Shamanism and the Peopling of the Americas: Pre-Paleoindians/Paleoamericans around 30,000 to 12,000 years ago and beyond.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Genetic history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas

“According to an autosomal genetic study from 2012, Indigenous Americans descend from at least three main migrant waves from East Asia. Most of it is traced back to a single ancestral population, called ‘First Americans’. However, those who speak Inuit languages from the Arctic inherited almost half of their ancestry from a second East Asian migrant wave. And those who speak Na-Dene, on the other hand, inherited a tenth of their ancestry from a third migrant wave. The initial settling of the Americas was followed by a rapid expansion southwards along the west coast, with little gene flow later, especially in South America. One exception to this are the Chibcha speakers of Colombia, whose ancestry comes from both North and South America. A study published in the Nature journal in 2018 concluded that Indigenous Americans descended from a single founding population which initially divided from East Asians about ~36,000 BCE or around 38,000 years ago, with gene flow between Ancestral Indigenous Americans and Siberians persisting until ~25,000 BCE, before becoming isolated in the Americas at ~22,000 BCE or around 24,000 years ago. Northern and Southern American Indigenous sub-populations split from each other at ~17,500 BCE or around 19,500 years ago. There is also some evidence for a back-migration from the Americas into Siberia after ~11,500 BCE or around 13,500 years ago.” ref

“In 2014, the autosomal DNA of a 12,500+ year-old infant from Montana was sequenced. The DNA was taken from a skeleton referred to as Anzick-1, found in close association with several Clovis artifacts. Comparisons showed strong affinities with DNA from Siberian sites, and virtually ruled out that particular individual had any close affinity with European sources (the “Solutrean hypothesis“). The DNA also showed strong affinities with all existing Indigenous American populations, which indicated that all of them derive from an ancient population that lived in or near Siberia. Linguistic studies have reinforced genetic studies, with relationships between languages found among those spoken in Siberia and those spoken in the Americas. Two 2015 autosomal DNA genetic studies confirmed the Siberian origins of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. However, an ancient signal of shared ancestry with Australasians (Indigenous peoples of Australia, Melanesia and the Andaman Islands) was detected among the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon region. The migration coming out of Siberia would have happened 23,000 years ago.” ref

“A 2018 study analyzed ancient Indigenous samples. The genetic evidence suggests that all Indigenous Americans ultimately descended from a founding population that combined East Asian and Ancient North Eurasian ancestry. The authors also provided evidence that the basal northern and southern Indigenous American branches, to which all other Indigenous peoples belong, diverged around 16,000 years ago. An Indigenous American sample from 16,000 BCE or around 18,000 years ago in Idaho, which is craniometrically similar to modern Indigenous Americans as well as Paleosiberians, was found to have been largely East-Eurasian genetically, and showed high affinity with contemporary East Asians, as well as Jōmon period samples of Japan, confirming that Ancestral Indigenous Americans split from an East-Eurasian source population somewhere in eastern Siberia.” ref

“A review article published in the Nature journal in 2021, which summarized the results of previous genomic studies, similarly concluded that all Indigenous Americans descended from the movement of people from Northeast Asia into the Americas. These Ancestral Americans, once south of the continental ice sheets, spread and expanded rapidly, and branched into multiple groups, which later gave rise to the major subgroups of Indigenous American populations. The study also dismissed the existence, inferred from craniometric data, of a hypothetical distinct non-Indigenous American population (suggested to have been related to Indigenous Australians and Papuans), sometimes called “Paleoamerican”. Overall, the ‘Ancestral Native Americans’ formed from an ‘Ancient Paleo-Siberian‘ lineage which formed from the admixture between East Asian people and a distinct Paleolithic Siberian population known as Ancient North Eurasians, closer related to modern Europeans, giving rise to both Indigenous peoples of Siberia and Native Americans. Around 67% of the ancestry of Native Americans is derived from East Asian sources, while c. 33% is derived from an Ancient West Eurasian (Ancient North Eurasian-like) source.” ref

“A “Central Siberian” origin has been postulated for the paternal lineage of the source populations of the original migration into the Americas. Membership in haplogroups Q and “C3b”  (now called Haplogroup C-M217, also known as C2 and previously as C3), is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is the most frequently occurring branch of the wider Haplogroup C (M130) implies Indigenous American patrilineal descent. The haplogroup C-M217 is now found at high frequencies among Central Asian peoples, indigenous Siberians, and some Native peoples of North America. In particular, males belonging to peoples such as the Buryats, Evens, Evenks, Itelmens, Kalmyks, Kazakhs, Koryaks, Mongolians, Negidals, Nivkhs, Udege, and Ulchi have high levels of M217. According to Sakitani et al., haplogroup C-M130 originated in Central Asia and spread from there into other parts of Eurasia and into parts of Australia. It is suggested that C-M130 was found in Eastern Eurasian hunter gatherers as well as in ancient samples of East and Southeast Asia and Europe. Genetic testing also showed that the haplogroup C3b1a3a2-F8951 of the Aisin Gioro family came to southeastern Manchuria after migrating from their place of origin in the Amur river’s middle reaches, originating from ancestors related to Daurs in the Transbaikal area. The Tungusic-speaking peoples mostly have C3c-M48 as their subclade of C3 which drastically differs from the C3b1a3a2-F8951 haplogroup of the Aisin Gioro which originates from Mongolic speaking populations like the Daur. Jurchen (Manchus) are a Tungusic people. In an early study of Japanese Y-chromosomes, haplogroup C-M217 was found relatively frequently among Ainus (2/16=12.5% or 1/4=25%) and among Japanese of the Kyūshū region (8/104=7.7%). However, in other samples of Japanese, the frequency of haplogroup C-M217 was found to be only about one to three percent.” ref, ref

“More precisely, haplogroup C2-M217 is now divided into two primary subclades: C2a-L1373 (sometimes called the “northern branch” of C2-M217) and C2b-F1067 (sometimes called the “southern branch” of C2-M217). The oldest sample with C2-M217 is AR19K in the Amur River basin (19,587-19,175 years ago). The micro-satellite diversity and distribution of a Y lineage specific to South America suggest that certain Indigenous American populations became isolated after the initial colonization of their regions. The Na-Dene, Inuit, and Native Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q (Y-DNA) mutations, but are distinct from other Indigenous Americans with various mtDNA and autosomal DNA (atDNA) mutations. This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later migrant populations.  C2a1-F3447 includes all extant Eurasian members of C2a-L1373, whereas C2a2-BY63635/MPB374 contains extant South American members of C2a-L1373 as well as ancient archaeological specimens from South America and Chertovy Vorota Cave in Primorsky Krai. Haplogroup C-M217 is the modal haplogroup among Mongolians and most indigenous populations of the Russian Far East, such as the Buryats, Northern Tungusic peoples, Nivkhs, Koryaks, and Itelmens. The subclade C-P39 is common among males of the indigenous North American peoples whose languages belong to the Na-Dené phylum.” ref

“Haplogroup C is found in ancient populations on every continent except Africa and is the predominant Y-DNA haplogroup among males belonging to many peoples indigenous to East Asia, Central Asia, Siberia, North America, and Australia as well as as some populations in Europe, the Levant, and later Japan. Also found with moderate to low frequency among many present-day populations of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia. C2 (previously C3) M217 Typical of Mongolians, Kazakhs, Buryats, Daurs, Kalmyks, Hazaras, Afghan Uzbeks, Evenks, Evens, Oroqen, Ulchi, Udegey, Manchus, Sibes, Nivkhs, Koryaks, and Itelmens, with a moderate distribution among other Tungusic peoples, Ainus, Koreans, Han, Vietnamese, Altaians, Tuvinians, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyzes, Nogais, and Crimean Tatars. It is found in moderate to low frequencies among Japanese, Tai peoples, North Caucasian peoples, Abazinians, Adygei, Tabassarans, Kabardians, Tajiks, Pashtuns, etc. C2b L1373* Ecuador (Bolívar Province),USA. C2b1a1a P39 Canada, USA (Found in several indigenous peoples of North America, including some Na-Dené-, Algonquian-, or Siouan-speaking populations). Males carrying C-M130 are believed to have emigrated to the Americas some 6,000-8,000 years ago, and was carried by Na-Dené-speaking peoples into the northwest Pacific coast of North America.” ref, ref

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“Worldwide distribution of haplogroup Q-M242. The blue star is the original place of haplogroup Q-M242, around Central Asia and Siberia. The brown number one is Russian sample location in the Krasnoyarsk Region. The brown number two is Chinese sample location in Gansu province. The brown number three is Chinese sample location in Zhejiang province. The red arrows are the expansion routes of haplogroup Q-M242. The purple words show the locations of subclades of haplogroup Q used in this study.” ref

“The human Y-chromosome has proven to be a powerful tool for tracing the paternal history of human populations and genealogical ancestors. The human Y-chromosome haplogroup Q is the most frequent haplogroup in the Americas. Previous studies have traced the origin of haplogroup Q to the region around Central Asia and Southern Siberia. Although the diversity of haplogroup Q in the Americas has been studied in detail, investigations on the diffusion of haplogroup Q in Eurasia and Africa are still limited. In this study, we collected 39 samples from China and Russia, investigated 432 samples from previous studies of haplogroup Q, and analyzed the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) subclades Q1a1a1-M120, Q1a2a1-L54, Q1a1b-M25, Q1a2-M346, Q1a2a1a2-L804, Q1a2b2-F1161, Q1b1a-M378, and Q1b1a1-L245. Through NETWORK and BATWING analyses, we found that the subclades of haplogroup Q continued to disperse from Central Asia and Southern Siberia during the past 10,000 years. Apart from its migration through the Beringia to the Americas, haplogroup Q also moved from Asia to the south and to the west during the Neolithic period, and subsequently to the whole of Eurasia and part of Africa.” ref

“The human Y-chromosome haplogroup Q (also named Q-M242 in accordance with its defining mutation) probably originated in Central Asia and Southern Siberia during the time period of 15,000–25,000 years ago, then subsequently diffused in the eastward, westward, and southward directions. Haplogroup Q has several subclades defined by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and it reaches its highest frequency of 70–100% in the Americas. Although the diversity of haplogroup Q in the Americas has been studied in detail, investigations on the diffusion of haplogroup Q in Eurasia and Africa are still limited. Consequently, we studied samples of haplogroup Q in Eurasia to explore how it expanded from Central Asia and Southern Siberia during the Neolithic period. The ancestors of present-day Native Americans migrated to the Americas from Siberia via the Beringia around 16,000 years ago. Q1a2a1-L54 and its subclade Q1a2a1a1-M3 are the two predominant subclades of haplogroup Q found on both sides of the Bering Strait. Q1a2a1-L54 has spread throughout Northern Asia, the Americas, and Western and Central Europe. An ancient individual of the Clovis culture belonged to Q1a2a1-L54 (xQ1a2a1a1-M3).” ref

Q Haplogroup South American settlement pre-18,000 years ago

“Increasing archaeological evidence proves the early human presence in the American continent. Recent archaeological excavations in the Chiquihuite cave in Northern Mexico demonstrate human occupation dating from ~26,500 years ago, and there is even earlier evidence in this country. This evidence joins several documented archaeological sites in Northeastern and Central Brazil that have yielded dates between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago for human occupation in this region. Reserchers estimated a temporal depth of 19,300 years ago (17,000–21,900 years ago) for Q-Z780 and Q-Z781. This temporal depth and the presence of these lineages in Mexico and Brazil are consistent with the dates estimated for the human presence from the archaeological sites mentioned in Mexico and in Northeastern and Central-Western Brazil. As seen in Fig 2, Q-Z781 could be found widely distributed among individuals from Mesoamerica and South America since 19,300 years ago (17,000–21,900 years ago). Furthermore, Q-Z781 seems to have undergone a characteristic regional differentiation from Q-Y2816 and Q-Z782 for individuals from Mexico (uncertain dates), Q-YP937 among individuals from Peru, Brazil, and Argentina since 18,700 years ago (16,500–21,200 years ago), and Q-GMP73 among individuals from the Central Andes and Central West of Argentina since 18,200 years ago (16,100–20,600 years ago). This study provides genetic evidence that supports an early human settlement for Mesoamerica and South America, before 18,000 years ago. Environmental alterations could potentially have affected human populations genomes at the time in a number of ways: the extinction of primary food sources could have drastically altered their diet, perhaps exposing them to new mutagens for which humans had not yet evolved to avoid or metabolize.” ref

“Q-Z780 and Q-Z781 sub-lineages, autochthonous of the Americas, presented a wide distribution in Mesoamerica and South America since ~19,300 years ago. This contributed to a regional differentiation from Q-Y2816 and Q-Z782 for individuals from Mexico, Q-YP937 among individuals from Peru, Brazil, and Argentina since ~18,700 years, and Q-GMP73 among individuals from the Central Andes and Central West of Argentina since ~18,200 years ago. Moreover, it provided genetic support for South American settlement before 18,000 years ago, in agreement with a long chronology scenario and the dates of Meso- and South American archaeological sites. The Q-Z780 lineage, and perhaps Q-F4674, could have suffered a substantial drop due to the environmental events occurred during the YD, which could be the main reason for its current low frequency. For the Q-M848 lineage the YD environmental events could have acted as a driving force for its expansion and diversification, and while they could have also caused a substantial decrease, this lineage survived more successfully than Q-Z780.” ref

