These Native American populations seem to be exceptions to this, since Chibchan populations
are agriculturists and the Haida share food procurement strategies as well as geographic location
with the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, who have a much smoother mismatch distribution and a high amount
of sequence diversity. p. 1167
In their analysis of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth mtDNA data, Ward et al. (1991) suggested that the
sequence differences within lineage clusters coalesce ~8,000-15,000 years B.P. and that many of
these differences occurred within Amerindian populations. p. 1167
The mtDNA evidence does not support the three-wave hypothesis of migration into the New
World. Native American mtDNA lineages are a subset of Asian lineages, and these lineages are
typically rare in Asian populations. Consequently, one would not expect to see these same
lineages introduced repeatedly into the Americas.
Alvah’s Comment: If Types A-D being were “derived Lineages”, resulting from pre-Clovis
Amerindian isolation during the Wisconsin Glaciation, then Back-migration into Siberia could
help explain similarities between the Populations of Northeast Asia that most anthropologists
automatically identify as “the ancestors of the first Americans.” Boas concluded that this
assumption is flawed while his identification of an alternative explanation for the relationship
between Northeast Asians and Native Americans has been lost in the 100 year old shuffle of
Paradigms lost.
SOUTH AMERICA
Demarchi, D.A., and Macrellino, A.J. Dermatoglyphic Relationships among South
Amerindian Populations. Human Biology (1998), v. 70, no. 3, pp. 579-596.
O'Rourke and Suarez (1985) observed that the synthetic gene frequency maps for South America
do not give any evidence of migration or population movement. Instead, they seem to be
irregular, derived from isolated populations drifting independently. The fact that blood genetic
traits respond readily to microevolutionary processes could be one of the probable causes of such
discordances (Froehlich and Giles 1981b).
Of special interest is the close resemblance found between the Andean and the tropical
forest groups. This relationship has been described in several studies from different sets of data.
Based on morphometrics and material culture, Vellard (1981) proposed that the Quechua's
origins may be found in ancient Amazonian populations who displaced the earlier inhabitants of
the Andes. Ruffie and colleagues of the Centre d'Hemotypologie du Toulouse observed
remarkable genetic resemblances between the Aymara and Quechua and aboriginals from the
Amazonian forest, near Guiana (Ruffie and Larrouy 1966; Arnaud et al. 1981). Craniometric
and blood genetic studies carried out by Rothhammer and Silva (1989, 1992) also suggest that
the origin of Andean populations is probably Central Amazonia. Hoff et al. (1981) also found a
close affinity between Andean and Amazonian populations in their dermatoglyphic traits. Based
on their own results and those reported by Blaco and Chakraborty (1975) (who worked with 10
31
serum polymorphic systems), suggested a more recent common origin or substantial gene flow
between the populations. Our results are consistent with this conclusion. p. 592
Interpreted in terms of a branching model, our results suggest an earlier separation of the
paleo-American-speaking tribes from the original colonizer population of South America and a
relatively recent separation of the tropical forest and Andean populations. Although this model
overlooks the effect of genetic drift and gene flow on genetic distances (Relethford and
Harpending 1994), the pattern of relationship found among the South American tribes seems to
be related to shared ancestry rather than to gene flow between geographically proximate
populations.
Another possibility is that more than one migration took place into South America.
Although several studies based on mtDNA founding haplotypes suggest a single wave of
migration into South America (Merriwether et al. 1995), morphological evidence from fossil
remains (Neves and Pucciarelli 1991; Munford et al. 1995) and morphological and mtDNA
analyses from dental remains carried out on recent Fueguian-Patagonian samples (Lahr 1995;
Fox 1996) indicate that the biological diversity in South America might be the result of at least
two migration waves. The highly significant separation between the paleo-Americans and the
Andean and tropical forest cluster found in this study supports this hypothesis. p. 593
Ribeiro-Dos-Santos, A.K.C., Santos, S.E.B., Machado, A.L., Guapindaia, V. and Zago, M.A.
Heterogeneity of Mitochondrial DNA Haplotypes in Pre-Columbian Natives of the Amazon
Region. American Journal of Physical Anthropology (1996), 101:29-37.
Thus, although only haplotypes shared by Asian populations were detected, a wide haplotype
variability was observed. If our sample is representative of Pre-Columbian South America, the
percentage of haplotypes (39%) not belonging to the four haplogroups described by Horai is
much greater than in contemporary indigenous populations. This permits us to suggest that, in
addition to the postulated bottleneck effect during the migration from Asia to the Americas, the
depopulation effect started by European colonization in the 16th century contributed to the
reduction of genetic variability of Amerindians. p. 29
There is no agreement about data interpretation, and even the possibility of a restricted number
of ancestral lineages has been questioned. p. 30
The reduced number of mitochondrial lineages detected among contemporary Amerindians may
be the product of a bottleneck effect during migration from Asia to the Americas (Wallace and
Torroni, 1992), or the consequence of the drastic reduction in the number of individuals after
contact with Europeans (Ubelaker, 1992; Cunha, 1992), or both. In any case, the idea of a
reduced number of founding lineages is not consensual (Ward et al., 1991; Horai et al., 1993;
Balliet et al., 1994). p. 30
Despite the fact that this was a relatively small sample, a wide haplotype variability was
demonstrable: in addition to the four haplogroups described by Horai et al. (1993)
corresponding to 61% of the sample, there were eight samples that did not belong to any of these
haplogroups, which we have tentatively assembled into groups V and VI. p. 35
32
The two mutations are shared by different ethnic groups, indicating that they precede by a long
time the entry of the first inhabitants into the Americas. The (C Æ T) transition in nt 16,233 is
detected at low frequency among Blacks, Caucasians, and Mongoloids of the Asia-I group, and
at high frequency among Mongoloids of the Asia-II group (Horai and Hayasaka, 1990). p. 35
If our sample is representative of Pre-Columbian America, the proportion of haplotypes not
belonging to the four haplogroups of Horai et al. (1993) is much greater than in contemporary
indigenous populations. This finding, however, is also supported by our results obtained in
contemporary Amerindian populations from the Amazon, showing that 7% of the haplotypes
obtained concomitantly by RFLP and sequencing lack one of the characteristic markers of the
four haplogroups (S.E.B. Santos, A.K.C. Ribeiro-dos-Santos, D. Meyer, and M.A. Zago,
unpublished). This permits us to suggest that the reduction in genetic variability observed in
present-day Amerindian populations could also be attributed to the depopulation effect that
started in the 16th century, which decreased the population size by more than 95% (Dobyns,
1966), in addition to the bottleneck effect during migration from Asia to the Americas, as
proposed earlier. p. 36
Alvah’s comment: If pre-Clovis populations inhabited the Americas behind the veil of Glacial
barriers, and if migration(s) went both into and back out of the Americas at the end of the Last
Ice Age, then the effects of encounters between once isolated populations must be re-assessed.
Could the evidence of Type X - E mtDNAs in Northern Amerindians indicate admixture from
Europe? Would this encounter have been a vector to later genetic variability?
LANGUAGE
Ganger, J., and Stromswold, K. Innateness, Evolution, and Genetics of Language. Human
Biology (1997), 70: 2, pp. 199-213.
Given that the rules of syntax are too complex for a general-purpose learner to deduce
without training and that children do not require training, children cannot be general-purpose
learners when it comes to language. They must come equipped with special-purpose learning
algorithms that allow them to learn language in a rapid and error-free manner.
