The Origins of Native Americans: Evidence from Anthropological Genetics

by Michael H. Crawford

• ISBN13: 9780521004107
• ISBN10: 0521004101
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Who are the Native Americans? When and how did they colonize the New World? What proportion of the biological variation in contemporary Amerindian populations was "made in America" and what was brought from Siberia? This book is a unique synthesis of the genetic, archaeological, and demographic evidence concerning the Native peoples of the Americas, using case studies from contemporary Amerindian and Siberian indigenous groups to unravel the mysteries. It culminates in an examination of the devastating collision between European and Native American cultures following Contact, and the legacy of increased incidence of chronic diseases that still accompanies the acculturation of Native peoples today.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Acknowledgment	xvii
Origins of New World populations	1	(31)
Introduction	1	(1)
Early theories of origin	2	(1)
Scientific evidence for Amerindian origins	3	(8)
Ecological background	11	(3)
Siberian chronology and New World peopling	14	(2)
Archeological evidence	16	(5)
The new synthesis?	21	(6)
Siberian founders	27	(1)
Settlement of North America	28	(2)
Peopling of South America	30	(2)
Population size and the effects of European contact	32	(31)
Introduction	32	(1)
Methods of estimation	32	(1)
Estimates of regional population size	33	(8)
Regional variation in depopulation	41	(8)
Evolutionary consequences of population reduction	49	(1)
Impact of Old World diseases	50	(3)
Aboriginal New World diseases	53	(8)
Old World disease imports	61	(1)
Conclusion	62	(1)
Demography of Amerindian populations	63	(25)
Introduction	63	(1)
Demography of pre-Columbian Amerindians	63	(7)
Demography of the living	70	(16)
Conclusion	86	(2)
Genetic variation in contemporary populations of the Americas	88	(61)
Introduction	88	(1)
Accuracy and reliability of samples	89	(4)
Amerindian and Siberian markers	93	(2)
Traditional markers of the blood	95	(13)
Electrophoretic markers	108	(15)
Immunoglobulins (GMs and KMs)	123	(5)
Histocompatibility systems	128	(6)
DNA polymorphisms	134	(13)
Conclusion	147	(2)
Population structure of Native Americans	149	(45)
Introduction	149	(1)
Intrapopulation subdivision	150	(5)
Interpopulation subdivision	155	(11)
Display techniques	166	(11)
Admixure and gene flow	177	(4)
Hybridization in the New World	181	(10)
Conclusion	191	(3)
Morphological variation	194	(45)
Introduction	194	(2)
Racial classifications	196	(1)
Anthropometrics	197	(8)
Dermatoglyphics	205	(15)
Dentition	220	(9)
Skin color	229	(4)
Congruence between morphology, genetics and geography	233	(1)
Conclusions	233	(6)
The Survivors	239	(23)
Introduction	239	(1)
The effects of reservations	240	(1)
Heritage of conquest: disease	241	(18)
Hybridization	259	(1)
Epilog	260	(2)
References	262	(35)
Author index	297	(7)
Subject index	304