Populations of Native Americans may have been wiped out by disease-carrying Europeans who arrived in the New World, a new study says. The findings confirmed the shocking effects of colonization when Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.
A new DNA analysis of ancient skeletons and mummies dating back 9,000 years revealed that a chronic disease could be blamed for the devastating loss. The researchers analyzed the DNA sequences focusing on the mitochondrial genomes, which are passed from mothers to their offspring.
They discovered that the genes of modern Native Americans revealed an absence of pre-Columbian genes. These new findings suggested that pre-Columbian lineages were wiped out with the Europeans' arrival.
"Surprisingly, none of the genetic lineages we found in almost 100 ancient humans were present, or showed evidence of descendants, in today's indigenous populations," said University of Adelaide's Bastien Llamas, the study's joint lead author.
The research team studied various demographic scenarios that could explain the missing lineages. The only one that fit the new findings was that, following the primary colonization, several populations remained isolated geographically from each other. A big chunk of these populations became extinct following the Europeans' arrival.
"This closely matches the historical reports of a major demographic collapse immediately after the Spaniards arrived in the late 1400s," added Llamas.
Columbus was blamed for bringing the devastating tuberculosis to the New World. After the disease was established in South America, it moved and infected the populations in North America prior to the arrival of the Europeans who carried new strains.
The study included 92 pre-Columbian mummies and skeletons that are between 500 and 8,600 years old. The collection included the famous La Doncela (The Maiden) that was discovered in 1999. This is the remains of a teenage Native American girl who died during a ritual sacrifice more than 500 years ago.
The researchers noted that a bigger, concerted study is needed to create a comprehensive DNA data set of the living Native Americans today and their pre-Columbian counterparts. To get the full picture, further studies need to compare both ancient and modern DNA varieties.
The study was published in the Science Advances journal on April 1.
Photo: Phillip Cowell | Flickr