Observational and experimental studies provide additional evidence for the innateness of
language. p. 200
The order in which children acquire grammatical morphemes of English is also relatively
uniform across children (Brown 1973; de Villiers and de Villiers 1973), as is the order in which
children acquire complex constructions such as questions, negatives, datives, and passives
(Stromswold 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995; Snyder and Stromswold 1997). As we will see in the final
section of this paper, although some children are faster than other children at acquiring language,
the fact that most children acquire the components of language is essentially the same order
suggest that language development is largely the result of innate processes. p. 201
33
For example, the creolized language of second-generation pidgin speakers includes embedded
and relative clauses, aspectual distinctions, and consistent word order, despite the absence of
such features in the input language (Bickerton 1981). Thus children who are given a pidgin as
their language input go beyond their input and "invent" a language that is more complex and
includes the grammatical necessities of natural language. Studies of creolization thus provide
compelling evidence that human children are programmed to develop a specific kind of language
even with minimal input. p. 201
Evolution of Language
In evaluating evolutionary theories of language, it is useful to think of them as divided along two
dimensions. The first major dividing line is the means of evolution. At one extreme is
adaptation, according to which language evolved by Darwinian natural selection for some
purpose, such as communication. Opposing adaptation is nonadaptation, which can be realized
as exaptation (the appropriation of previously developed structures for new functions),
serendipity (the opportune birth of a structure or function as a by-product of other structures), or
various other possibilities. p. 202
Several researchers have argued that syntax serves as a link between mental representation and
speech or motor control and that syntactic properties are due to trade-offs between these
functions. The linguist Frederick Newmeyer provides a representative example of this type of
theory. According to Newmeyer (1991), our ancestors already had a system of conceptual
representation and a system of vocalization in place when selection occurred for syntax (a
system linking the two). thus syntax was not selected for directly because of its communicative
and representational functions but because it served as a link between preexisting systems. p.
204
Lieberman (1984) pointed out that the physiological and anatomical adaptations in jaw shape
and the tongue and larynx placement required for speech are disadvantageous for breathing and
swallowing. He argued persuasively that such a detrimental situation could not have evolved
unless it caused improvements in syntax or some other aspect of language. Therefore speech and
syntax must have evolved in concert, not in succession. p. 205
Bickerton (1990) made specific claims about when and how this representational ability evolved.
He argued that the jump from proto-language to syntax was made all at once in one species.
According to Bickerton, the diversity of tools and artifacts one might expect from a linguistic
society was not present in pre-sapiens species, so ours must have been the first to use language.
p. 205
A second problem with Bickerton's theory is that, just because children make a leap in their
second year of life from a proto-language to full-fledged syntax, this does not imply the same
leap could have been made in a single mutation. As we saw earlier, syntax is not much use
without highly developed systems of communication and representation. Despite what is
certainly a narrowly constrained Bauplane of the human brain, syntax probably did not develop
all at once without some form of these other abilities in place, nor is it likely that these other
abilities developed without syntax. Given that these abilities must have coevolved, Bickerton's
jump is more likely to be an extended period of coadaptation, as Lieberman proposed. p. 206
34
The physiological and functional proximity of language to tool use may account for how
language evolved, but not why. To answer this second question, Greenfeild proposed that
language evolved as a way to pass on knowledge of tools to others. If an individual can benefit
from the inventions of previous generations, he does not have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak,
with each problem. p. 206
To sum up, it is difficult to advance the study of evolution of language if we do not know the
purpose for which language was adapted. Language may have been adapted for a specific
communicative purpose, such as tool use or hunting, or for communication in general. It may
have been adapted for better representation of the world, which in turn allowed for more abstract
thought and reasoning–or perhaps just for better hunting. But, as Chomsky warns, language may
merely be a spandrel of the brain's complexity and hence may not have been adapted at all.
Researchers must realize that when they propose that language was adapted for a particular
function, no matter how innocent and intuitively obvious that purpose seems (e.g.,
communication), is not uncontentious. Researchers need to put more effort into justifying the
function of language that they advocate. Such argumentation must be an integral part of a good
theory. pp. 207-208.
Although all adults eventually arrive at essentially the same basic level of linguistic competence
in their native language, the rate at which they acquire language varies. As discussed earlier, one
of the most striking qualities of language acquisition is its robustness and uniformity. p. 209
Alvah’s comment: How long language has been used is directly related to how long Homo
sapiens have been sapient. Old World forms of Homo including erectus may have expressed
some ideas through language but their physical anatomy, specifically the area of the larynx,
made it difficult to articulate certain sounds. Language, and the copacity to express ideas
through it offer another exaple seperateing sapiens from erectus.
GENETICS
Bandelt, H., and Forster, P. The Myth of Bumpy Hunter-Gatherer Mismatch Distributions.
Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1997), 61:980-983.
This cluster, described by Bandelt et al. (1995), includes the major African 9-bp deletion
subcluster (Soodyall et al. 1996) and is widespread in Africa. It is even found as single outliers
in Sardinia, the Middle East (Di Rienzo and Wilson 1991), and Turkey (Calafell et al. 1996).
According to Horai and Hayasaka (1990) as well as Tamura and Nei (1993), this cluster
constitutes the deepest rooting lineage of their mtDNA trees, and in other analyses it would also
branch off very deeply. Therefore, all these populations, including ≥9 of the 13 populations used
by Watson et al. (1996), such as the Senegalese Mandenka, coalesce close to mtEve. The
coalescence time of 9,000-21,000 years for the Mandenka and thus for mtEve, as calculated by
Watson et al. (1996) in their table 3, compares unfavorably with current estimates of 140,000160,000 years for mtEve (Horai et al. 1995; Tamura and Nei 1993). The other populations in
their table 3 fare little better. p. 981
35
Recent admixture of a group of very distant lineages (such as the 9-bp cluster) into two or more
populations inflates genetic distances, and a tree analysis of these distances (their fig. 3) can
misinterpret this recent admixture as an ancient population split. p. 981
It is interesting to note that a few of these sequences were found in non-Khosian populations,
and these sequences presumably represent recent admixture. The reduced median network (fig.
2) for this data reveals that the !Kung lineages are inseparable by all but six private mutations
from other southern African populations. In particular, 8 of 18 Nama (Khoi) lineages are
interspersed in the !Kung (San) cluster. Even the outlier sequence in the !Kung (outside the
network) is close to other Khoisan sequences: it differs from a Sekele sequence at only one
position. The !Kungh hence seem to represent only a splinter of a former widespread Khoisan
population, and their differentiation from other Khoisan populations may have occurred quite
recently relative to the !Kung coalescence time. p. 982
Alvah’s comment: Does this paper suggests that admixture could be the cause for the
widespread distribution of the 9bp deletion in Africa? Given that the highest frequencies of the
9bp marker in Africa is in Madagascar, a recently populated adjacent-region of Africa, the
origins of the Phoenicians of the Mediterranean could also be, possibly, traced to southeast
Asia. Outliers of this marker in Europe; “It is even found as single outliers in Sardinia, the
Middle East (Di Rienzo and Wilson 1991), and Turkey (Calafell et al. 1996).” could mimic the
evidence in Africa, as that resulting from recent admixture.
Macaulay, V.A., Richards, M.B., Forster, P., Bendall, K.E., Watson, E., Sykes, B., and Bandelt,
H. mtDNA Mutation Rates–No Need to Panic. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1997), 61:983-986.
It has been argued (Paabo 1996; von Haeseler et al. 1996) that fast sites such as these will
predominate among recent coalescences and be underestimated in more ancient ones, so that the
faster rate (which they call the "pedigree" rate) may be more appropriate to a timescale of
hundreds or thousands of years, whereas the slower rate (which they call the "phylogenetic" rate)
may be suitable for a timescale of hundreds of thousand or millions of years. With respect to the
phyolgenetic rate, a timescale of millions of years is unrealistic, since many positions in the
control region would have been saturated with transitions over this timescale–which is the reason
why transversional, rather than transitional, divergence is used to estimate the phylogenetic rate
(Ward et al. 1991). A timescale of roughly the past 150,000 years would seem to be reasonable
for the application of this rate, since this was the range in which it was calibrated (by use of the
transition-transversion ratio in modern human populations). p. 94
In order to test empirically whether the pedigree rate is more appropriate at evolutionarily recent
time depths, we can compare the performance of the pedigree rate against the conventional
phylogenetic rate in the case of the settlement of the Cook Islands in central Polynesia. The
settlement of Polynesia is a special case of population expansion, since it is very recent
(occurring ~1,000-3,000 years ago) and well-dated archaeologically. Furthermore, it is
characterized by the spread of a particular mtDNA lineage group defined by a 9-bp deletion and
a distinctive control-region-sequence motif. This lineage group must have arisen prior to the
settlement of Polynesia, since it is ubiquitous throughout the region, and indeed phylogeographic
36
analysis of lineages from Southeast Asia confirm this (Melton et al. 1995; Redd et al. 1995;
Sykes et al. 1995). Applying the conventional mutation rate to data from the Cook Islands
(Sykes et al. 1995) yields a coalescence time of 1,100 ± 800 years ago–in agreement with the
archaeological dates of 900-1,300 years ago for the first settlements (Bellwood 1978). Applying
Howell et al.'s pedigree rates to the same data yields a coalescence time <150 years ago. Such a
date could be explained only by very recent population bottlenecks, which would be very
difficult to reconcile with the observed uniformity of lineages across Polynesia. This
observation strongly suggests that the phylogenetic rate is appropriate to vents at least as recent
as 1,000 years ago. p. 984-985
Howell, N., and Mackey, D. Reply to Macauley et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1997), 61:986-990.