“The upper and lower limits of all divergence times for Q-M848 sub-lineages cover the YD period or later. The spatial structure of the South American male population at ~12,300 years ago, and the archaeological intensity signal peak at ~12,500 years ago could represent those human groups that managed to survive the environmental events that occurred during the Younger Dryas period (~12,800 years ago), in full process of expansion and diversification. Understanding the relationship between the Eurasian and American Q-M242 lineages becomes more complex when population changes during the YD period are included. Since there was no population decline in the Middle East during the YD period but it rather served as a refuge for humans of the time, then, Q Haplogroup lineages prior to ~12,900 years ago (such as Q-L275) could have been preserved to a greater extent during the YD event in the Middle East region and after this disperse and differentiate until reaching the diversity that exists today for Q Haplogroup in Euro-Asia. However, Q Haplogroup Native American sub-lineages older than ~12,900 years ago would have suffered a drastic decline in the YD period, altering the ancient spatial structure (before 12,900 cal BP) of the human populations of the Americas and causing the extinction of lineages and loss of part of the gene pool. Further studies should include ancient Native American sub-lineages (before 12,900 years ago) in order to understand and estimate the origin of Q-M242.” ref

“Human Y chromosome sequences from Q Haplogroup reveal a South American settlement pre-18,000 years ago and a profound genomic impact during the Younger Dryas. Q-M848 is known to be the most frequent autochthonous sub-haplogroup of the Americas. The present is the first genomic study of Q Haplogroup in which current knowledge on Q-M848 sub-lineages is contrasted with the historical, archaeological, and linguistic data available. The divergence times, spatial structure, and the SNPs found here as novel for Q-Z780, a less frequent sub-haplogroup autochthonous of the Americas, provide genetic support for a South American settlement before 18,000 years ago. We analyzed how environmental events that occurred during the Younger Dryas period may have affected Native American lineages, and found that this event may have caused a substantial loss of lineages. This could explain the current low frequency of Q-Z780 (also perhaps of Q-F4674, a third possible sub-haplogroup autochthonous of the Americas). These environmental events could have acted as a driving force for the expansion and diversification of the Q-M848 sub-lineages, which show a spatial structure that developed during the Younger Dryas period.” ref

“Q Haplogroup in the Y chromosome is the only Pan-American haplogroup and represents virtually all Native American lineages in Mesoamerica and South America. The autochthonous Q-M3 sub-haplogroup of Amerindians has been previously described at high frequency and with a star-shaped phylogenetic topology that has been interpreted as the initial colonization of South America with a rapid expansion ~15,000 years ago. Furthermore, it has been observed that Q-M848 sub-lineages (within Q-M3) present a spatial structure in South America that arose as early as ~12,300 years ago. Q-Z780 is another Native American autochthonous sub-haplogroup that occurs at low frequency and is still little studied from genomic data due to its low availability in sequence databases. A recent report using high coverage complete sequences has dated this lineage ~17,000 years ago, which was explained as a more complex settlement scenario in the Americas where the deep branches could reflect a separate out-of-Beringia dispersal after the melting of the glaciers at the end of the Pleistocene.” ref

“Q-M346 was dated 25 years ago (22,000–28,300 years ago) in the present work, within the range previously reported in literature. It has been described in Eastern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Southern Siberia, and in the Americas. The most prevalent Native American lineages, Q-Z780 and Q-M3, are derived from Q-M346. Q-Z780 haplogroup is recognized as a Y chromosome founding lineage in the Americas at low frequency. It is widely distributed, with representatives from Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina in this study, but its presence has been also reported for Central America, Colombia, and Paraguay. Given its low frequency and scarce sequence availability in databases, little is known about its sub-lineages. According to the best known markers, it can be classified into Q-Z781 and Q-FGC47532, the latter characterizing the ancient Anzick-1 Y chromosome (with a 14C calibrated age of 12,600 years ago). Four new SNPs parallel to Q-Z780 not described in ISOGG were found; one of them was validated and named Q-GMP10 (see S2 and S4 Tables). Two samples incorporated in this study to Q-Z780 (Z8ZMY and S8BAL) allowed adjust its temporal depth, showing values of 19,300 years ago (17,000–21,900 years ago), older than those reported in the literature of 17,000 years ago (15,000–19,300 years ago).” ref

“Q-Z781 is the most represented sub-lineage of Q-Z780. Given the similar number of Q-Z780 and Q-Z781 sequences, the dates found for both are equal, though older than those found by other authors with values of 16,000 years ago (14,100–18,100 years ago) for Q-Z781. However, older dates as 22,900 years ago (18,300–27,500 years ago) have been found from STRs for a great number of samples for this sub-lineage. Q-Z781 branches into Q-Y2816 and Q-YP937. Q-Y2816 is distributed mainly in individuals of Mexican origin, and also in an individual from the United States without a defined origin. We found 3 individuals of Mexican origin in this sub-lineage, 2 of which also share Q-Z782. Q-YP937 is characteristic of South America with a wide distribution from Peru and Argentina to Brazil. We found 3 new SNPs parallel to Q-YP937 (S2 Table). The dating for this sub-lineage is 18,700 years ago (16,500–21,200 years ago), which is older than that of 12,500 years ago (11,000–14,000 years ago) reported in literature. We found a new sub-lineage, not described in ISOGG, supported by 2 SNPs named Q-GMP73 and Q-GMP74 (see S6 Fig, S2 and S4 Tables) with a dating of 18,200 years ago (16,100–20,600 years ago). The phylogenetic association found for this new sub-lineage evidences a link between Andean individuals and Central-West Argentina with dates for which there are no archaeological records showing such temporal depth for human groups from this region. Further analysis of these findings is provided in the Hypothesis of the American Settlement section.” ref

“Q-M3 haplogroup has been previously described as a founder lineage of the Y chromosome in the Americas and is the most frequent sub-lineage among present-day Native Americans. Although its presence has also been described for some populations from Siberia, it is not known whether these are remains of the founding lineage or evidence of regressive migrations from Beringia to East Asia. The dating found for this marker in the present work is 15,400 years ago (13,600–17,400 years ago), within the range previously reported in the literature. In recent decades, the internal resolution of Q-M3 has expanded and this lineage is now known to be subdivided into two branches, Q-M848 and Q-Y4308. Although Q-Y4308 is still underrepresented, it is widely distributed. Its presence has been reported for individuals from the United States in association with those who speak the Algonquian language, Eskimo peoples from the extreme Northeast of Asia, Mexican individuals, and a Tupi-Guarani individual from Southern Brazil reported in this work (S5 Fig), this latter in agreement with previously reported data. Q-M848 is the most represented sub-lineage of the Q Haplogroup in the Americas, and more frequent in South America than in North America. It has been previously described with a star-shaped topology where many short branches are connected in the same internal node (S5 Fig). Given the high Q-M848 and poor Q-Y4308 representativeness of the samples studied in this work, the datings for Q-M848 and Q-M3 show the same values, within ranges estimated in the literature. The fossil remains of Kennewick man, found on the banks of the Columbia River in the United States, belong to Q-M848 haplogroup and have been dated 8,300–9,200 years ago.” ref

“The Q-MPB118 sub-lineage was found here defining the same Aranã samples from Southeast Brazil and Xavante from West Brazil (S6 Fig and S1 Table), in agreement with previous reports. For the moment, this lineage is restricted to Brazilian individuals. We found 6 new SNPs not validated, provided in this work as new information to this lineage (S2 Table). The dating found here for this node is 9,700 years ago (8,500–11,000 years ago) (S5 Table), similar to previously reported estimates. Since the aim of the present study is to reconstruct the history of the lineages belonging to Q-M848, in section 6 of S1 Text, we present further information for each of these sub-lineages regarding the history of their ethnic groups, linguistic family, and the region they inhabit or inhabited. Q-MPB118 supports a lineage ancestry shared between native Xavante and Aranã groups, both of the Macro-Jê linguistic trunk. Since its differentiation (~9,700 years ago), this lineage is present among human groups from Central-West and Southeast Brazil, although further study on its distribution is still necessary. For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-MPB118, see S4B Fig. Q-SK281 is currently presented as a restricted lineage for Peruvian individuals (S6 Fig), dated 12,600 years ago (12,100–13,100 years ago). This study provides 19 new SNPs for its sub-lineage defined by Q-Z35727 (S2 Table). For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-SK281, see S2C Fig.” ref

“Uro samples from Peru and Pasto from Ecuador were found here supported by Q-MPB139 in agreement with previous reports. The dating found in the present study was 14,000 years ago (12,400–15,900 years ago), similar to the one previously reported. Q-MPB139 shows a shared lineage ancestry between the Uros of Peruvian Altiplano and the Pasto of the Ecuadorian Altiplano, evidencing a great temporal depth and vast movements of human groups between the Central and North Andean Areas, near 14,000 years ago (12,400–15,900 years ago). For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-MPB139, see S1A Fig. In this lineage the Uro individual is separated from other characteristic lineages of Peruvians and individuals of the Central Andes (such as: Q-SK281, Q-Z6658, Q-Y788, Q-Z5908, Q-Z35841, and Q-Z5906), providing genetic support to anthropological and linguistic hypotheses that consider the Uro ethnic group different from neighboring ethnic groups (such as Aymara and Quechua), with its own language, traditions, beliefs, and ways of hunting, fishing, gathering and farming. Previous studies carried out with Y chromosome microsatellites found that the Uros have exclusive lineages different from Aymara, Quechua, and Arawak haplotypes, whom they have been associated with in other studies. According to some researchers, the Uros were the first settlers of the Andean Altiplano; however, their origin is unknown and is currently subject of academic debate.” ref

“So far, the Q-B43 sub-lineage has been described by other authors in Wichi individuals from Salta, Argentina, and in individuals from Paraguay and Brazil. The present study includes an individual from the Paresí community, from Mato Grosso, Brazil, obtained from the databases, as well as another individual from Salta, from our collection. The phylogenetic relationship found in this work for 3 individuals from East Salta, Argentina, was supported by Q-Z35505, parallel to Q-B43. Moreover, one of these samples from the East of Salta, from our collection, shares 26 SNPs with the individual from the Paresí community, out of which Q-Z35497 is also parallel to the 2 markers mentioned above. We contribute 5 new SNPs to this sub-lineage (S2 Table), 4 of them validated as Q-GMP26 to Q-GMP29 (S4 Table). We also found 50 new private SNPs for our Salta sample of this lineage (S2 Table), 4 of them validated as Q-GMP30 to Q-GMP33 (S4 Table). The dotted line in S5 Fig for this sub-lineage means that further studies are required for its better definition; here we have found some difficulties due to the large amount of missing data present in samples for which complete sequences are not available and are in VCF format (see Section 3 in S1 Text and S1 Table). The dating of this lineage had been previously estimated as 1,500 years ago (900–2,100 years ago), calculated only between 2 samples (GS000016946-ASM and GS000016945-ASM) for which the complete sequence is not available and comes from VCF files (see section 3 in S1 Text and S1 Table). The dating found in this work, calculated only between two samples for which the complete sequence is available and present greater sequencing coverage (N87FK8 and GRC14349596_S) (see section 2 in S1 Text and S1 Table), is 9,600 years ago (8,400–10,800 years ago). We believe that our results could be reflecting a temporal estimate more in line with the greater geographic distribution found here for this lineage. On the other hand, the estimate of ~1.500 years ago could reflect some internal sub-lineage with regional differentiation in Argentina’s Northwest and also characteristic of the Wichi community; this could be better defined in the future with the incorporation of more samples to this lineage.” ref

“In this study, researchers present genetic evidence that associates within the same sub-lineage (Q-Z35505/Q-Z35497) Mataguayan-speaking individuals from Gran Chaco and Arawak-speaking individuals from the Mato Grosso region, bordering the Gran Chaco (for more information see section 6 in S1 Text). In this regard, it has been previously argued that Mataguayan-speaking population may have moved to the Southeast due to pressure from Amazonian groups, speaking Arawak languages. In fact, some sort of exchange must have taken place between Mataguayos and local Arawak farmers before their settling in the area, since some archaeological sites in the Gran Chaco reveal similar but more rudimentary decorated pottery. We present genetic support for these hypotheses, adding a temporal depth for Q-Z35505/Q-Z35497 of ~9,600 years ago. We cannot determine whether Mataguayan-speaking and Arawak-speaking communities have a common origin or if both groups have different origins and then linked and admixed leaving shared genetic traits. The dates found suggest that Gran Chaco could have been inhabited earlier than estimated. This lineage is currently restricted to individuals from Peru and has been previously described. A dating of 12,000 years ago (9,500–14,700 years ago) was found in literature.” ref

