New DNA evidence suggests that an ancient people lived and survived in complete isolation in the North American Arctic for more than 4,000 years before dying out 700 years ago.
These people, called the Paleo-Eskimos, however, were not related to the Native Americans, who came to North America earlier, or the Inuit, who came later.
"Our genetic studies show that, in reality, the Paleo-Eskimos -- representing one single group -- were the first people in the Arctic, and they survived without outside contact for over 4,000 years," says Eske Willerslev, Lundbeck Foundation Professor from the Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen.
There has always been some mystery about the Paleo-Eskimos of the North American Arctic, which is our modern-day Greenland, Alaska and Canada. Initially, many believed that these people were the genetic predecessors of the Inuit, but this new DNA evidence suggests that there is no relationship between the two groups. The Paleo-Eskimo group is also not associated with the Native Americans, who were present in North America first.
Although history tells us that all three groups probably crossed over to the region from Siberia via the Bering Strait, this new DNA evidence shows that the Paleo-Eskimos were completely isolated from the other groups and did not reproduce with them.
In fact, the Paleo-Eskimos probably died out around the time the technologically superior Inuit arrived.
So how did researchers discover this? They studied bones, teeth and hair samples from Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. They also sequenced the genomes of modern-day peoples like the Inuit and Native Americans. Comparing the data led them to this discovery of the first settlers of the North American Arctic.
Also, the DNA samples suggest that there were very few women in their group. This means that inbreeding was probably a regular occurrence.
Perhaps the Inuit predicted this discovery with their own mythology, which tells of an ancient people they call the Tunit. The stories told of a people who were giants, with magical powers, who were tall and strong. The Tunit lived in complete isolation, kept to themselves and never associated with other groups. This goes along with what we now know of the Paleo-Eskimos.
Although this information sheds new light on the group, many mysteries still remain. Archaeologists believe that before they settled in the Arctic, the Paleo-Eskimos carried bows and arrows for hunting. However, they eventually shunned those tools in favor of heavy lances, which require killing game at a closer range. Their long-term isolation, too, along with how the DNA suggests that there was no breeding with other cultures, is unique.
"I think it's a very remarkable incidence of cultural stability and continuity," says William Fitzhugh, director of the Arctic study center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. "And I don't think you can find any modern example in the last 4,000 or 5,000 years quite like this."
We are also unsure of why the Paleo-Eskimos vanished, although it could be due to Viking Traders bringing diseases to the New World when they eventually arrived. However, their story survived in the mythology of the people who came after them, the Inuit, as well as in their ancient DNA.