However, there is no gold-standard clock for the rate of mtDNA divergence, particularly within
the D-loop. Standard phylogenetic estimates of the rate of human mtDNA divergence vary
widely, and they are associated with high degrees of statistical uncertainty (e.g., see Adachi and
Hasegawa 1996; Howell et al. 1996: Parsons et al. 1997), in part because of the different models
of mtDNA evolution that have been used by different investigators. p. 987
Furthermore, Tajima (1993, table 7) showed that the molecular-clock hypothesis was not
supported among all subsets of hominoid mtDNA sequences that were analyzed with his
statistical tests. p. 987
Overall, these results do not support a simple explanation for the high pedigree divergence rate
in which HVR2 hypermutational hot spots "swamp out" a slower overall rate of D-loop
divergence. On the other hand, failure to correct for site heterogeneity of mtDNA mutation rates
confounds phylogenetic analysis and produces serious biases in estimates of the overall mutation
rate, the time of the last common ancestor, the transition-transversion ratio, population genetic
parameters, and Tajima's D statistic for neutrality (e.g., see Hasegawa et al. 1993; Wakeley
1993; Bertorelle and Slatkin 1995; Aris-Brosou and Excoffier 1996; Yang 1996; Wakeley and
Hey 1997). p. 987
Those observations support a high pedigree divergence rate. Overall, one could conclude that
the results of Bendall et al. (1996) support our suggestion (Howell et al. 1996) that it is the
phylogenetic-divergence-rate estimates that are biased, possibly because they fail to adequately
incorporate the effects of site variability in mutation rates. p. 988
Furthermore, it is not yet clear at what level selection acts (replication, segregation, or
phenotypic expression) or to what extent random drift predominates over selection, particularly
during oogenesis (e.g., see Jenuth et al. 1996).
We suggested that the high pedigree D-loop divergence rate, relative to phylogenetic rates,
may reflect the failure of a substantial proportion of new D-loop mutations to become fixed at
the population level (Howell et al. 1996). Although definitive data are not available, it seems
safe to posit that the fixation probability is <1 (unless one makes the unlikely assumption that all
new mutations will become fixed). It then follows that the pedigree divergence rate must exceed
37
the phylogenetic rate, because of the different time scales (see the further discussion below). p.
988
One must be cautious, even skeptical, pending further analysis, but selection may explain the
observation, by Parsons et al. (1997), that some newly arisen D-loop mutations occur at sites
with below-average levels of polymorphism within the population. p. 989
Pedigree analysis may be more heavily dominated by random drift, whereas phylogenetic
analyses may be more influenced by selection, because of the greater time spans inherent to
phylogenetic analysis. p. 989
As Macaulay et al. (1997) mention, one expects that there should be a decline in divergence rates
as the time depth increases, presumably as a failure of newly arisen mutations to become fixed,
but there is not yet sufficient information for us to expect the monotonic decline that they
suggest. It is premature to make, as they do, these comparisons between phylogenetic analyses
and pedigree studies. p. 989
Bower, B. DNA's Evolutonary Dilemma. Science News (1999), Vol. 155:88-90.
Mitochondrial DNA shows a great deal of indivdiaul variability, which as buttressed
assertions that it can help to trace the evolutionary history of human females. Researchers have
largely believed that mitochondrial DNA changes occur randomly and accumulate at a constant
rate in isolated populations, making them suitable for dating ancient population splits.
But mitochondrial DNA may not be so predictable, according to some researchers.
Sections of its sequence of nucleotides undergo suprisingly rapid changes, even within one or a
few generations, argues Neil Howell of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Mitochondrial DNA alterations may not tick away like hands on a reasonably accurate
evolutionary clock, Howell maintains.
Some of these genetic-sequence vairations have spread through populations with a speed
suggesting that they somehow aid the survival of their bearers, he adds. If natural selection has
reshaped the mitochondrial landscape over relatively short spans of time, it raises serious doubts
about the accuracy of estimated ages for evolutionary trees and sizes of ancient populations. p.
89
"Far too often, anthropologyical geneticists draw conclusions about human evolutionary
history without testing hypotheses or exploring alternate models," Mountain remarks. "In some
cases, this is because data are insufficient. In other cases, the immediate impression generated
by the data blinds us to alternatives."
Hammer, who remains undecided on how modern humans evolved, suspects that
investigators will increasinlgy experiment with statistical formulas for weighing the
contributions of natural selection and other factors to DNA diversity. p. 90
Alvah’s comment: In it’s own way population genetics is confounded by similar modes of change
as found in Linguistics. Genetic adaptation could be seen to mirror - language isolation;
admixture - language borrowing and; genetic affinity - population or language survival.
38
Deciphering the amount of influence each has on the other should help researchers in
unmasking new data as it come in.
Fregeau, C.J., Tan-Siew, W.F., Yap, K.H., Carmody, G.R., Chow, S.T., and Fourney, R.M.
Population Genetic Characteristics of the STR Loci D21S11 and FGA in Eight Diverse
Human Populations. Human Biology (1998), v. 70, no. 5, pp. 813-844.
A highly polymorphic multiplex short tandem repeat (STR) system composed of D21S11, FGA,
and the sex-typing system amelogenin (AMG) has been used to investigate allele frequency
distributions in two Canadian Caucasian samples (British Columbia and Alberta), three Canadian
aboriginal populations (Coastal Salishans from British Columbia, Ojibwa from northern Ontario,
and Cree from Saskatchewan), and three ethnic groups from Singapore (Chinese, Malays, and
Asian Indians. p. 813
Results from the 2 X N contingency table exact tests for population differentiation demonstrated
that the Canadian samples from two different provinces were not distinguishable from one
another at either STR locus and therefore could be combined to form one Caucasian group.
Likewise, Chinese and Malays from Singapore did not show significant differences at either STR
locus. In contrast, all other examined populations exhibited differences deemed statistically
significant. As a complement to our study, we compared D21S11 allele frequency distributions
in 21 worldwide populations and FGA allele frequency distributions in 14 populations. Many
alleles never previously reported in worldwide populations were identified in Canadian
aboriginal and Asian samples from this study. Twenty-four D21S11 and 29 FGA alleles were
distinguished in worldwide groups. Interesting similarities in allele frequency distribution
patterns across populations suggest that the STR polymorphism at these loci predates the
geographic dispersal of ancestral human populations. p. 813-814
Interestingly, the Canadian aboriginal frequency pattern resembled other populations but
demonstrated a bias for both small (<262 bases) and large (>290 bases) FGA alleles. p. 826
An overall look at the D21S11 allele frequency distributions revealed striking similarities in the
distribution patterns across populations, despite large variations in allele frequencies (see Table 8
and Figure 1A). Two D21S11 alleles exhibited high And similar incidence in all surveyed
populations irrespective of their ethnic or geographic origin. Allele 222 was detected with
frequencies of 18-29%, and allele 226 had incidences of 15-28% with the highest occurrence in
the Cree from Saskatchewan (35%). Interestingly, these alleles were two of the three most
common alleles across worldwide samples. This suggests that alleles 222 and 226 have been in
existence since before the geographic dispersal of humans and that they represent two ancestral
alleles from which all other D21S11 variants have evolved. p. 833
Previous studies have indicated that populations belonging to one major group [European
(Caucasian), Asian, Amerindian, African, or Pacific Islander] show a greater degree of similarity
in the extent of genetic variation (Deka et al. 1995; Holgersson et al. 1994; Jorde et al. 1997).