“The marker Q-B42 has been previously described as ancestral to Q-B43 (parallel to Q-Z35505) and Q-B46. Q-B42 is known to be a recurrent mutation that is used to describe another sub-lineage belonging to the European R haplogroup (R1b1a1b1a1a2c1a3a2a1d3). Given this characteristic, the ISOGG platform does not include this marker within Q Haplogroup, but it is still used in current works on the phylogenetic reconstruction of Q Haplogroup. In the present study, Q-B42 is present among individuals belonging to the sub-lineages Q-B46, Q-Z35505, and Q-Z6658 (discussed above) but it is absent in some individuals within the last two sub-lineages (see S1 Table). S5 Fig proposes the position of Q-B42 based on these results, which is represented with a dotted line suggesting that findings should be further studied. The contribution of two new high coverage complete sequences provided in this work belonging to Q-B42 allows their dating to be adjusted to values of 14,200 years ago (12,600–16,200 years ago), older than those of 10,100 years ago (8,400–11,800 years ago) found in the literature. Q-B42 occurs among individuals from Peru, Northwest Argentina, and Central Chaco. For the Huaca Prieta archaeological site located near the Pacific coast in Northern Peru, radiocarbon dating indicates intermittent human presence between ~15,000 and 8,000 years ago. In Northwestern Argentina, several sites date from ~12,000 years ago and possibly as early as ~12,800 years ago.” ref

“As proof of the influence of the first civilizations of the Andean highlands on Northwestern Argentina, such as the pre-Inca culture of Tiwanaku located near Titicaca Lake within the current territory of Bolivia, cultural legacy has been found in Peru, Chile, and elsewhere Northwestern Argentina. The Collasuyu was part of the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) and expanded to the Argentine Northwest. Q-B42 could have differentiated in the central Andean region and could be one of the oldest Q-M848 sub-lineages with 14,200 years ago (12,600–16,200 years ago), being part of the gene pool of cultures that settled in this region. This sub-lineage shows links and gene flow among Andean, Chaco, and Amazonian groups, in accordance with archaeological studies that have found cultural evidence showing that Chaco human groups have received peripheral influence, both Andean and Amazonian. The phylogenetic relationships found in the present study for Q-B42 and Q-Z35497 provides genetic support to these findings. The characteristics of the Chaco territory, with fluctuating seasonality in relation to the flood levels of the land, may have not been an obstacle for a constant interrelation among the human groups of these regions. For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-B42 and its sub-lineages, see S1C Fig.” ref

“The Q-CTS2731 lineage is currently restricted to native populations of the United States and Mexico. We have found this lineage in 4 Mexican samples from the databases (S1 Table), in agreement with previous reports. The estimates found in the literature for this lineage are 12,400 years ago (10,600–14,300 years ago). We contribute 2 new SNPs parallel to Q-CTS2731; 2 new SNPs parallel to the Q-CTS8571 sub-lineage; and 43 new SNPs parallel to the Q-Y26467 sub-lineage, absent in ISOGG (S2 Table). Q-Y26467 has been described as characteristic of the Zapotec male population of Mexico, which has also been observed in the present study (S1 Table). The dating found in this work for this node is 600 years ago (530–680 years ago), within the range previously reported. The timing found for the first human occupation in Mexico is currently under discussion. Archaeological studies consider that Mexico shows consistent evidence of human occupation from at least 40,000–30,000 years ago, but dating for that period is controversial. Yet, there is not so much discussion about the common scattered sites in Mexico for the 10.5–13 kya period. It is known that the writing style used in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, belonging to the Zapotec scribal tradition, constitutes the earliest evidence of writing in the American continent. The first tangible manifestations of the graphic system can be dated to approximately 600 years ago. These archaeological dates are consistent with those found for the Zapotec sub-lineage Q-Y26467. For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-CTS2731 and its sub-lineages, see S2A Fig.” ref

“This lineage is known to have a wide distribution beginning at Southwest United States and extending through Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the present study, Q-CTS11357 is widely represented by 7 individuals from Mexico, 2 from Colombia, and one from Brazil, in accordance with previously reported data. The dating found in this work for this lineage is 11,300 years ago (10,300–13,200 years ago), close to that found by other authors. We contributed 4 new SNPs to Q-CTS11357 sub-lineages, absent in ISOGG (S2 Table). Q-CTS11330 has been described in this and other research works as characteristic of Mexican individuals though has been also found in one individual from San Salvador de Jujuy. The dating found in this study for Q-CTS11330 is 8,400 years ago (7,400–9,600 years ago), close to the literature estimates. The Q-CTS11357 lineage is represented by individuals of the Pima and Nahua, speakers of the Uto-Aztecan language, and Karitiana ethnic groups, speakers of the only remnant of the Arikém linguistic family, being a sub-family of the Tupí linguistic trunk (see S1 Table and section 6 in S1 Text). For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-CTS11357 and its sub-lineages, see S3B Fig.” ref

“The Q-CTS11357 lineage shows that approximately 11,300 years ago (10,300–13,200 years ago) there was a population focus in Mexico that extended to Southwest United States, Central America, reaching Colombia and the Brazilian Amazon. At present, this lineage finds greater representation and differentiation in Mexico, with Uto-Aztecan speaking representatives (See S1 Table). This evidence could provide genetic support to previous hypotheses suggesting that the Proto-Uto-Aztecan speaking community could have formed in Central Mexico, being one of the drivers of the primary domestication of maize. Its expansion towards North America and the Amazon could have been driven by demographic pressure resulting from a growing commitment to the cultivation of this gramineous. The phylogenetic links found for this lineage are also in agreement with studies on the genetic diversity of corn using contemporary and archaeological maize samples, showing that corn used by Brazilian indigenous populations, including those from the Amazon, is genetically closer to corn samples from Mexico, as compared to other regions such as the Andes. Q-CTS11357 evidences a shared lineage ancestry between Uto-Aztecan- and Arikém-speaking human groups; given its temporal depth it is likely that this lineage has formed part of the gene pool of both the proto-Uto-Aztecan and proto-Tupí speakers. It is not possible to define whether both groups have a common origin or, having different origins, left shared genetic traits due to their geographic expansion.” ref

“Currently, this lineage has been reported for individuals from Mexico and Argentina. The ISOGG platform defines Q-Y27993 and Q-Y27992 as parallel; we have found Q-Y27993 in a Mexican sample from the databases and an Argentine individual belonging to the Chané ethnic group from Salta (S1 Table). Q-Y27992 occurs in a Mixtec individual from Oaxaca, but we have not found any marker shared by the three samples; therefore, in Fig 1 and S5 Fig it is represented with dotted lines since further study is needed to determine this link. The time estimate found for this lineage is 16,100 years ago (14,200–18,200 years ago) (see S5 Table), older than that found in the literature. We consider that the current dating calculations for this lineage are subject to biases due to low sample size and lineage resolution. If the three samples were not a monophyletic group and therefore Q-Y27992 and Q-Y27993 would not belong to the same sub-lineage, then the dating found in this study would be an error. On the contrary, if they really are a monophyletic group, our results could indicate that it is one of the oldest lineages of Q-M848, and this would lead to question its dating. However, given that the status of Q-Y27993/Q-Y27992 still requires further studies and higher resolution, in S5 Fig we consider the dating calculated in the literature as 12,600 years ago (12,100–13,100 years ago). For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-Y27993/Q-Y27992, see S2B Fig.Q-Y27993 occurs among individuals from Mexico and Chané from Northern Argentina. The language spoken by the Chané belongs to the Arawak linguistic group, one of the largest and most dispersed linguistic families in the Americas. Q-Y27993 provide genetic support to the links found between Arawak-speaking individuals and Mexican communities, though further studies would be necessary to determine the ethnic relationship found between these regions.” ref

“This lineage has been reported before in Peru and in Argentine individuals of the Colla ethnic group from Salta province. In this study, researchers corroborate this previous distribution and add a Brazilian individual from a database belonging to Maxakalí ethnic group from Minas Gerais, as a new contribution to this sub-lineage (S1 Table and S5 Fig). For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-Z19357 and its sub-lineages, see S3C Fig. Q-Z19357 provides evidence of a shared lineage ancestry among individuals from Andean Peru, Northwestern Argentina, and the Brazilian Maxakalí ethnic group with a temporal depth of 8,100 years ago (9,500–6,700 years ago), as reported in the literature. We cannot determine whether these groups have a common origin or have different origins and were later linked and admixed leaving shared genetic traits. The greatest current diversity for this lineage occurs among Andean individuals, so it is likely that this sub-lineage has differentiated among Andean human groups, perhaps within the current territory of Peru, a region known for being the cradle of great South American civilizations, expanding its ties with the Macro-Jê-speaking communities of Brazil, native language of Maxakalí groups. These people have probably also established relationships with Chaco human groups because this area relates the Andean region with the Brazilian Cerrado Ecoregion, which was extensively inhabited by Macro-Jê speakers in times previous to European colonization. In this regard, linguistic studies on languages of the Guaicurú family (spoken by Mocovíes, Toba, Pilagás, and Caduveos), typical of the Chaco region and Mato Grosso do Sul, have shown some grammatical morphemes similar to elements of languages belonging to the Macro-Jê linguistic trunk, widely spread throughout the Central and Eastern regions of Brazil. A higher amount of Chaco samples should be analyzed in Y chromosome genomic studies to better understand the human links among these regions.” ref

“The phylogenetic relationship found in this work between an Ecuadorian individual of the Cañari ethnic group and a Brazilian individual of the Hupda ethnic group agrees with that previously described. In the present work we contribute 7 new SNPs shared between both samples, not described in the literature and absent in ISOGG (see S2 Table). The dating found in this study for this sub-lineage is 11,200 years ago (9,900–12,700 years ago), within the range estimated before. Q-MPB016 provides evidence of a shared lineage ancestry among human groups of the Cañari ethnic group of Ecuador and the Hupda ethnic group of Northwestern Amazonia of Brazil with a temporal depth of 11,200 years ago (9,900–12,700 years ago). We cannot define whether these groups have a common origin, or if they had different origins and were then linked and admixed leaving shared genetic traits, but genetic evidence of separation of the Cañari lineage from the characteristic lineages of Peru (such as Q-SK281or Q-Z6658) would indicate that the Cañaris managed to preserve their ancestral lineage despite the Inca and Spanish conquest processes. The same is observed for the Hupda ethnic group, which presents a differentiated lineage from those found for neighboring Amazonian ethnic groups such as Arawak (such as Q-Z35497 or Y27993). The links between Cañari and Hupda groups could also be useful for the reconstruction of their ancient history. For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-MPB016, see S3C Fig.” ref

“Q-Z5908 was found in the present study shared among 6 individuals from Peru, as previously reported, 2 individuals from the Province of Salta, Argentina, 1 individual belonging to the Colla ethnic group, and another one from the town of Cachi, also previously described for this lineage. A new Argentine sample in our collection from La Quiaca, Jujuy Province, is added to this sub-lineage as a novelty in this study (S1 Table and S5 Fig). We have found 69 new SNPs for this lineage, absent in ISOGG (S2 Table), one of which is equivalent for Q-Z5912 and another one is equivalent for Q-Z5910. We have also described a new sub-lineage derived from Q-Z5908 defined by Q-GMP51 (S4 Table and S5 Fig). The remaining 66 SNPs are private for the new sample in our collection, and 7 named Q-GMP52 to Q-GMP58 were validated (see S2 and S4 Tables). Furthermore, the incorporation of a new high coverage complete sequence to this sub-lineage allows a new estimate of its dating, with values of 13.6 kya (12.0–15.4), older than those reported in the literature. The phylogenetic relationships found for Q-Z5908 show links among human groups from the Central Andes, extending through the territories that today are part of Peru and Northwestern Argentina, with a regional differentiation and defined spatial structure (~13,600 years ago). These links resemble what was previously discussed for the Q-B42 lineage in human groups of these regions. For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-Z5908, see S1B Fig.” ref