Our results from the population differentiation test are in agreement with these reports.
Populations of European descent showed overall no statistical differences in D21S11 allele
39
distribution (data not shown). Populations of Asian descent (i.e., Chinese and Malays) showed
greater similarities to one another than to populations of European descent or any other group
examined. Interestingly, for D21S11 Canadian aboriginals were as different from one another as
they were from the Caucasians or other groups reviewed for this study. p. 834-835
All groups followed the same distribution pattern, with the exception of the Canadian
aboriginals, which showed a few distinct features. The incidence of allele 262 observed for this
major group (11-20%) was the highest seen in all populations reported to date. Others showed
frequencies of 0.5-7%. Allele 274 was less frequent in Canadian aboriginals (4-10%) than in
any other sample (13-34%). Larger variants (≥290 bases) were more abundant in Canadian
aboriginals, Africans, and Hispanics than in any other population so far analyzed (Table 9).
Conservation of allelic modes together with a universally high degree of polymorphism among
the geographically and ethnically dispersed populations suggests that polymorphism at the FGA
locus predates the geographic dispersal of present-day human populations. p. 837-838
In addition, Canadian Caucasians did not show any significant differences at either STR
locus when compared to Caucasians from around the world. In contrast, aboriginals from three
different locations in Canada showed significant differences in D21S11 and FGA allele
frequency distributions, although the Ojibwa from northern Ontario and the Cree from
Saskatchewan displayed more similarities to one another than to Coastal Salishans from British
Columbia. Chinese and Malays from Singapore were similar at both D21S11 and FGA STR loci
and showed more similarities in allele patterns to one another than to Asian Indians from
Singapore.
The high degree of polymorphism at both the D21S11 and FGA loci was universal,
regardless of the geographic locations of worldwide populations, suggesting that the
polymorphism probably predates the divergence of human populations.
Both D21S11 and FGA STR systems were easily resolved on a model 373A DNA
sequencer. Combined with the sex determination system amelogenin (AMG), both STR systems
could be used in confidence in widely differing ethnic groups as a screening DNA typing
multiplex system or in combination with other STR multiplexes to increase discrimination for
human identity testing. Alternatively, D21S11 and FGA could be used along with other
polymorphic STR markers to further investigate microsatellite microvariation in closely related
populations. p. 839
Alvah’s comment: This paper (as well as others including Chakrabority and Weiss 1992; Ward
et al. 1993, and Johnson et al. 1983) describes ancient genetic connections to the Americas that
would seem to point to an inclusion of the Native Americans for Homo sapien origins.
Malaspina, P., Cruciani, F., Ciminelli, B.M., Terrenato, L., Santolamazza, P., Alonso, A.,
Banyko, J., Brdicka, R., Garcia, O., Gaudiano, C., Guanti, G., Kidd, K.K., Lavinha, J., Avila, M.,
Mandich, P., Moral, P., Qamar, R., Mehdi, S.Q., Ragusa, A., Stefanescu, G., Caraghin, M.,
Tyler-Smith, C., Scozzari, R., Novelletto, A. Network Analyses of Y-Chromosomal Types in
Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia Reveal Specific Patterns of Geographic
Distribution. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1998), 63:847-860.
40
Markers of the genetic diversity of the human Y chromosome currently are considered to have
the potential to provide information on male-specific patterns of migration in the past. The
desirable characteristics of markers of this kind are a high level of polymorphism in the
population and the lowest possible incidence of recurrent mutations. p. 847
Our results strengthen the idea that the phenetic similarity among haplotypes, represented as a
network, is, to a large extent, the result of common descent from one or a few ancestral states
and the subsequent molecular-radiation process. p. 848
We used equation (2) of Goldstein et al. (1996) to evaluate the space of possible values of t (the
time, in generations, for the coalescence of haplotypes within each network) for a range of
mutation rates µ and effective population sizes (Ne) fig. 4). For µ = 5.6 x 10-4 (Weber and Wong
1993), the large (CA)n variance for network 1.1 resulted in an estimate of t > 3,000 generations,
or 60,000-75,000 years. The two largest networks with derived characteristics–that is, networks
2.1 and 3.1–both showed much lower values, t = 1,000-3,000 generations. Finally, the three
smaller networks–1.2, 1.3 and 1.4–gave estimates of t = ~300, ~200, and ~450 generations,
respectively. These latter estimates are fairly insensitive to different values of Ne). p. 855
Emphasis should be put on the caution with which the maps must be interpreted. A specific
frequency pattern is the result of both the migration and admixture of people, possibly associated
with demic expansions, and of local expansions of types, because of drift and/or founder effects.
The aforementioned factors could, in principle, be discriminated against when a large collection
of autosomal data is used (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994), whereas such discrimination is not always
possible in the case of nonrecombining Y-linked markers. Indeed, an enhanced effect of drift
has been postulated and demonstrated for this chromosome world-wide (Torroni et al. 1990;
Sprudle et al. 1994; Jobling and Tyler-Smith 1995; Scozzari et al. 1997; Underhill et al. 1997).
The confinement and high frequency of network 2.1 haplotype 21-19-23-19 in Morocco (see
above) suggests a strong drift that is able to affect markedly the shaping of the corresponding
map (fig. 1e). p. 856
The map shows a clear southeast-to-northwest gradient all over Europe, a main feature of maps
obtained with autosomal, Y-chromosomal, and mtDNA data (Cavalli-Sforza and Minch 1997,
fig. 1b-d). The poor coverage of areas east of the Mediterranean gives less support to such a
gradient over western Asia, in our map. p. 857
Barbujani et al. (1998) and Richards and Sykes (1998) warned against use of the age of
molecules to infer the dating of splitting of the populations that carry them. In our data, too, the
events that have led to the attainment of the observed frequencies of networks with derived
characteristics may have occurred much more recently than the origin of the different types. p.
857
Our data also reveal the contribution of recent lineages (networks 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4) that emerged
from an ancient background. In particular, network 1.2 haplotypes might represent a novel
characteristic of chromosomes involved in the neolithic gene flow into mainland Europe from
the southeast. p. 857
41
In fact, it is likely that migrants' and preexisting populations' gene pools were not completely
differentiated. Such an event leaves space for a wide range of values for the proportion of
chromosomes that reached the present frequency by virtue of neolithic (or more recent)
phenomena. The main conclusions of the present study can be summarized as follows: (1) there
is a low level of homplasy among dinucleotide microsatellite haplotypes; (2) there is high
structuring of populations, with regard to Y-chromosomal network frequencies; and (3) networks
are optimal markers for population studies addressing the radiation and dispersal processes
associated with the preneolithic/neolithic transition. p. 857
Vieland, V.J., and Hodge, S.E. Book Review of Statistical Evidence: A Likelihood
Paradigm, by Richard Royall. Am. J. Hum. Genet. (1998), 63:283-289.
Must of current statistical practice is based on frequentist principles–notably, on the NeymanPearson paradigm for hypothesis testing or on Fisher's conception of significance testing.
Evidentialism is undoubtedly the least familiar school of statistical thought, both within the field
of statistics itself and, certainly, among consumers of the statistical literature. This remains true,
at least in part, because journal editors and peer reviewers almost invariably ask that statistical
results be reported in familiar frequentist terms. But our predilection for the familiar
notwithstanding, evidentialism is, arguably, the only body of statistical theory that is fully
consistent with the practice of science.
To justify this extravagant claim, we need to consider the purpose of statistical analysis in
scientific contexts. Evidentialism views the purpose of statistical inference as the measurement
of the strength of evidence conferred by a given set of data in favor of one hypothesis over
another. This may seem a wholly natural objective for scientific data analysis, and we will take
it as a given that this is the objective that we are pursuing. But, in fact, much of standard
statistical practice is based on a quite different conception of statistical inference–namely, as a
set tools for decision making in the face of uncertainty. This latter objective need not in any way
involve the concept of evidence. p. 284
We then select the "best" testing procedure, one that minimizes the probability that we will fail
to reject the null hypothesis when it is in fact false (the type II error rate) for the selected
significance level. p. 284
Similarly, once we have data in hand, we are no longer satisfied with reporting the probability
that a certain erroneous outcome might occur when we perform a test of this sort. Rather, we
would like to have some way to determine whether we have been misled in this instance. The
predetermined significance level of a Neyman-Pearson test does not give us this information. p.
284
But can the P value be made to do double duty, both as the predictive type I-error probability
and as a measure of the strength of evidence? What is the relationship between the question of
statistical evidence and the frequentist's interest in error rates? Are these really just two ways of
naming the same statistical quantities, or are these fundamentally different kinds of quantities?
And, if the P value is not the appropriate measure of the strength of evidence, then what is?
Although these questions might seem too philosophical to require the attention of genetics
42
researchers, the methods that we choose for analysis of genetic data ought perhaps to depend on
the answers that we give. The evidentialist's answers begin with the recognition that the familiar
frequentist methods cannot be made to satisfy our interest in the measurement of evidence. p.
284
Some statisticians might prefer to talk about testing a "null" hypothesis without reference to an
alternative hypothesis. As we have already seen, however, the law of likelihood expressly
applies to comparisons between two hypotheses: evidence counts against one hypothesis only
insofar as it favors the other. This insistence that any proper measure of evidence must involve
two hypotheses rather than one is a cornerstone of evidentialist theory. p. 284-285
The current debate over the relative merits of "parametric" (LOD) versus model-free
linkage methods has tended to gloss over this fundamental distinction between the two
approaches: the LOD score (defined broadly, as above) is not simply one among the many
available test statistics; it may be the only one of them that is suitable to address the question,
What is the strength of the evidence for linkage?
Failure to make a clear distinction between frequentist hypothesis testing and evidentialist
measurement of evidence has given rise to a body of literature in human genetics in which
frequentist methods are freely mixed with evidentialist objectives–a body of literature in which
the P value is treated as a valid answer to the evidentialist's question and in which the LOD score
is used to address the frequentist's concerns. The result is that we now enjoy a canon of
statistical practices for linkage studies that draw simultaneously from logically incompatible first
principles. The appearance of Statistical Evidence on the scene at this time is therefore
especially timely for the field of human genetics. p. 287
In a similar vein, we would have been interested in greater discussion of the assessment of the
strength of evidence in multivariate contexts, or in the presence of additional "degrees of
freedom." It is well known that, all other things being equal, the more parameters that we
estimate from the data, the larger our resulting likelihood will be. Therefore, the magnitude of
the LR is affected by the difference in the number of parameters estimated in the numerator and
denominator.
Alvah’s comment: These examples of genetic factors could be applied to language study, when
the shoe finds the right foot or Cinderella (the fairest hypothesis in the land) is invited to the
ball.
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
Gould, S.J. Lyell's Pillars of Wisdom. Natural History (1999), Vol. 108, No. 3:28-34, 87-89.
Apparently grandiose or catastrophic events really occur by a summation of small changes
through the immensity of geological time–the deep canyon carved grain by grain, the high
mountain raised in numerous increments of earthquake and eruption over millions of years.
Second, the claim for a nondirectional or steady-state earth: Standard geological causes
(erosion, deposition, uplift, and so on) show no trend either to increase or decrease in general
intensity through time. Moreover, even the physical state of the earth (relative temperatures,
43
positions of climatic belts, percentages of land and sea) tends to remain roughly the same or to
cycle around and around through time. p. 32
When a scientist proposes such a comprehensive system, we often gain our best insights into the
sources and rationale for his reforms by explicating the alternative worldview of his opponents.
New theories rarely enter a previous conceptual void; rather, they arise as putative improvements
or replacements for previous conventionalities. p. 32
Incidentally, this account of catastrophism as a genuine and interesting scientific alternative to
Lyellian uniformity disproves the conventional canard, originally floated as a rhetorical device
by Lyell and his partisans but then incorporated uncritically as the conventional wisdom of the
profession. In this Manichaean account, catastrophism represented the last stronghold for the
enemies of modern science: the struggle of theologically tainted dogmatists to preserve both the
literal time scale of Genesis and the miraculous hand of God as history's prime mover by
invoking the doctrine of global paroxysm to compress the grand panoply of geological change
into a mere few thousand years. In fact, by the 1830s all scientists–catastrophists and
uniformitarians alike–had accepted the immensity of geological time as a central and proven fact
of their emerging profession. p. 34
But on an Earth in steady-state, built entirely by modern causes acting at current intensities, the
present becomes, in an old pedagogical cliché, "the key to the past," and Earth's entire history
opens to scientific study. Thus, in a famous statement of advocacy, Lyell condemns
catastrophism as a doctrine for despair, while labeling his uniformitarian reform as the path to
scientific salvation:
Never was there a dogma more calculated to foster indolence, and to blunt the
keen edge of curiosity, than this assumption of the discordance between the former
and the existing causes of change. It produced a state of mind unfavourable in the
highest conceivable degree to the candid reception of the evidence of those minute,
but incessant mutations, which every part of the earth's surface is undergoing . . .
The student instead of being encouraged with the hope of interpreting the enigmas
presented to him in the earth's structure–instead of being prompted to undertake
laborious inquiries into. . .causes now in operation, was taught to despond from
the first. Geology, it was affirmed, could never rise to the rank of an exact
science–the greater number of phenomena must forever remain inexplicable. . .
In our attempt to unravel these difficult questions, we shall adopt a different
course, restricting ourselves to the known or possible operations of existing
causes. . .We shall adhere to this plan. . .because. . .history informs us that this
method has always put geologists on the road that leads to truth–suggesting views
which, although imperfect at first, have been found capable of improvement, until
at last adopted by universal consent. (Principles of Geology, vol. 3, chap. 1,
1833).
Large intellectual struggles cannot be won by success in easy and simple skirmishes.
Adversaries must also be outflanked on their home ground, where superior knowledge and forces
44
should have rendered them invincible. A new theory must meet and encompass the hardest and
most apparently contradictory cases head on. p. 87
At most, Vesuvius teaches us that the increments of gradualism can be large at human scale–the
lava field versus the eroded sand grain–while still small by global standards. In 1830, at the end
of a long chapter entitled "History of the volcanic eruptions in the district around Naple," Lyell
wrote:
The vast scale and violence of the volcanic operations in Campania [the region of
Italy surrounding Naples] in the olden time, has been a theme of declamation. .
.Instead of inferring from analogy that. . . each cone rose in succession–and that
many years and often centuries of repose intervened between each eruption–
geologists seem to have conjectured that the whole group sprung up from the
ground at once, like soldiers of Cadmus when he sowed the dragon's teeth.
Moreover–continued Lyell, in closing the first volume of his tenth edition (1867)–even by purely
local standards, natural catastrophes usually impose only a fleeting influence upon history. p. 87
Alvah’s comment: Gould offers us again, a heaping plate of evolution and theory building
through examples drawn from the past and the study of it science attempts to unmask.
Gould, S.J. Second-Guessing the Future. Natural History (1998), Vol. 107, No. 7, pp. 20-29,
64-66.
In my parish, the dubious (and admittedly somewhat contradictory) status of most famous
second-place finisher goes without contest to Alfred Russel Wallace, who, in 1858, during a
malarial fit on the Indonesian island of Ternate, devised virtually the same theory of natural
selection that Darwin had developed (but hadn't published) in 1838. In a familiar story, Wallace
sent his short paper to Darwin, a naturalist he greatly admired and who, as Wallace knew, had a
strong interest in "the species question" (although Wallace had no inkling of Darwin's particular,
and nearly identical, theory and probably didn't even realize that Darwin had a theory at all).