“The Q-Z5906 sub-lineage includes 11 individuals, out of which 5 are Peruvians and 6 are individuals from Northwestern Argentina (S1 Table and S6 Fig). This lineage has been described in the literature as characteristic among members of Peru, Bolivia, Calchaquí communities, and Colla ethnic groups of Argentina. In the present study, 2 new sequences of Argentine individuals are contributed to this sub-lineage, both from La Quiaca, province of Jujuy (see S1 Table and Table A in S1 Text). We have found 30 new SNPs for this lineage, absent in ISOGG, out of which 8 are equivalent for Q-B35 and 5 were validated as Q-GMP65 to Q-GMP69; downstream, we found a new sub-lineage validated as Q-GMP70, with other 3 SNPs equivalents, 2 of which were validated as Q-GMP71 to Q-GMP72 (see S2 and S4 Tables). We also detected 2 Q-Z5907 equivalents and the remaining 16 were private of the new samples of this lineage (S2 Table). The gene flow between Andean human groups of Peru and Northwestern Argentina is reflected once again by Q-Z5906 and its sub-lineages Q-B35, Q-GMP70, and Q-Z5907 (S6 Fig), similar to the links found for Q-Z35841, Q-Z5908, and Q-B42 lineages, discussed above for human groups of these regions. This lineage was found in literature with an estimated dating of 12,880 years ago (11.38–14.57). The present study determined datings of 2,400 years ago (2,100–2.700 years ago) and 1,700 years ago (1,500–1,900 years ago) for the derived sub-lineages Q-GMP70 and Q-Z5907respectively (S5 Table). This indicates a great temporal depth for this lineage but with more recent regional differentiation covering the great extension between Peru and Northwestern Argentina, which shows the constant interaction and gene flow of these groups for thousands of years. For a schematic representation of the geographic distribution of Q-Z5906 and its sub-lineages, see S2A Fig.” ref

“Migrations to the Americas from North Asia by way of Alaska are well known. Haplogroup Q-M242 is one of the two branches of P-P226 (M45), the other being R-M207. Q-M242 is the predominant Y-DNA haplogroup among Native Americans and several peoples of Central Asia and Northern Siberia. Q-M242 is believed to have arisen around the Altai Mountains area (or South Central Siberia), approximately 17,000 to 31,700 years ago. However, the matter remains unclear due to limited sample sizes and changing definitions of Haplogroup Q: early definitions used a combination of the SNPs M242, P36.2, and MEH2 as defining mutations.” ref

“Here are the Haplogroup Q migrations. Highest frequencies: Kets (Yeniseian-speaking people in Siberia) 93.8%, South American Indians 92%, Turkmens from Karakalpakstan (mainly Yomut: Western and Central Asia), 73%, Selkups 66.4%., Altaians 63.6%., Tuvans (from Xinjiang: Uygur Autonomous Region, China) 62.5%., Chelkans 60.0%., Greenlandic Inuit 54%, Tubalar 41%, Siberian Tatars(Ishtyak-Tokuz Tatars) 38%, Inuit, the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Akha people of northern Thailand, Mon-Khmer people, and some tribes of Assam.” ref

“The Ket people share their origin with other Yeniseian people and are closely related to other Indigenous people of Siberia and Indigenous peoples of the Americas. They belong mostly to Y-DNA haplogroup Q-M242. The Ket language has been linked to the Na-Dené languages of North America in the Dené–Yeniseian language family. This link has led to some collaboration between the Ket and northern Athabaskan peoples. According to a 2016 study, the Ket and other Yeniseian people originated likely somewhere near the Altai Mountains or near Lake Baikal. It is suggested that parts of the Altaians are predominantly of Yeniseian origin and closely related to the Ket people. The Ket people are also closely related to several Native American groups. According to this study, the Yeniseians are linked to the Paleo-Eskimo groups.” ref

“The Kets have a rich and varied culture, filled with an abundance of Siberian mythology, including shamanistic practices and oral traditions. The shamans of the Ket people have been identified as practitioners of healing as well as other local ritualistic spiritual practices. Supposedly, there were several types of Ket shamans, differing in function (sacral rites, curing), power, and associated animals (deer, bear). Also, among Kets, (as with several other Siberian peoples such as the Karagas) there are examples of the use of skeleton symbolics. Hoppál interprets it as a symbol of shamanic rebirth, although it may also symbolize the bones of the loon (the helper animal of the shaman, joining the air and underwater worlds, just like the story of the shaman who traveled both to the sky and the underworld). The skeleton-like overlay represented shamanic rebirth among some other Siberian cultures as well.” ref

 “Of great importance to Kets are spirit images, described as “an animal shoulder bone wrapped in a scrap of cloth simulating clothing.” One adult Ket, who had been careless with a cigarette, said, “It’s a shame I don’t have my doll. My house burnt down together with my dolls.” Kets regard their spirit images as household deities, which sleep in the daytime and protect them at night. Edward J. Vajda, a professor of Modern and Classical languages, spent a year in Siberia studying the Ket people, and found a relationship between the Ket language and the Na-Dene languages, of which Navajo is the most prominent and widely spoken. Vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov compared Ket mythology with those of speakers of Uralic languages, assuming in the studies that they are modeling semiotic systems in the compared mythologies. They have also made typological comparisons.” ref 

“Among other comparisons, possibly from Uralic mythological analogies, the mythologies of Ob-Ugric peoples and Samoyedic peoples are mentioned. Other authors have discussed analogies (similar folklore motifs, purely typological considerations, and certain binary pairs in symbolics) may be related to a dualistic organization of society – some dualistic features can be found in comparisons with these peoples. However, for Kets, neither dualistic organization of society nor cosmological dualism have been researched thoroughly. If such features existed at all, they have either weakened or remained largely undiscovered. There are some reports of a division into two exogamous patrilinear moieties, folklore on conflicts of mythological figures, and cooperation of two beings in the creation of the land, the motif of the earth-diver. This motif is present in several cultures in different variants. In one example, the creator of the world is helped by a waterfowl as the bird dives under the water and fetches earth so that the creator can make land out of it. In some cultures, the creator and the earth-fetching being (sometimes called a devil, or taking the shape of a loon) compete with one another; in other cultures (including the Ket variant), they do not compete at all, but rather collaborate.” ref

Haplogroup Q and the Americas

“Several branches of haplogroup Q-M242 have been predominant pre-Columbian male lineages in indigenous peoples of the Americas. Most of them are descendants of the major founding groups who migrated from Asia into the Americas by crossing the Bering Strait. These small groups of founders must have included men from the Q-M346, Q-L54, Q-Z780, and Q-M3 lineages. In North America, two other Q-lineages also have been found. These are Q-P89.1 (under Q-MEH2) and Q-NWT01. They may have not been from the Beringia Crossings but instead come from later immigrants who traveled along the shoreline of Far East Asia and then the Americas using boats. It is unclear whether the current frequency of Q-M242 lineages represents their frequency at the time of immigration or is the result of the shifts in a small founder population over time. Regardless, Q-M242 came to dominate the paternal lineages in the Americas.” ref

North America

“In the indigenous people of North America, Q-M242 is found in Na-Dené speakers at an average rate of 68%. The highest frequency is 92.3% in Navajo, followed by 78.1% in Apache,  87%  in SC Apache,  and about 80% in North American Eskimo (Inuit, Yupik)–Aleut populations. (Q-M3 occupies 46% among Q in North America). On the other hand, a 4000-year-old Saqqaq individual belonging to Q1a-MEH2* has been found in Greenland. Surprisingly, he turned out to be genetically more closely related to Far East Siberians such as Koryaks and Chukchi people rather than Native Americans. Today, the frequency of Q runs at 53.7% (122/227: 70 Q-NWT01, 52 Q-M3) in Greenland, showing the highest in east Sermersooq at 82% and the lowest in Qeqqata at 30%.” ref

Mesoamerica and South America

“Haplogroup Q-M242 has been found in approximately 94% of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and South America. The frequencies of Q among the whole male population of each country reach as follows:

• 61% in Bolivia.
• 51% in Guatemala,
• 40.1% (159/397) to 50% in Peru
• 37.6% in Ecuador,
• 37.3% (181/485) in Mexico (30.8% (203/659) among the specifically Mestizo segment)
• 31.2% (50/160) in El Salvador,
• 15.3% (37/242) to 21.8% (89/408) in Panama,
• 16.1% in Colombia,
• 15.2% (25/165) in Nicaragua,
• 9.7% (20/206) in Chile,
• 5.3% (13/246 in 8 provinces in northeastern, central, southern regions) to 23.4% (181/775 in 8 provinces in central-west, central, northwest regions) in Argentina,
• 5% in Costa Rica,
• 3.95% in Brazil, and so on.” ref

Y-DNA Q samples from ancient sites

• South Central Siberia (near Altai)
  • Afontova-Gora-2, Yenisei River Bank, Krasnoyarsk (South Central Siberia of Russia), 17,000 years ago: Q1a1-F1215 (mtDNA R)
• North America
  • Anzick-1, Clovis culture, western Montana, 12,600 years ago: Q1a2-L54* (not M3, mtDNA D4h3a)
  • Kennewick Man, Washington, 8,500 years ago: Q1a2-M3 (mtDNA X2a)
• Altai (West Mongolia)
  • Tsagaan Asga and Takhilgat Uzuur-5 Kurgan sites, westernmost Mongolian Altai, 2,900-4,800 years ago: 4 R1a1a1b2-Z93 (B.C. 10C, B.C. 14C, 2 period unknown), 3 Q1a2a1-L54 (period unknown), 1 Q-M242 (B.C. 28C), 1 C-M130 (B.C. 10C)
• Greenland
  • Saqqaq (Qilakitsoq), Greenland, 4,000 years ago: Q1a-YP1500 (mtDNA D2a1)
• China
  • Hengbei site (Peng kingdom cemetery of Western Zhou period), Jiang County, Shanxi, 2,800-3,000 years ago: 9 Q1a1-M120, 2 O2a-M95, 1 N, 4 O3a2-P201, 2 O3, 4 O*
    • In another paper, the social status of those human remains of ancient Peng kingdom(倗国) are analyzed. aristocrats: 3 Q1a1 (prostrate 2, supine 1), 2 O3a (supine 2), 1 N (prostrate) / commoners: 8 Q1a1 (prostrate 4, supine 4), 3 O3a (prostrate 1, supine 2), 3 O* (supine 3) / slaves: 3 O3a, 2 O2a, 1 O*
    • (cf) Pengbo (倗伯), Monarch of Peng Kingdom is estimated as Q-M120.
  • Pengyang County, Ningxia, 2,500 years ago: all 4 Q1a1-M120 (with a lot of animal bones and bronze swords and other weapons, etc.)
  • Heigouliang, Xinjiang, 2,200 years ago: 6 Q1a* (not Q1a1-M120, not Q1a1b-M25, not Q1a2-M3), 4 Q1b-M378, 2 Q* (not Q1a, not Q1b: unable to determine subclades):
    • In a paper (Lihongjie 2012), the author analyzed the Y-DNAs of the ancient male samples from the 2nd or 1st century BCE cemetery at Heigouliang in Xinjiang – which is also believed to be the site of a summer palace for Xiongnu kings – which is east of the Barkol basin and near the city of Hami. The Y-DNA of 12 men excavated from the site belonged to Q-MEH2 (Q1a) or Q-M378 (Q1b). The Q-M378 men among them were regarded as hosts of the tombs; half of the Q-MEH2 men appeared to be hosts and the other half as sacrificial victims.
  • Xiongnu site in Barkol, Xinjiang, all 3 Q-M3
    • In L. L. Kang et al. (2013), three samples from a Xiongnu) site in Barkol, Xinjiang were found to be Q-M3 (Q1a2a1a1). And, as Q-M3 is mostly found in Yeniseians and Native Americans, the authors suggest that the Xiongnu had connections to speakers of the Yeniseian languages. These discoveries from the above papers (Li 2012, Kang et al., 2013) have some positive implications on the not as yet clearly verified theory that the Xiongnu were precursors of the Huns.
  • Mongolian noble burials in the Yuan dynasty, Shuzhuanglou Site, northernmost Hebei China, 700 years ago: all 3 Q (not analyzed subclade, the principal occupant Gaodangwang Korguz (高唐王=趙王 阔里吉思)’s mtDNA=D4m2, two others mtDNA=A)
    • (cf) Korguz was a son of a princess of Kublai Khan (元 世祖), and was the king of the Ongud tribe. He died in 1298 and was reburied in Shuzhuanglou in 1311 by his son. (Do not confuse this man with the Uyghur governor, Korguz who died in 1242.) The Ongud tribe (汪古部) was a descendant of the Shatuo tribe (沙陀族) which was a tribe of Göktürks (Western Turkic Khaganate) and was prominent in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China, building three dynasties. His two queens were all princesses of the Yuan dynasty (Kublai Khan’s granddaughters). It was very important for the Yuan dynasty to maintain a marriage alliance with Ongud tribe which had been a principal assistant since Genghis Khan‘s period. About 16 princesses of the Yuan dynasty married kings of the Ongud tribe.” ref

“The first humans to settle the Amazon Basin arrived around 13,000 years ago as part of a mass migration that quickly swept across the Americas, researchers have discovered.” ref

Source Populations for the Peopling of the Americas

“Genetic studies have used high-resolution analytical techniques applied to DNA samples from modern Native Americans and Asian populations regarded as their source populations to reconstruct the development of human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups (yDNA haplogroups) and human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups (mtDNA haplogroups) characteristic of Native American populations. Models of molecular evolution rates were used to estimate the ages at which Native American DNA lineages branched off from their parent lineages in Asia and to deduce the ages of demographic events. One model (Tammetal 2007) based on Native American mtDNA Haplotypes (Figure 2) proposes that migration into Beringia occurred between 30,000 and 25,000 years ago, with migration into the Americas occurring around 10,000 to 15,000 years after isolation of the small founding population. Another model (Kitchen et al. 2008) proposes that migration into Beringia occurred approximately 36,000 years ago, followed by 20,000 years of isolation in Beringia. A third model (Nomatto et al. 2009) proposes that migration into Beringia occurred between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, with a pre-LGM migration into the Americas followed by isolation of the northern population following the closure of the ice-free corridor. Evidence of Australo-Melanesians admixture in Amazonian populations was found by Skoglund and Reich (2016).” ref

“A study of the diversification of mtDNA Haplogroups C and D from southern Siberia and eastern Asia, respectively, suggests that the parent lineage (Subhaplogroup D4h) of Subhaplogroup D4h3, a lineage found among Native Americans and Han Chinese, emerged around 20,000 years ago, constraining the emergence of D4h3 to post-LGM. Age estimates based on Y-chromosome micro-satellite diversity place origin of the American Haplogroup Q1a3a (Y-DNA) at around 15,000 to 10,000 years ago. Greater consistency of DNA molecular evolution rate models with each other and with archaeological data may be gained by the use of dated fossil DNA to calibrate molecular evolution rates. The Ancient Beringian (AB) is a specific archaeogenetic lineage, based on the genome of an infant found at the Upward Sun River site (dubbed USR1), dated to 11,500 years ago. The AB lineage diverged from the Ancestral Native American (ANA) lineage about 20,000 years ago. The ANA lineage was estimated as having been formed between 20,000 and 25,000 years ago by a mixture of East Asian and Ancient North Eurasian lineages, consistent with the model of the peopling of the Americas via Beringia during the Last Glacial Maximum.” ref

“The Native American source population was formed in Siberia by the mixing of two distinct populations: Ancient North Eurasians and an ancient East Asian (ESEA) population. According to Jennifer Raff, the Ancient North Eurasian population mixed with a daughter population of ancient East Asians, who they encountered around 25,000 years ago, which led to the emergence of Native American ancestral populations. However, the exact location where the admixture took place is unknown, and the migratory movements that united the two populations are a matter of debate. One theory supposes that Ancient North Eurasians migrated south to East Asia, or Southern Siberia, where they would have encountered and mixed with ancient East Asians. Genetic evidence from Lake Baikal in Mongolia supports this area as the location where the admixture took place. ” ref

“However, a third theory, the “Beringian standstill hypothesis”, suggests that East Asians instead migrated north to Northeastern Siberia, where they mixed with ANE, and later diverged in Beringia, where distinct Native American lineages formed. This theory is supported by maternal and nuclear DNA evidence. According to Grebenyuk, after 20,000 years ago, a branch of Ancient East Asians migrated to Northeastern Siberia, and mixed with descendants of the ANE, leading to the emergence of Ancient Paleo-Siberian and Native American populations in Extreme Northeastern Asia. However, the Beringian standstill hypothesis is not supported by paternal DNA evidence, which may reflect different population histories for paternal and maternal lineages in Native Americans, which is not uncommon and has been observed in other populations. A 2019 study suggested that Native Americans are the closest living relatives to 10,000-year-old fossils found near the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia. A study published in July 2022 suggested that people in southern China may have contributed to the Native American gene pool, based on the discovery and DNA analysis of 14,000-year-old human fossils. The contrast between the genetic profiles of the Hokkaido Jōmon skeletons and the modern Ainu illustrates another uncertainty in source models derived from modern DNA samples: The development of high-resolution genomic analysis has provided opportunities to further define Native American subclades and narrow the range of Asian subclades that may be parent or sister subclades.” ref

“The common occurrence of the mtDNA Haplogroups A, B, C, and D among eastern Asian and Native American populations has long been recognized, along with the presence of haplogroup X. As a whole, the greatest frequency of the four Native-American-associated haplogroups occurs in the Altai–Baikal region of southern Siberia. Some subclades of C and D closer to the Native American subclades occur among Mongolian, Amur, Japanese, Korean, and Ainu populations. With further definition of subclades related to Native American populations, the requirements for sampling Asian populations to find the most closely related subclades grow more specific. Subhaplogroups D1 and D4h3 have been regarded as Native American specific based on their absence among a large sampling of populations regarded as potential descendants of source populations, over a wide area of Asia. Among the 3,764 samples, the Sakhalin–lower Amur region was represented by 61 Oroks.” ref 

“In another study, Subhaplogroup D1a has been identified among the Ulchis of the lower Amur River region (4 among 87 sampled, or 4.6%), along with Subhaplogroup C1a (1 among 87, or 1.1%). Subhaplogroup C1a is regarded as a close sister clade of the Native American Subhaplogroup C1b. Subhaplogroup D1a has also been found among ancient Jōmon skeletons from Hokkaido The modern Ainu are regarded as descendants of the Jōmon. The occurrence of the Subhaplogroups D1a and C1a in the lower Amur region suggests a source population from that region distinct from the Altai-Baikal source populations, where sampling did not reveal those two particular subclades. The conclusions regarding Subhaplogroup D1 indicating potential source populations in the lower Amur and Hokkaido areas stand in contrast to the single-source migration model. Subhaplogroup D4h3 has been identified among Han Chinese. Subhaplogroup D4h3 from China does not have the same geographic implication as Subhaplotype D1a from Amur-Hokkaido, so its implications for source models are more speculative. Its parent lineage, Subhaplotype D4h, is believed to have emerged in East Asia, rather than Siberia, around 20,000 years ago. Subhaplogroup D4h2, a sister clade of D4h3, has also been found among Jōmon skeletons from Hokkaido. D4h3 has a coastal trace in the Americas.” ref

“X is one of the five mtDNA haplogroups found in Indigenous Americans. Native Americans mostly belong to the X2a clade, which has never been found in the Old World. According to Jennifer Raff, X2a probably originated in the same Siberian population as the other four founding maternal lineages, and that there is no compelling reason to believe it is related to X lineages found in Europe or West Eurasia. The Kennewick man fossil was found to carry the deepest branch of the X2a haplogroup, and he did not have any European ancestry that would be expected for a European origin of the lineage. The Human T cell Lymphotrophic Virus 1 (HTLV-1) is a virus transmitted through exchange of bodily fluids and from mother to child through breast milk. The mother-to-child transmission mimics a hereditary trait, although such transmission from maternal carriers is less than 100%. The HTLV virus genome has been mapped, allowing identification of four major strains and analysis of their antiquity through mutations. The highest geographic concentrations of the strain HLTV-1 are in sub-Saharan Africa and Japan.” ref

“In Japan, it occurs in its highest concentration on Kyushu. It is also present among African descendants and native populations in the Caribbean region and South America. It is rare in Central America and North America. Its distribution in the Americas has been regarded as due to importation with the slave trade. The Ainu have developed antibodies to HTLV-1, indicating its endemicity to the Ainu and its antiquity in Japan. A subtype “A” has been defined and identified among the Japanese (including Ainu), and among Caribbean and South American isolates. A subtype “B” has been identified in Japan and India. In 1995, Native Americans in coastal British Columbia were found to have both subtypes A and B. Bone marrow specimens from an Andean mummy about 1500 years old were reported to have shown the presence of the A subtype. The finding ignited controversy, with contention that the sample DNA was insufficiently complete for the conclusion and that the result reflected modern contamination. However, a re-analysis indicated that the DNA sequences were consistent with, but not definitely from, the “cosmopolitan clade” (subtype A). The presence of subtypes A and B in the Americas is suggestive of a Native American source population related to the Ainu ancestors, the Jōmon.” ref

“Paleo-Indian skeletons in the Americas such as Kennewick Man (Washington State), Hoya Negro skeleton (Yucatán), Luzia Woman and other skulls from the Lagoa Santa site (Brazil), Buhl Woman (Idaho), Peñon Woman III, two skulls from the Tlapacoya site (Mexico City), and 33 skulls from Baja California have exhibited certain craniofacial traits distinct from most modern Native Americans, leading physical anthropologists to posit an earlier “Paleoamerican” population wave. The most basic measured distinguishing trait is the dolichocephaly of the skull. Some modern isolated populations such as the Pericúes of Baja California and the Fuegians of Tierra del Fuego exhibit that same morphological trait. Other anthropologists advocate an alternative hypothesis that evolution of an original Beringian phenotype gave rise to a distinct morphology that was similar in all known Paleoamerican skulls, followed by later convergence towards the modern Native American phenotype.” ref

“Archaeogenetic studies do not support a two-wave model or the Paleoamerican hypothesis of an Australo-Melanesian origin, and firmly assign all Paleo-Indians and modern Native Americans to one ancient population that entered the Americas in a single migration from Beringia. Only in one ancient specimen (Lagoa Santa) and a few modern populations in the Amazon region, a small Australasian ancestry component of c. 3% was detected, which remains unexplained by the current state of research (as of 2021), but may be explained by the presence of the more basal Tianyuan-related ancestry, a deep East Asian lineage which did not directly contribute to modern East Asians but may have contributed to the ancestors of Native Americans in Siberia, as such ancestry is also found among previous Paleolithic Siberians (Ancient North Eurasians).” ref

“A report published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology in January 2015 reviewed craniofacial variation focusing on differences between early and late Native Americans and explanations for these based on either skull morphology or molecular genetics. Arguments based on molecular genetics have in the main, according to the authors, accepted a single migration from Asia with a probable pause in Beringia, plus later bi-directional gene flow. Some studies focusing on craniofacial morphology have previously argued that Paleoamerican remains have been described as closer to Australo-Melanesians and Polynesians than to the modern series of Native Americans, suggesting two entries into the Americas, an early one occurring before a distinctive East Asian morphology developed (referred to in the paper as the “Two Components Model”). Another “third model”, the “Recurrent Gene Flow” (RGF) model, attempts to reconcile the two, arguing that circumarctic gene flow after the initial migration could account for morphological changes. It specifically re-evaluates the original report on the Hoya Negro skeleton which supported the RGF model, the authors disagreed with the original conclusion which suggested that the skull shape did not match those of modern Native Americans, arguing that the “skull falls into a subregion of the morphospace occupied by both Paleoamericans and some modern Native Americans.” ref

“Stemmed points are a lithic technology distinct from Beringian and Clovis types. They have a distribution ranging from coastal East Asia to the Pacific coast of South America. The emergence of stemmed points has been traced to Korea during the upper Paleolithic. The origin and distribution of stemmed points have been interpreted as a cultural marker related to a source population from coastal East Asia. The Indigenous peoples of the Americas have ascertained archaeological presence in the Americas dating back to about 15,000 years ago. More recent research, however, suggests a human presence dating to between 18,000 and 26,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum. There remain uncertainties regarding the precise dating of individual sites and regarding conclusions drawn from population genetics studies of contemporary Native Americans.” ref

“Genetic diversity and population structure in the American land mass using DNA micro-satellite markers (genotype) sampled from North, Central, and South America have been analyzed against similar data available from other Indigenous populations worldwide. The Amerindian populations show a lower genetic diversity than populations from other continental regions. Decreasing genetic diversity with increasing geographic distance from the Bering Strait can be seen, as well as a decreasing genetic similarity to Siberian populations from Alaska (genetic entry point). A higher level of diversity and lower level of population structure in western South America compared to eastern South America is observed. A relative lack of differentiation between Mesoamerican and Andean populations is a scenario that implies coastal routes were easier than inland routes for migrating peoples (Paleo-Indians) to traverse. The overall pattern that is emerging suggests that the Americas were recently colonized by a small number of individuals (effective size of about 70–250), and then they grew by a factor of 10 over 800–1,000 years.” ref 

“The data also show that there have been genetic exchanges between Asia, the Arctic, and Greenland since the initial peopling of the Americas. A new study in early 2018 suggests that the effective population size of the original founding population of Native Americans was about 250 people. “Pre-Columbian population figures are difficult to estimate due to the fragmentary nature of the evidence. Estimates range from 8–112 million. Scholars have varied widely on the estimated size of the Indigenous populations prior to colonization and on the effects of European contact. Estimates are made by extrapolations from small bits of data. A 2020 genetic study suggests that prior estimates for the pre-Columbian Caribbean population may have been at least tenfold too large. Historian David Stannard estimates that the extermination of Indigenous peoples took the lives of 100 million people: “…the total extermination of many American Indian peoples and the near-extermination of others, in numbers that eventually totaled close to 100,000,000.” ref

ref

Climate amelioration, abrupt vegetation recovery, and the dispersal of Homo sapiens in Baikal Siberia