Darwin, in understandable panic, turned to his best friends, Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker, for
advice. In a resolution known to later history as the "delicate arrangement," Darwin's friends
made a joint presentation to the Linnean Society of London in July 1858: they read both
Wallace's paper and some unpublished letters and manuscripts by Darwin, establishing his
earlier authorship of the same idea. p. 20
Because Wallace lived a long time (1823-1913), wrote copiously both for his bread and from his
convictions, and held a variety of passionate and quirky views, he left us a vast legacy of varied
content and quality. He campaigned ardently for the right and the just, according to his
idiosyncratic standards, and he fought valiantly for a set of causes usually deemed "cranky" both
in his own time and today–including phrenology and spiritualism (where he nearly came to
blows with skeptics like Darwin and Huxley)–and against vaccination, which he called "one of
the foulest blots on the civilization of the nineteenth century." p. 21
45
Wallace presents a simple thesis as the foundation for his epitome of the nineteenth century–a
standard view about the relation of science to society, stated in the context of a particular time.
Science, Wallace argues, has made unprecedented gains, largely expressed as technological
advance (at least in terms of impacts upon everyday life), but this progress has been blunted, if
not perverted, by our failure to make any moral improvements, especially as expressed in the
alleviation of social inequities. Thus, and ironically, the progress of science, however bursting
with potential for social improvement, has actually operated to increase the sum total of human
misery. p. 22-23
In order to estimate its {the nineteenth century's] full importance and grandeur–
more especially as regards man's increased power over nature, and the
application of that power to the needs of his life today, with unlimited possibilities
in the future–we must compare it, not with any preceding century, or even with the
last millennium, but with the whole historical period–perhaps even with the while
period that has elapsed since the stone age. p. 23
We of the 19th century were morally and socially unfit to possess and use the
enormous powers for good or evil which the rapid advance of scientific discovery
had given us. Our boasted civilization was in many respects a mere surface
veneer; and our methods of government were not in accordance with either
Christianity or civilization. This view is enforced by the consideration that all the
European wars of the century have been due to dynastic squabbles or to obtain
national aggrandizement, and were never waged in order to free the slave or
protect the oppressed without any ulterior selfish ends.
Wallace then turns to domestic affairs, with the damning charge that our capitalist system has
taken the wealth accrued from technological progress and distributed the bounty to a few owners
of the means of production while actually increasing both the absolute and relative poverty of
ordinary working people. In short, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer:
One of the most prominent features of our century has been the enormous and
continuous growth of wealth, without any corresponding increase in the well-being
of the whole people; while there is ample evidence to show that the number of the
very poor–of those existing with a minimum of the bare necessities of life–has
enormously increased, and many indications that they constitute a larger
proportion of the whole population than in the first half of the century, or in any
earlier period of our history. p. 25-26
Alvah’s comment: One of my favorite scientists from the past has to be A.R. Wallace. The
evolution of anthropology into an applied science continues to wane, a warning he left in his
writings.
Haley, B.D., and Wilcoxon, L.R. Anthropology and the Making of Chumash Tradition.
Current Anthropology (1997), Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 761-793.
46
As Powell indicates, "there appears to have been no appellation in use among them to designate
themselves as a whole people" (Powell 1891:67). We assume that Powell's action reflects the
popularity of the "ethnographic principle" of defining nations by linguistic or racial criteria
(Renan 1990 [1882]). These were the criteria used by European and American intellectuals from
1880 to 1914 to distinguish "nations" (Hobsbawm 1992:95-102). From the start, then, the
boundaries of a Chumash identity bear the stamp of an arbitrary and historically contingent
outside ideology. p. 767
The people who spoke them–from Morro Bay to Malibu and inland at least to Tejon Pass–were
never unified into a single or even a few overarching polities prior to their complete
incorporation into the Spanish mission system by 1804. There were, in fact, a number of named
group identities among Chumashan-speakers corresponding to village, language, or region
(Heizer 1952, 1955), and significant regional cultural differences and episodic warfare between
villages existed in pre-mission times (Kroeber 1910, 1953 [1925]; Blackburn 1975:8-15;
Glassow and Wilcoxon 1988; Johnson 1988; personal communication, 1995). p. 767-768
He further assumes that material remains on the northeastern boundary were associated with
Chumash-speakers (Kroeber had felt that they might have been Salinan), and he treats the
southern Channel Islands occupants as non-Chumash (Kroeber had lumped them with Chumash
materially but with Shoshoneans linguistically) (cf. Hudson and Blackburn 1982:17-38). King
adopts the position that Chumash society has developed in place for more than 7,000 years (King
1990:200; cf. Arnold and O'Shea 1993), and Gibson (1991:14) places the beginnings of
Chumash culture "about 10,000 years ago." p. 768
The widened meaning of the term "Chumash" provides ideological fodder for Chumash
Traditionalism. King et al. (1985:97-105) participate in this by employing Edward Spicer's
(1971) idea of persistence to authenticate Traditionalist claims of a continuous link between the
Chumash past and present. The persistence argument rests upon an unsupported assumption that
what is tradition and who is indigenous are fairly continuous and bounded from past to present,
maintained through "organized resistance to change, and persistence of traditional values,
custom, and cosmologies beneath a veneer of assimilation" (King et al. 1985:97). However,
their own research documents a "new religion . . . [derived from] spiritual leaders from other
tribal groups . . . [and] academic works" (pp. 102-3). The new religion is "conceptually distinct
from other aboriginal pattern . . . [and] heavily infused with pan-Indian elements" (pp. 103-4).
King et al. report that a person becomes a Traditionalist through "an awakening of his or her
Indian identity" and that the movement's "ethnic boundaries and group solidarity are enhanced
by self-imposed isolation from the non-Indian community and by the performance of rituals . . .
[in] communities . . . [and] ceremonial encampments . . . [where] revivalistic doctrines developed
and were elaborated" (pp. 103-4). They overlook these findings when they appeal to an
imagined persistence with unsubstantiated rhetoric: "Cultural traditions, as such, span the
generations, and therefore transcend the lives and experience of individual group members" (p.
102).
Similarly, Diana Wilson (1994), exploring "indigenous" reactions to the portrayal of
American indian cultures in Los Angeles museums, argues that her consultants, some of them
Chumash, are "authentically indigenous" (p. 37)–that they possess an "American Indian way of
knowing" wielded strategically against a "Western academic knowing," a relationship which is
47
"grounded in the historical facts of colonization" (p. 42). Despite their sometimes coming from
families whose previous identities were "Mexican," her consultants' "subjective awareness of
being indigenous . . . apparently survived" (p. 365). p. 768-769
Alvah’s comment: This article is an affront to Chumash Reality, a step in the wrong direction
that was aimed at deterring any influence and or historical stewardship for the Point
Conception. It is more about Vandenberg and U. S. claims to it. The following statement is the
same kind of ethnogenicide, informative if in only identifying that the messengers in
anthropology are serving their own agenda, a new cavalry aimed at undermining examples of
cultural identity and the continuation of a Past.
Clark, G.A. NAGPRA, the Conflict between Science and Religion, and the Political
Consequences. Society for American Archaeology (1998), Vol. 16, No. 5., pp. 22-25.
Laws like NAGPRA strike at the heart of a scientific archaeology because they elevate the
cultural traditions and religious beliefs of Indians to the level of science as a paradigm for
describing or explaining reality. Political considerations thus take precedence over disinterested
evaluation of knowledge claims, with tragic and irreversible results [G.A. Clark, 1996,
NAGPRA and the Demon-Haunted World SAA Bulletin (14(5):3, 15(2):4] p. 22
Science can be defined as a collection of methods for evaluating the credibility of knowledge
claims about the experimental world. Science does not pretend to certainty; it only seeks better
and better approximations of it. Scientific conclusions are continuously subjected to critical
scrutiny. Science is, therefore, self-correcting. No topic or question is "off-limits" to science.