Abstract: “The dispersal of Homo sapiens in Siberia and Mongolia occurred by 45,000 to 40,000 years ago; however, the climatic and environmental context of this event remains poorly understood. We reconstruct a detailed vegetation history for the Last Glacial period based on pollen spectra from Lake Baikal. While herb and shrub taxa including Artemisia and Alnus dominated throughout most of this period, coniferous forests rapidly expanded during Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events 14 (55,000 years ago) and 12 to 10 (48,000 to 41,000 years ago), with the latter presenting the strongest signal for coniferous forest expansion and Picea trees, indicating remarkably humid conditions. These abrupt forestation events are consistent with obliquity maxima, so that we interpret last glacial vegetation changes in southern Siberia as being driven by obliquity change. Likewise, we posit that major climate amelioration and pronounced forestation precipitated H. sapiens dispersal into Baikal Siberia 45,000 years ago, as chronicled by the appearance of the Initial Upper Paleolithic.” ref

ref

“The Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site (Yana RHS) is an Upper Palaeolithic archaeological site located near the lower Yana river in northeastern Siberia, Russia, north of the Arctic Circle in the far west of Beringia. It was discovered in 2001, after thawing and erosion exposed animal bones and artifacts. The site features a well-preserved cultural layer due to the cold conditions, and includes hundreds of animal bones and ivory pieces and numerous artifacts, which are indicative of sustained settlement and a relatively high level of technological development. With an estimated age of around 32,000 years ago, the site provides the earliest archaeological evidence for human settlement in this region, or anywhere north of the Arctic Circle, where people survived extreme conditions and hunted a wide range of fauna before the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum. The Yana site is perhaps the earliest unambiguous evidence of mammoth hunting by humans. A 2019 genetic study found that the remains of two young male humans discovered at the site, dating to c. 31,600 years ago, represent a distinct archaeogenetic lineage, named ‘Ancient North Siberians‘ (ANS). The Yana RHS site is preceded in Siberia by a few Initial Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites such as Ust-Ischim (with modern human remains, 45,000 years ago), or Kara-Bom (dating to 46,620 +/-1,750 cal years ago), Kara-Tenesh, Kandabaevo, and Podzvonskaya.” ref

“A model of differentiation after dispersal out of Africa in the Early Upper Paleolithic (45,000–20,000 years ago) (“The tree diagram shows divergence patterns and is not meant to depict migration routes from the branches or geographic origins of ancestral populations”). The genetic proximity of Yana with Ancient North Eurasian populations (Mal’ta, Afontova Gora), but also Ust-Ishim and Sunghir and to a lesser extent Tianyuan, within a principal component analysis of ancient and present-day individuals from worldwide populations. Human teeth, dated to around 31,630 calibrated years before present, were found at the site, at the Northern Point locality. DNA extracted from two of these teeth, which were found to be from two unrelated males, were found to represent a distinct archaeogenetic lineage which can be modeled as a mixture of early West Eurasian with significant contribution (c. 22% to 50%) from early East Asians (represented by Tianyuan man), an ancestral lineage that the authors have named ‘Ancient North Siberian’ (ANS), thought to have diversified around 38,000 years ago. Both individuals from the Yana site were found to belong to mitochondrial haplogroup U, and Y chromosome haplogroup P1. This is currently the oldest human genetic material retrieved from Siberia.” ref

“The site has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 32,000 years ago, before the Last Glacial Maximum and more than twice the age of any previously known human settlement of the Arctic. By the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, around 21,000 years ago, the archaeological culture represented by the Yana site had disappeared. The Yana stone industry is flake-based, using a simple knapping technology. Blades are rare and microblades are absent. Large tools are mostly unifacial or incomplete bifaces. Among thousands of stone artifacts, no stone hunting tools have been discovered at the Yana site. Instead, hunting tools seem to have been made from bone and ivory. A variety of other stone tools have been found at the site, however, including chopping tools, scrapers, chisel-like tools, and a hammer stone. Organic materials are well-preserved at the site due to the permafrost. Around 2,500 bone and ivory artifacts have been discovered at the site between 2002 and 2016. These include a rhinoceros horn foreshaft and two mammoth ivory foreshafts, which may have been straightened with a shaft-wrench, combined with heating or steaming. The foreshafts are said to be similar to those of the Clovis culture, and are the earliest examples of bi-beveled osseous rods, and also the only example found outside the Americas. There are also numerous ivory utensils, bone and ivory points, bone needles, a punch or an awl made from wolf bone, decorations and personal ornaments, and hunting weapons.” ref

“Non-local materials such as amber were used to manufacture ornaments such as pendants, suggesting high mobility or extensive trade networks. Over 1,500 beads, some painted with red ochre, have been discovered at the site. These include rounded mammoth ivory beads and tubular beads made from Pleistocene hare bone. Pendants were found made from reindeer teeth and herbivore incisors, and occasionally carnivore canines, or more rarely from minerals such as amber, as well as one specimen made from anthraxolite shaped like a horse or mammoth head. Ivory hair band ornaments are also found. Three-dimensional objects are less common, but include 19 antler animal figurines, probably intended to represent mammoths, three ornamented ivory vessels, and two engraved mammoth tusks, possibly engraved with drawings of hunters or dancers. The extent and density of the finds indicate a sustained and long-term human occupation of the site, and demonstrate a high level of cultural and technological development.” ref

ref

Formation and expansion of people having the Y Chromosome haplogroup K as well as of its descendants

“One of the descendants of the Y Chromosome haplogroup F, namely the haplogroup K, Map 6, was very productive as
well. It is now very rare, as well, but its descendants we find all over the world. The Y Chromosome haplogroup K
seems to had expanded east. From it there formed the haplogroup LT (45,400 years ago), which expanded south, whereas in Siberia there formed the haplogroup P (45,400 years ago). From the haplogroup LT there formed the haplogroup T (42,600 years ago), which members live from Ethiopia to Estonia, then haplogroup L (42,600), which members live in India and Middle East, and the haplogroup NO (41,500 years ago), which migrated to the South East Asia. There formed from the haplogroup NO the haplogroups N (36,800 years ago) and O (36,800 years ago). The haplogroup O is now the main haplogroup there (China, Tibet, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan), whereas part of the members of haplogroup N migrated north. From the haplogroup P there formed the haplogroup Q (31,900 years ago), which descendants live now in North East Asia and in Americas, as well as the haplogroup R (31,900 years ago), which members remained mainly in the Altai region, and there formed from the haplogroup R the haplogroup R1 (28,200 years ago), and from it the haplogroup R1a M420 (22,800 years ago) and R1b M 343 (22,800 years ago).” ref

Shamanism (beginning around 30,000 years ago)

Shamanism (such as that seen in Siberia Gravettian culture: 30,000 years ago). Gravettian culture (34,000–24,000 years ago; Western Gravettian, mainly France, Spain, and Britain, as well as Eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture). And, the Pavlovian culture (31,000 – 25,000 years ago such as in Austria and Poland). 31,000 – 20,000 years ago Oldest Shaman was Female, Buried with the Oldest Portrait Carving.

Shamanism is approximately a 30,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife that can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals that can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden shamanist.

Around 29,000 to 25,000 years ago in Dolní Vestonice, Czech Republic, the oldest human face representation is a carved ivory female head that was found nearby a female burial and belong to the Pavlovian culture, a variant of the Gravettian culture. The left side of the figure’s face was a distorted image and is believed to be a portrait of an elder female, who was around 40 years old. She was ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture but also of evidence of early female shamans. Before 5,500 years ago, women were much more prominent in religion.

Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known namely from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians include the Pavlovian culture, which were specialized mammoth hunters and whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. The origins of the Gravettian people are not clear, they seem to appear simultaneously all over Europe. Though they carried distinct genetic signatures, the Gravettians and Aurignacians before them were descended from the same ancient founder population. According to genetic data, 37,000 years ago, all Europeans can be traced back to a single ‘founding population’ that made it through the last ice age. Furthermore, the so-called founding fathers were part of the Aurignacian culture, which was displaced by another group of early humans members of the Gravettian culture. Between 37,000 years ago and 14,000 years ago, different groups of Europeans were descended from a single founder population. To a greater extent than their Aurignacian predecessors, they are known for their Venus figurines. 

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, & ref

“Evidence from personal ornaments suggest nine distinct cultural groups between 34,000 and 24,000 years ago in Europe. European personal ornament dataset analysis shows that Gravettian cultural geography is not explained by geographical proximity or shared biological descent.” ref, ref

The Evidence of Shamanism Rituals in Early Prehistoric Periods of Europe and Anatolia

“Shamanism Rituals in Palaeolithic Siberian shamans (Eastern Eurasian Shamanism) believe that shamanism emerged in the period when hunting and gathering was the main means to support. Ethnographic evidence suggests that hunter-gatherer groups would have seen the environment as giving and reciprocating, and that their spirit worlds would have consisted largely of animals and natural features with which shaman-like figures may have mediated. From this point of view, it is best to begin investigating prehistoric shamanism in Palaeolithic rituals and related cave paintings of Europe. The shamanic hypothesis that cave art is based on a fusion of direct evidence from the caves themselves with observations of more recent hunter-gatherer societies that still produce rock art. However, not all cultures have specific shamanic ritual locations, and even when they are present, shamans will perform some rituals away from them. Ritual areas are typically viewed as the literal doorway between the spiritual and physical worlds, and are often an opening into the earth, like caves or springs, or elevated spaces such as mountains and even caves in mountains.” ref 

Shamanism is approximately a 30,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife that can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals that can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden shamanist.

Around 29,000 to 25,000 years ago in Dolní Vestonice, Czech Republic, the oldest human face representation is a carved ivory female head that was found nearby a female burial and belong to the Pavlovian culture, a variant of the Gravettian culture. The left side of the figure’s face was a distorted image and is believed to be a portrait of an elder female, who was around 40 years old. She was ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture but also of evidence of early female shamans. Before 5,500 years ago, women were much more prominent in religion.

Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known namely from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians include the Pavlovian culture, which were specialized mammoth hunters and whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. The origins of the Gravettian people are not clear, they seem to appear simultaneously all over Europe. Though they carried distinct genetic signatures, the Gravettians and Aurignacians before them were descended from the same ancient founder population. According to genetic data, 37,000 years ago, all Europeans can be traced back to a single ‘founding population’ that made it through the last ice age. Furthermore, the so-called founding fathers were part of the Aurignacian culture, which was displaced by another group of early humans members of the Gravettian culture. Between 37,000 years ago and 14,000 years ago, different groups of Europeans were descended from a single founder population. To a greater extent than their Aurignacian predecessors, they are known for their Venus figurines. 

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, & ref

• “33,000 years ago: oldest known domesticated dog skulls show they existed in both Europe and Siberia by this time.
• 31,000–16,000 years ago: Last Glacial Maximum (peak at 26,500 years ago).
• 30,000 years ago: rock paintings tradition begins in Bhimbetka rock shelters in India, which presented as a collection is the densest known concentration of rock art. In an area about 10 km², there are about 800 rock shelters of which 500 contain paintings.
• 29,000 years ago: The earliest ovens found.
• 28,500 years ago: New Guinea is populated by colonists from Asia or Australia.
• 28,000 years ago: the oldest known twisted rope.
• 28,000–24,000 years ago: some of the oldest known pottery—used to make figurines rather than cooking or storage vessels (Venus of Dolní Věstonice).
• 28,000–20,000 years ago: Gravettian period in Europe. Harpoons and saws invented.
• 26,000 years ago: people around the world use fibers to make baby carriers, clothes, bags, baskets, and nets.
• 25,000 years ago: a hamlet consisting of huts built of rocks and of mammoth bones is founded in what is now Dolní Věstonice in Moravia in the Czech Republic. This is the oldest human permanent settlement that has yet been found by archaeologists.
• 21,000 years ago: artifacts suggests early human activity occurred in Canberra, the capital city of Australia.
• 20,000 years ago: Kebaran culture in the Levant.
• 20,000 years ago: oldest pottery storage/cooking vessels from China.
• 20,000-10,000 years ago: Khoisanid expansion to Central Africa.
• 16,000-14,000 years ago: Minatogawa Man (Proto-Mongoloid phenotype) in Okinawa, Japan
• 16,000–13,000 years ago: the first colonization of North America.
• 16,000-11,000 years ago: Caucasian Hunter-Gatherer (Caucasoid phenotype) expansion to Europe.
• 16,000 years ago: Wisent sculpted in clay deep inside the cave now known as Le Tuc d’Audoubert in the French Pyrenees near what is now the border of Spain.
• 15,000–14,700 years ago: Earliest supposed date for the domestication of the pig.
• 14,800 years ago: The Humid Period begins in North Africa. The region that would later become the Sahara is wet and fertile, and the aquifers are full.
• 14,500-11,500: Red Deer Cave people in China, possible late survival of archaic or archaic-modern hybrid humans.
• 14,000-12,000 years ago: Oldest evidence for prehistoric warfare (Jebel Sahaba massacre, Natufian culture).
• 13,000–10,000 years ago: Late Glacial Maximum, end of the Last glacial period, climate warms, glaciers recede.
• 13,000 years ago: A major water outbreak occurs on Lake Agassiz, which at the time could have been the size of the current Black Sea and the largest lake on Earth. Much of the lake is drained in the Arctic Ocean through the Mackenzie River.
• 13,000–11,000 years ago: Earliest dates suggested for the domestication of the sheep.
• Approximately 13,000 years ago, the Younger Dryas ice age.” ref

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“Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup (mtDNA). The clade arose from haplogroup R, likely during the early Upper Paleolithic. Its various subclades (labeled U1–U9, diverging over the course of the Upper Paleolithic) are found widely distributed across Northern and Eastern Europe, Central, Western, and South Asia, as well as North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Canary Islands. Basal U was found in the 26,000-year-old remains of Ancient North Eurasian, Mal’ta boy (MA1). The age of U5 is estimated at between 25,000 and 35,000 years old, roughly corresponding to the Gravettian culture. and is the DNA associated with the seeming first Gravettian shaman burial seen in the Pavlovian culture, around Dolní Věstonice in southern Moravia. One of the Dolní Věstonice burials, located near the huts, revealed a human female skeleton aged to 40+ years old, ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture, but also of evidence of female shamans.” ref, ref, ref, ref

“Approximately 11% of Europeans (10% of European-Americans) have some variant of haplogroup U5. U5 was the predominant mtDNA of mesolithic Western Hunter Gatherers (WHG). U5 has been found in human remains dating from the Mesolithic in England, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, France, and Spain. Neolithic skeletons (~7,000 years old) that were excavated from the Avellaner cave in Catalonia, northeastern Spain included a specimen carrying haplogroup U5. Haplogroup U5 and its subclades U5a and U5b today form the highest population concentrations in the far north, among Sami, Finns, and Estonians. However, it is spread widely at lower levels throughout Europe. This distribution, and the age of the haplogroup, indicate individuals belonging to this clade were part of the initial expansion tracking the retreat of ice sheets from Europe around 10,000 years ago. The modern Basques and Cantabrians possess almost exclusively U5b lineages (U5b1f, U5b1c1, U5b2).” ref

6 Ice Age Humans (30,000 Years Ago)

“Abstract: Starting about 35,000 years ago, humans seem to have made a great leap forward culturally. The authors argue that this wasn’t because of genetic changes that caused the human brain to have increased capacity. It was because some groups culturally evolved the “social tools” that allowed them to maintain connections and share information over long distances. The groups with the most effective social tools managed to stay connected and to survive, and their descendants inherited this culture of connectedness. It’s likely that forming greater connectedness and more complex culture was necessary in order to survive the periods of high climate variability that were a feature of the last ice age.” ref

“Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known mainly from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture, were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. Gravettian culture thrived on their ability to hunt animals. They utilized a variety of tools and hunting strategies. Compared to theorized hunting techniques of Neanderthals and earlier human groups, Gravettian hunting culture appears much more mobile and complex. They lived in caves or semi-subterranean or rounded dwellings which were typically arranged in small “villages”. Gravettians are thought to have been innovative in the development of tools such as blunted-back knives, tanged arrowheads, and boomerangs. Other innovations include the use of woven nets and oil lamps made of stone. Blades and bladelets were used to make decorations and bone tools from animal remains.” ref

“Gravettian culture extends across a large geographic region, as far as Estremadura in Portugal. but is relatively homogeneous until about 27,000 years ago. They developed burial rites, which included simple, purpose-built offerings and/or personal ornaments owned by the deceased, placed within the grave or tomb. Surviving Gravettian art includes numerous cave paintings and small, portable Venus figurines made from clay or ivory, as well as jewelry objects. The fertility deities mostly date from the early period; there are over 100 known surviving examples. They conform to a very specific physical type, with large breasts, broad hips and prominent posteriors. The statuettes tend to lack facial details, and their limbs are often broken off. During the post glacial period, evidence of the culture begins to disappear from northern Europe but was continued in areas around the Mediterranean. The Mal’ta Culture (c. 24,000 years ago) in Siberia is often considered as belonging to the Gravettian, due to its similar characteristics, particularly its Venus figurines, but any hypothetical connection would have to be cultural and not genetic: a 2016 genomic study showed that the Mal’ta people have no genetic connections with the people of the European Gravettian culture (the Vestonice Cluster).” ref

“Fu et al. (2016) examined the remains of fourteen Gravettians. The eight males included three samples of Y-chromosomal haplogroup CT, one of I, one IJK, one BT, one C1a2, and one sample of F. Of the fourteen samples of mtDNA, there were thirteen samples of U and one sample of M. The majority of the sample of U belonged to the U5 and U2. Teschler et al. (2020) examined the remains of one adult male and two twin boys from a Gravettian site in Austria. All belonged to haplogroup Y-Haplogroup I. and all had the same mtDNA, U5. According to Scorrano et al. (2022), “the genome of an early European individual from Kostenki 14, dated to around 37,000 years ago, demonstrated that the ancestral European gene pool was already established by that time.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Based on the seeming evidence, I speculate that around 14,000 years ago, it could be possible Siberian Shamanism (along with dogs and a bird carving, different but yet possibly related to the bird carvings in Siberia dating from 24,000 to 15,000 years ago) was transferred to China, after “N” DNA reached Siberia bringing them pottery. Bird sculptures through ethnographic comparison at 24,000–15,000 years old Mal’ta with objects used by Siberian shamans, suggest a fully developed shamanism.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“North American archaeological periods divides the history of pre-Columbian North America into a number of named successive eras or periods, from the earliest-known human habitation through to the early Colonial period which followed the European colonization of the Americas.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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California-Peruvian connection

“The Cell study also revealed a surprising connection between ancient people living in California’s Channel Islands and the southern Peruvian Andes at least 4,200 years ago. It appears that these two geographically distant groups have a shared ancestry, the researchers found. It’s unlikely that people living in the Channel Islands actually traveled south to Peru, the researchers said. Rather, it’s possible that these groups’ ancestors sallied forth thousands of years earlier, with some ending up in the Channel Islands and others in South America. But those genes didn’t become common in Peru until much later, around 4,200 years ago, when the population may have exploded, the researchers said. It could be that this ancestry arrived in South America thousands of years before and we simply don’t have earlier individuals showing it,” study co-lead researcher Nathan Nakatsuka, a research assistant in the Reich lab at Harvard Medical School, said in the statement. “There is archaeological evidence that the population in the Central Andes area greatly expanded after around 5,000 years ago. Spreads of particular subgroups during these events may be why we detect this ancestry afterward.” ref

Pre-Columbian Ceramics

“Ceramics of Indigenous peoples of the Americas is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas.” ref

“The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects (pots, vessels, or vases) or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in fire. The word ceramic comes from the Ancient Greek word κεραμικός (keramikós), meaning “of or for pottery” (from κέραμος (kéramos) ‘potter’s clay, tile, pottery’). The earliest known mention of the root ceram- is the Mycenaean Greek ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramic, written in Linear B syllabic script. The word ceramic can be used as an adjective to describe a material, product, or process, or it may be used as a noun, either singular or, more commonly, as the plural noun ceramics.” ref

“Human beings appear to have been making their own ceramics for at least 26,000 years, subjecting clay and silica to intense heat to fuse and form ceramic materials. The earliest found so far were in southern central Europe and were sculpted figures, not dishes. The earliest known pottery was made by mixing animal products with clay and firing it at up to 800 °C (1,500 °F). While pottery fragments have been found up to 19,000 years old, it was not until about 10,000 years later that regular pottery became common. Ceramic artifacts have an important role in archaeology for understanding the culture, technology, and behavior of peoples of the past. They are among the most common artifacts to be found at an archaeological site, generally in the form of small fragments of broken pottery called sherds.” ref

“In art history and archaeology, especially of ancient and prehistoric periods, pottery often means vessels only, and sculpted figurines of the same material are called terracottas. Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions, originating before the Neolithic period, with ceramic objects such as the Gravettian culture Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine discovered in the Czech Republic dating back to 29,000–25,000 BCE. However, the earliest known pottery vessels were discovered in Jiangxi, China, which date back to 18,000 BCE. Other early Neolithic and pre-Neolithic pottery artifacts have been found, in Jōmon Japan (10,500 BCE), the Russian Far East (14,000 BCE), Sub-Saharan Africa (9,400 BCE), South America (9,000s–7,000s BCE), and the Middle East (7,000s–6,000s BCE).” ref

“It is valuable to look into pottery as an record of potential interaction between peoples. When pottery is placed within the context of linguistic and migratory patterns, it becomes an even more prevalent category of social artifact. A great part of the history of pottery is prehistoric, part of past pre-literate cultures. Therefore, much of this history can only be found among the artifacts of archaeology. Because pottery is so durable, pottery and shards of pottery survive for millennia at archaeological sites, and are typically the most common and important type of artifact to survive. Many prehistoric cultures are named after the pottery that is the easiest way to identify their sites, and archaeologists have developed the ability to recognize different types from the chemistry of small shards.” ref

“The potter’s wheel was invented in Mesopotamia sometime between 6,000 and 4,000 BCE (Ubaid period), and revolutionised pottery production. The earliest-known ceramic objects are Gravettian figurines such as those discovered at Dolní Věstonice in the modern-day Czech Republic. The Venus of Dolní Věstonice is a Venus figurine, a statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000 BCE (Gravettian industry). But there is no evidence of pottery vessels from this period. Weights for looms or fishing-nets are a very common use for the earliest pottery. Sherds have been found in China and Japan from a period between 12,000 and perhaps as long as 18,000 years ago. As of 2012, the earliest pottery vessels found anywhere in the world, dating to 20,000 to 19,000 years before the present, was found at Xianrendong Cave in the Jiangxi province of China.” ref

“Other early pottery vessels include those excavated from the Yuchanyan Cave in southern China, dated from 16,000 BCE, and those found in the Amur River basin in the Russian Far East, dated from 14,000 BCE. The Odai Yamamoto I site, belonging to the Jōmon period, currently has the oldest pottery in Japan. Excavations uncovered earthenware fragments which have been dated as early as 14,500 BCE. The term “Jōmon” means “cord-marked” in Japanese. This refers to the markings made on the vessels and figures using sticks with cords during their production. Recent research has elucidated how Jōmon pottery was used by its creators.” ref

“Early type of pottery, also found at the site of Lahuradewa, is currently the oldest known pottery tradition in South Asia, dating back to 7,000–6,000 BCE. Wheel-made pottery began to be made during the Mehrgarh Period II (5,500–4,800 BCE) and Merhgarh Period III (4,800–3,500 BCE), known as the ceramic Neolithic and chalcolithic. Most evidence points to an independent development of pottery in the Native American cultures, with the earliest known dates from Brazil, from 9,500 to 5,000 years ago and 7,000 to 6,000 years ago. Further north in Mesoamerica, dates begin with the Archaic Era (3500–2000 BCE), and into the Formative period (2000 BCE – CE 200). These cultures did not develop the stoneware, porcelain or glazes found in the Old World. Maya ceramics include finely painted vessels, usually beakers, with elaborate scenes with several figures and texts. Several cultures, beginning with the Olmec, made terracotta sculpture, and sculptural pieces of humans or animals that are also vessels are produced in many places, with Moche portrait vessels among the finest.” ref

“The clay body is a necessary component of pottery. Clay must be mined and purified in an often laborious process, and certain tribes have ceremonial protocols to gathering clay. Different tribes have different processes for processing clay, which can include drying in the sun, soaking in water for days, and repeatedly running through a screen or sieve. Acoma and other Pueblo pottery traditionally pound dry clay into a powder and then remove impurities by hand, then running the dry powder through a screen, mixing it with a dry temper, and then mixing water to create a plastic paste. In preparing the clay, potters spend hours wedging it to remove air pockets and humidity that could easily cause it to explode during firing. The clay then needs to “cure” over time.” ref

“Coiling is the most common means of shaping ceramics in the Americas. In coiling, the clay is rolled into a long, thin strands that are coiled upon each other to build up the shape of the pottery. While the potter builds the coils up, she also blends them together until there was no trace of the ropes of clay entwined to form the pot, no deviation in the thickness of the walls, and therefore no weaknesses. Potter’s wheels were not used prior to European contact and are only used today by a limited number of Native American artists. Pinch pots and other small clay objects could be formed directly by hand. Hohokam potters and their descendants in the American Southwest employed the paddle-and-anvil technique, in which the interior clay wall of a pot was supported by an anvil, while the exterior was beaten with a paddle, smoothing the surface. In precontact South America, ceramics were mass-produced using molds.” ref

“Slip is a liquid clay suspension of mineral pigments applied to the ceramics before firing. Slips are typically red, buff, white, and black; however, Nazca culture ceramic artists in Peru perfected 13 distinct colors of slips. They also used a hand-rotated turntable that allowed all sides of a ceramic piece to be painted with ease. These were first used in 500 BCE and continue to be used today. Slips can be applied overall in washes, creating large color fields, often with cloth, or they can be painted in fine detail with brushes. Yucca leaves, chewed slightly to loosen fibers, make excellent brushes that are still in use today in the American Southwest. Negative painting is a technique employed by precontact Mississippian potters in the Eastern Woodlands, Mayan potters in Mesoamerica, and others, which involves covering the ceramic piece in beeswax or another resist, incising a design in the resist, then soaking the piece with a slip. In the firing process the resists melts away, leaving the colored design.” ref