The only thing that is antithetical to the scientific worldview is dogma. Dogma is the stuff of
religious belief. From the standpoint of science, the illusion of absolute, unchanging truth is the
most pernicious of vanities. p. 22
From this perspective, humans are only animals (albeit highly intelligent, technologically
sophisticated, socially complex ones). Religious views of humans and their place in nature,
dependent as they are on concepts that have no reality outside the mind, are epiphenomena (and–
for a materialist–absurd). In other words, one cannot simultaneously understand and accept
evolution and sustain a believe in the nonmaterial. From the standpoint of science, religious
beliefs are curious survivals of earlier cognitive evolution. What probably happened is that, as
our cognitive capacities expanded slowly over the Pleistocene millennia, we came to imagine
more and more complex realities, and populated them with the gods, demons, and spirits that are
the stuff of conventional religious belief. The question science would put to religious is: Why
do humans have religious beliefs at all, since there is absolutely no empirical support for them?
p. 22
Science is not "about" religion, however. It is not about moral truth, although it can sometimes
help us in our struggle to reach appropriate moral decisions. Clearly, humans did not evolve in
this hemisphere. Indians haven't always been here, regardless of what their origin myths might
say. p. 24
48
The worldview of Western science is under serious and sustained assault, and there is a danger
that "science-like" views of reality will perish in the face of a multipronged attack in which
mysticism, religious fundamentalism, creationism, and the believers in the paranormal combine
with postmodernist academics to attack the critical realism and mitigated objectivity which are
the central epistemological biases of the scientific worldview. p. 25
Alvah’s comment: The Science of anthropology has its roots in European “Dogma” statements
like Clark’s “Clearly, humans did not evolve in this hemisphere. Indians haven't always been
here, regardless of what their origin myths might say. (p. 24)” should be more cautiously
addressed for the origins of Modern humans remains unsolved as does the quest to resolve the
timing and or theoretical acceptance of a pre-Clovis presence. Are the two, as scientists call
them, “holy grails” of anthropology perhaps related? Since only 11% of the data generated
from the two prevailing theories of human origins are compatible with each other, perhaps it is
time to look to the Americas for a source for the “Replacement” of Homo erectus. What the
Native Americans believe is that WE have been modern longer then Modern Humans have been
in the Old World while people like Clark remain stagnated by unproven theories that find us
tracing human origins back to uncultured beings.
Watkins, J. Native Americans, Western Science, and NAGPRA.
Archaeology (1998), Vol. 16, No. 5., pp. 22-25.
Society for American
As with most scientific writings aimed at the rather specialized population of scientists studying
Native American human remains, one of the paper's [Clark’s] fundamental flaws is its failure to
deal with the differing perceptions of the scientific and Native American communities. While it
is extremely difficult to offer a single "Native American perspective" on anything, I will proceed
to offer a generalization as if it were possible to do so. p. 23
Maybe American Indians and scientists are doomed to operate on opposite ends of the emotional
spectrum–passion versus dispassion. Where scientists feel drawn to cold facts, American
Indians feel drawn to those things outside of the demonstrable world (Clark's "epiphenomena").
Perhaps scientists should stop being so dispassionate, stop trying to step outside humanity, and
join the rest of the world. I don't trust a person who has no passion! p. 23
I believe science and religion are remarkably intertwined, a double helix spiraling across time
and space. Neither should exist without the other, for each one gives us different information
and different perceptions on the human condition. I argue, unlike my materialist colleague, that
is the very fact that we are aware of such things (rather than blindly accepting of them) that
places us at the top of the intellectual pyramid. p. 23
Like the philosophical tree in the forest, if "a precontact aboriginal culture of the New World
vanishes without a trace," and there is no "Western observer there to record information about
them," do they make a sound? p. 25
We, as anthropologists, are standing on the edge of a forest with an almost impenetrable growth
in front of us. We can try to bulldoze our way through it, but we will destroy all that might be
49
ahead of us; we can try to circumvent the forest, and run the risk of losing our collective lives in
the resultant uncharted wilderness; or we can look for the path between the trees, moving
carefully, taking the journey one step (and roadblock) at a time. An army does not pass through
a forest as a single body, but rather as an allied group of individuals. We must be an army on a
common campaign–an army of individuals working to reach a common goal. p. 25
PRIMATES
Ross, C., Williams, B., and Kay, R.F. Phylogenetic analysis of anthropoid relationships.
Journal of Human Evolution (1998), 35, 221-306.
Anthropoidea–the group that includes monkeys, apes and humans–has long been
recognized as a "natural" group among primates, united by a suite of features of the skull,
dentition and postcranium. Anthropoidea is also generally–although not universally (Cachel,
1979)–thought to be monophyletic, descended from a common ancestor not shared with any
other primates.
However, the relationships of anthropoids to other primates are not yet resolved.
Advocates of several competing hypotheses continue to debate the merits of their respective
models. This lack of consensus reflects a broader uncertainty of the relationships among primate
higher taxa and the fossil groups thought to have given origin to them. Why does this debate
persist? Is it because key fossils are yet to be discovered? It is well established that fossils are
vital for deciphering relationships among living taxa because they contain novel combinations of
primitive and derived characters and because they preserve morphologies more closely
approximating ancestral conditions (Gauther et al., 1988; Huelsenbeck, 1991; Novacek, 1992).
In the case of anthropoid origins however, most workers agree on the relationships between
living taxa (tarsiers and anthropoids are more closely related to each other than to strepsirrhines);
it is the relationships of certain fossil taxa to the living groups that are debated. p. 221-222
Questions surrounding anthropoid origins
Debates concerning the origins and early diversification of the Anthropoidea have centered
around several related questions:
(1) Is Anthropoidea a monophyletic group, and if so what are its synapomorphic features?
(2) To which group of fossil or extant primates is Anthropoidea most closely related?
(3) How do Eocene and Oligocene anthropoids of Africa (Parapithecoidea,
Propliopithecidae, Oligopitheciade) relate to the Platyrrhini and Catarrhini?
With respect to anthropoid monophyly, older views such as those of W.K. Gregory (1922) that
catarrhines and platyrrhines evolved from separate and not very closely related Eocene "tarsiods"
have been largely abandoned. p. 222
50
Several workers at the 1992 Anthropoid Origins Conference and Workshop at Duke University
(Fleagle & Kay, 1994) voiced the possibility of a nonadapid, nonomomyid, and nontarsier origin
for anthropoids (Culotta, 1992). p. 224
This suggested that the anthropoid clade might be as old, or older, than the earliest omomyids
and adapids and that a fundamental dichotomy might exist between omomyids and adapids of the
Northern continents and Anthropoidea of Africa and South America. p. 224
There is wide agreement among paleoprimatologists that tarsiers are more closely related to
anthropoids than to strepsirrhines (Purvis, 1995). The evidence comes from molecular data
(Koop et al., 1989a,b; Porter et al., 1997) and soft tissues (Hubrecht, 1897; Lucket, 1975, 1976;
Shoshani et al., 1996). The complete data set presented here provides definitive support for this
hypothesis: tarsiers and anthropoids are found to be more closely related to each other than to
strepsirrhines. p. 245
Strength of various hypotheses
Adapid-anthropoid hypothesis. This hypothesis receives support from the dental evidence but is
not supported by the cranial or postcranial evidence, or the evidence overall. Rather, the
majority of the evidence better supports the hypothesis of an adapid-strepsirrhine clade exclusive
of anthropoids and tarsiers. Indeed, of the three hypotheses evaluated here, the adapid-anthropod
hypothesis was by far the least well supported. p. 246
Our preferred tree is illustrated in Figure 14. We believe the tarsier-anthropoid hypothesis is the
best hypothesis of anthropoid relationships at present, for three reasons. First, the tarsieranthropoid hypothesis is the best-supported by the data presented here. p. 256
Second, the tarsier-anthropoid hypothesis (and the associated [omomyid(tarsier-anthropoid)]
hypothesis) is corroborated by functional analysis of character transformation series (Ross,
1996). Third, this hypothesis provides the most parismonious reconstruction of features that are
unique to tarsiers and anthropoids; the post-orbital septum and the anterior accessory cavity of
the middle ear. p. 256
To evaluate the phylogenetic position of Anthropoidea, morphological data on 291 dental,
cranial and postcranial morphological characters were collected for 57 taxa of living and fossil
primates and analyzed using PAUP and MacClade. The dental evidence provides some support
for the notion of an adapid origin for anthropoids, the cranial evidence supports the tarsieranthropoid hypothesis, and the postcranial evidence supports monophyly of Prosimii and
Anthropoidea. Combining these data into a single data set demonstrates Anthropoidea to be
monophyletic and the traditional anthropoid synapomorphies to have evolved mosaically. p. 257
Overall, the available data do not allow definitive statements regarding the interrelationships of
the haplorhines: Tarsius, Omomyidae and Anthropoida. Many key fossil taxa (e.g., Eosimias,
Afrotarsius) are still poorly known and we lack critical fossils sampling the divergence of the
higher taxonomic levels of primates. Clearly, many more fossils are required before we can
determine the precise phyletic relationships of tarsiers, omomyids, and anthropoids. p. 258
51
Alvah’s comment: Just a sampling of the current status of early primate ancestors and the fact
that the fossil record is often not complete enough to make absolute the choices for the preprimate form that led to higher primates.
August 3, 1999
Dear John,
Thanks for your last e-mail and the distinction between reporting and OPINION. I agree
with your analysis of my "comments" and offer them only to identify new insights to
"traditional" guidelines. If you want to use the "articles" without my opinions/comments feel
more then free to do so. My comments are rather incomplete thoughts, in the first place, while I
could better "report" on specific papers if I knew the ones you plan to use in the next issue of
MT. Please let me know what articles you plan to identify/use so that I might be able to properly
editorialize/report what the authors are stating.
I trust that you will continue to offer your own insights to the articles, as you did the last
issue, even if you omit mine. You are the Editor and I am more than pleased to be able to even
participate. Moreover, if you find any of my comments polemic please rephrase them for me or
leave them out entirely.
I realize that you are planning to complete the next issue shortly and I promise to respond
quickly once you let me know what articles you want me to report on. I am also finalizing a short
addition concerning my opinions of “Who were the FIRST Americans?”
52
Best regards,
Alvah
Editorial
There have been several developments in the last 6 months concerning who were the “FIRST
People” to inhabit the Americas. The alternative, promoted by a few publicity-minded
researchers, would have the “FIRST” Americans coming from Europe across the Bering Strait
before a later group of proto-Amerinds arrived and replaced them. Some form of genocide of
these FIRST European People - by later Amerinds - has even been proposed. Unfortunately, this
analysis is being used to question basic aboriginal right’s including the validity of Native
American stewardship of their ancestor’s remains, a Native Heritage as defined by NAGPRA.
The basis of the “who was first” argument started with the earliest evidence of an
American Paleolithic stage, commonly known as Paleoindian Traditions (). Since “Fluted”
Points are unique to the Americas, with no other evidence of similar Paleolithic tools previous to
Clovis, it has long been a contention that people from Europe with tools similar too Upper
Paleolithic Industries were the First Americans (“Clovis First” theory)(). Today we know that
there were INDEED pre-Clovis Populations, with little, if any, technologies associated with Old
World Upper or Late Paleolithic Industries(). The question I would like to pose is, could UP
equipped People migrating from Northeast Asia into North America, at the end of the Last Ice
Age, have influenced pre-Clovis Amerindians leading to the development of Paleoindian
Traditions? If so, is there any genetic correlates to support this hypothesis? The answer could be
a resounding ALVERMATIVE!
Since it is now archaeologically sanctioned, that earlier pre-Clovis Populations were living
in the Americas during the Pleistocene, a new formula must emerge in order to properly interpret
cranial, genetic, and archaeological data. Since European mtDNA lineages are found exclusively
in northern North American Amerind speakers, but not in Aboriginal Groups further south (or, in
Central or Southern America), it could be postulated that Europeans were assimilated into the
northern-most Amerindians following a post-Ice Age migration from Northeast Asia. European
mtDNA Lineages (Haplogroup X) are retained by North American Tribal Groups, primarily
Ojibwa and Algonquian speakers, (). The dawn of the New World’s first Paleolithic coincides
with the timing of the removal of Glacial Barriers. Could these ‘Earliest Europeans to the
Americas’ have introduced Old World technologies previously unknown to pre-Clovis
Amerindians? The genetic data would seem to indicate that Type X mtDNAs represent an
isolated migration unrelated to earlier pre-Clovis Amerindian Populations that must have been
here before the assimilation of Europeans since the European marker is found where assimilation
between pre-existing Amerindians and later arriving Europeans would have first encountered
People already inhabiting the Americas.
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Moreover, if the FIRST Americans were “Europeans”, then one would expect Haplogroup
X mtDNAs to have survived in Central and South America, where they (X type mtDNAs) are
virtually absent (). Europeans, accordingly, could not have been the FIRST Native People of the
Americas. Rather, the identification of some European mtDNA ancestry in pre-Columbian
Amerindian cemeteries (Stoneking et al. 1998) hints of a peaceful assimilation into, principally,
the northernmost Amerindians who genetically retain evidence of the point of contact between
once isolated New and Old World Populations. The development of Paleoindian Traditions
(Clovis) could be directly attributed to this “European” migration, with diffusion of Old World
UP know-how into pre-existing pre-Clovis Populations (). Since, little, if any, lithic components
of a similar nature are found at Monte Verde, it could be assumed that an outside influence may
have contributed to Paleoindian Traditions and the increased production of archaeological
signatures associated with lithic tools.
We must remember that J. H. Greenberg (1987) was cautious when he dated “Amerind”,
and its 11 language stocks found in North and South America, basing the first of the three
languages on a chronological generation that conformed to the archaeological consensus of the
time (i.e. Clovis First being < 12,000 ybp).
"It may plausibly be connected with the Paleo-Indian (Clovis) culture, which dates
back at least 11,000 to 12,000 years. Although we have presented linguistic
criteria to establish a relative chronology of the three migrations, we have
considered only archaeological correlations as a source for an absolute
chronology."
Skepticism surrounding acceptance of a pre-Clovis occupation of the Americas has long
confounded the development of new theories. The significance of a pre-Clovis occupation of the
Americas is a greater time depth, affording a suitable interpretation befitting the detection of
extensive genetic and linguistic diversity (). This reality must now incorporate the prospects of
post-Ice Age assimilation of once isolated (Old World) populations into earlier pre-Clovis
Amerindian People. Migration scenarios could identify both European expansion into (Stoneking
et al. 1998), and Amerindian back out of, the Americas (Boas 1905, 1910; Hicks 1998), after the
last Ice Age. The recognition of a substantial pre-Clovis Amerindian population celebrates, as
part of the equation, the peaceful assimilation of European/Asian People (Haplogroup X) with
Upper/Late Paleolithic Industries at the end of the Last Ice Age.
Refrences:
Boas, F. 1905. The Jesup North Pacific Expedition. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Congress of
Americanists. Easton, PA: Eschenback Printing, 91-100
Boas, F. 1910. Ethnological problems in Canada. J. R. Anthropol. Inst. Gr. Br. Ireland 40:529-539.
Greenberg, Joseph H. 1987. Language in the Americas; Stanford University Press.
Muller-Beck, H. 1966. Paleohunters in America: Origins and Diffusion. Science 152:1191-1210.
Hoffecker, J. F., W. R. Powers, and T. Goebel 1993. The Colonization of Beringia and the Peopling of the New
World. Science 259:263-287
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Krieger, Alex D. 1964. "Early Man in the New World." In Prehistoric Man in the New World, J.D. Jennings
and E. Norbeck, eds., 23-84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pearson, Georges A. Further Thoughts on Clovis Old World Origins. Current Research in the Pliestocene Vol. 14
1997 pgs. 74-76
Rogers, Richard A., L. A. Rogers, R. S. Hoffmann, and L. D. Martin 1985b. Native American Biological
Diversity and the biogeograghic influence of Ice Age refugia. Journal of Biolgeography 18:623-630
Rogers, Richard A. 1985a Glacial geography and native North American Languages. Quat. Res. 23;130-137
Wormington, H. M. 1957. Ancient Man in North America. Denver Museum of Natural History, Popular series No.
4 (4th ed.), Denver
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