“While still green, pottery can be incised with designs. Cords, textiles, baskets, and corncobs have been rolled over wet clay, both as a decoration and to improve heat dispersion in cooking pots. Carved wood or ceramic stamping paddles are used throughout the Southeastern Woodlands to create repeating designs. Clay can also be added to the main ceramic structure to build up designs. Before firing, ceramics can be burnished or polished to a fine sheen with a smooth instrument, usually a stone. Glazes are seldom used by indigenous American ceramic artists. Grease can be rubbed onto the pot as well. Prior to contact, pottery was usually open-air fired or pit fired; precontact Indigenous peoples of Mexico used kilns extensively. Today many Native American ceramic artists use kilns. In pit-firing, the pot is placed in a shallow pit dug into the earth along with other unfired pottery, covered with wood and brush, or dung, then set on fire whereupon it can harden at temperatures of 1400 degrees or more. Finally, the ceramics surface is often polished with smooth stones.” ref

“Not all Indigenous American pottery requires added tempers; some Hopi potters use pure kaolin clay that does not require tempering. Some clays naturally contain enough temper that they do not required additional tempers. This includes mica or sand in clays used in some Taos Pueblo, Picuris Pueblo, and Hopi pottery, and sponge spicules in the clay used to produce the “chalky ware” of the St. Johns culture. Ceramics are often used to identify archaeological cultures. The type of temper (or mix of tempers) used helps to distinguish the ceramics produced by different cultures during particular time periods. For example, the Hohokam used schist containing silver mica as a temper in their plainware; the shiny particles of the mica gave the pottery a mystical shimmer.” ref 

“Grog, sand, and sandstone were all used by Ancestral Pueblo people and other Southwestern cultures. Crushed bone was used as temper in at least some ceramics at a number of sites in Texas. In the Southeastern United States, the earliest ceramics were tempered with fiber such as Spanish moss and palmetto leaves. In Louisiana, fiber as tempering was replaced first by grog and later by shell. In peninsular Florida and coastal Georgia sand replaced fiber as tempering. Still later, freshwater sponge spicules became an important temper in the “chalky ware” of the St. Johns culture in northeastern Florida. Locally produced ceramics of the Lucayan people in the Bahamas were characterized by crushed conch shell tempering, as opposed to the quartz sand-tempered ware imported from Hispaniola.” ref

“The choice of temper used in ceramics was constrained by what was available, but changes in the choice of temper can provide clues to influence and trade relations between groups. Shell-tempered ware was produced sporadically in various places across the eastern United States, but in the late Woodland and early Mississippian periods it became the predominant temper used across much of the Mississippi Valley and middle gulf coast, and a major defining characteristic of Mississippian culture pottery.” ref

“The earliest ceramics known from the Americas have been found in the lower Amazon Basin. Ceramics from the Caverna da Pedra Pintada, near Santarém, Brazil, have been dated to between 7,500 and 5,000 years ago. Ceramics from Taperinha, also near Santarém, have been dated to 8,000 to 7,000 years ago. Some of the sherds at Taperinho were shell-tempered, which allowed the sherds themselves to be radiocarbon dated. These first ceramics-making cultures were fishers and shellfish-gatherers.” ref

“Ceramics appeared next across northern South America and then down the western side of South America and northward through Mesoamerica. Ceramics of the Alaka culture in Guyana have been dated to 6,000 to 4,500 years ago. Ceramics of the San Jacinto culture in Colombia have been dated to about 4530 BCE, and at Puerto Hormiga, also in Colombia, to about 3794 BCE. Ceramics appeared in the Valdivia culture in Ecuador around 3200 BCE, and in the Pandanche culture in Peru around 2460 BCE.” ref

“The spread of ceramics in Mesoamerica came later. Ceramics from Monagrillo in Panama have been dated to around 2140 BCE, from Tronadora in Costa Rica to around 1890 BCE, and from Barra in the Soconusco of Chiapas to around 1900 BCE. Ceramics of the Purrón tradition in southcentral Mexico have been dated to around 1805 BCE, and from the Chajil tradition of northcentral Mexico, to around 1600 BCE.” ref

“The appearance of ceramics in the Southeastern United States does not fit the above pattern. Ceramics from the middle Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina (known as Stallings, Stallings Island, or St. Simons) have been dated to about 2888 BCE (around 4888 years ago), and ceramics of the Orange and Norwood cultures in northern Florida to around 2460 BCE (around 4460 years ago) (all older than any other dated ceramics from north of Colombia). Ceramics appeared later elsewhere in North America. Ceramics reached southern Florida (Mount Elizabeth) by 4000 years ago, Nebo Hill (in Missouri) by 3700 years ago, and Poverty Point (in Louisiana) by 3400 years ago.” ref

Eastern Woodlands

• Hopewell pottery is the ceramic tradition of the various local cultures involved in the Hopewell tradition (ca. 200 BCE to 400 CE) and are found as artifacts in archeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast.
• Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture (800–1600 CE) found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast.” ref

Southeastern Woodlands

“Geological studies show that certain areas of the southeastern portion of North America are rich in kaolins and ball clays (Hosterman, USGS), the types of plastic clays best suited for pottery. Clay beds which still produce ceramic clays are from primary and secondary deposits formed in the Late Paleocene and Early Miocene Epochs in formations that formed the Gulf Coastal Plain. According to all geological surveys the entire southeastern portion of the continent has abundant clay deposits, with the exception of all of south Florida and a portion of western central Florida (Calver) (Matson).” ref

“Fiber-tempered ceramics associated with shell middens left by Late Archaic hunter-fisher-gatherers appeared in the Atlantic coastal plain of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina starting in 2500 BCE. The earliest attested pottery is in the Stallings culture area, around the middle Savannah River. Fiber-tempered pottery of the Orange culture in northeast Florida has been dated to 2000 BC or a bit earlier. Fiber-tempered pottery of very similar form spread along coasts and river valleys of the Southeastern United States from the Atlantic coast into Alabama, reaching northwestern Florida (Norwood culture) and the Gulf coast by 1300 BC, the interior Middle South by 1100, and Poverty Point by 1000 BCE.” ref

“Thoms Creek ceramics closely resembled Stallings ceramics, but used more sand and less fiber as temper than Stalling or Orange ware. Thoms Creek ceramics were largely contemporary with Stalling and Orange ceramics, although no Thoms Creek ceramics have been found that are as early as the earliest Stallings. Thoms Creek ceramics overlapped Stallings ceramics in northern Georgia and southern South Carolina, but were the dominant tradition north of the Santee River into North Carolina.” ref

“The similarities of the Stallings series ceramics to the earlier Puerto Hormiga ceramics of Colombia, which were both associated with shell rings, and the presence of winds and ocean currents favoring journeys from South America to the Southeastern United States, led James A. Ford, among other archaeologists, to offer the hypothesis that the two areas had connections, and that the technology of fiber-tempered ceramics in the southeastern United States had been imported from Colombia. Other archaeologists have noted that there are no known archaeological sites between Colombia and Florida that are of a type or age consistent with such connections, and that the cultural traditions of the Southeastern United States show no significant changes associated with the appearance of ceramics, indicating that there was no migration or people, and no transfer of technology or other elements of culture, other than the appearance of ceramics.” ref

“Later significant developments in ceramics in the Southeastern Woodlands included Mississippian culture pottery in the Mississippi River valley, and Weedon Island pottery, a style of pottery used primarily in ceremonial contexts and high status burials, produced and traded along the Gulf of Mexico coast from southwestern Florida to the Florida panhandle.” ref

• Swift Creek and Santa Rosa culture pottery post Deptford, northwest Florida, ceremonial decorative pottery, 1000 CE.
• Glade and Belle Glade culture pottery fiber or sand-tempered crude pottery, south Florida to central Florida, 500 BCE until 1700 CE, reference four periods I, II, III and IV
• Alachua culture pottery northeast, north central Florida, protohistoric period
• Plaquemine culture pottery, ceramics of the Natchez people, a historic tribe known also to be one of the last of the Plaquemine culture chiefdoms in southwestern Mississippi
• Fort Walton culture pottery distinctively Mississippi culture in Florida panhandle, developed out of the Weedon Island culture 1000 CE.” ref

Great Basin

“Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin based their pottery on basketry. The Fremont culture of central Utah (700–1300 CE) developed pottery after adopting agriculture. Paiute and Washoe people in the western Great Basin developed plain, utilitarian ceramics separately, which was not burnished but occasionally featured red painted designs. The Owens Valley Brown Ware is an example of Paiute/Washoe ceramics, which was used for cooking, food storage, and water jugs. The jugs often featured clay handles that accommodated carrying straps.” ref

Mesoamerican pottery

• Barra/Mokaya (c. 1900 BCE)
• Tlatilco (c. 1500 BCE)
• Olmec (c. 1500–400 BCE)
• Teotihuacan (c. 300 BCE – 600 CE)
• Zapotec (c. 200–800 CE)
• Mixtec(c. 900 CE)
• Purépecha (c. 800–1300 CE)
• Maya ceramics (c. 317–1200 CE)
• Remojadas (c. 750 CE)
• Toltec / Mayan (c. 1200–1500 CE)
• Aztec (c. 1168–1519 CE)
• Coclé, Panama with the following periods: La Mula (c. 150 BCE – 300 CE), Tonosi (c. 300–550 CE), Cubita (c. 550–700 CE), and Gran Cocle (c. 1200–1500 CE).
• Classic Veracruz Culture (c. 100–1000 CE)
• Capacha (c. 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE)
• Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition (c. 300 BCE to 550 CE)” ref

Colombia and Venezuela

“Fiber-tempered ceramics associated with shell middens left by hunter-fisher-gatherers of the Early Northwest South American Literature appeared at sites such as Puerto Hormiga, Monsú, Puerto Chacho, and San Jacinto in Colombia by 3100 BCE. Fiber-tempered ceramics at Monsú have been dated to 5940 radiocarbon years before present. The fiber-tempered pottery at Puerto Hormiga was “crude”, formed from a single lump of clay. The fiber-tempered pottery at San Jacinto is described as “well-made”. Sand-tempered coiled ceramics have also been found at Puerto Horrible.” ref

“Ráquira, a town in the Boyacá Department, Colombia, is a major ceramics center, where both indigenous techniques and those introduced by Europeans are employed to create primarily utilitarian pots based on Chibcha designs. Ceramic mobiles, nativity scenes, and animal figurines are popular, especially ceramic horses, which have been the symbol of Colombian pottery. La Chamba in the Tolima Department is known for its blackware. The women potters here also create brown and red ware.” ref

Andean region

“In the Andes, great civilizations had been created and flourished for thousands of years during the Andean preceramic period. Yet the ceramics appear only during the Initial Period around 1800 BCE. Their main purpose may have been for boiling agricultural produce. The earliest ceramics in the Andean area have been radiocarbon dated to about 1800 BC, although according to John H. Rowe the date may go back even to 2100 BC. Early ceramics have been found on the central coast at the large settlement of Las Haldas, at Huarmey, as well as at some other sites in the Casma River region, and in Lima area.” ref

“Chavín potters (900–200 BCE) on the Peruvian coast created distinctive stirrup spout vessels, both incised and highly burnished. These thin-walled effigy pots were fashioned to resemble stylized humans, plants, and animals. Two substyles of Chavín stirrup spout pots include the thicker-walls, glossy-on-matte blackware Cupisnique style and red and black Santa Ana style, both featuring fanged heads. Subsequent Andean cultures revived these ancient ceramics styles and imagery.” ref

“Paracas culture, from Peru’s desert south coast, created highly detailed ceramics, that were often painted after firing. Paints, made with an acacia resin binder, were commonly warm yellow, olive green, red-orange, white, and black in color. Paracas artists built upon Chavín styles and introduced the double spout-and-bridge vessel and distinctive masks portraying a supernatural “Oculate Being,” that combines human, owl, and double-headed snake forms.” ref

“Nasca culture, another south coastal Peruvian culture, returned to the less fragile practice slip-painted their ceramics prior to firing. They created thirteen distinct colors, the larger palette found in Pre-Columbian ceramics in the Americas, which included rare pale purple, maroon, and bluish-grey. Nasca artists created ceremonial and utilitarian bowls and beakers, effigy jars, panpipes, and vessels of new designs, including the stepped-fret. These combined sculptural elements with surface painting, often with curvilinear designs emphasized by bold, black outlining. Painters used revolving turntables to paint all sides of a ceramic piece.” ref

“Dominating Peru’s north coast from 1–600 CE, the Moche culture excelled at the art of ceramics, which was characterized by symbolic, religious imagery. Moche artists produced some of the more naturalistic, i.e. faithfully representational, artwork of the precolumbian Americas. Moche portrait vessel were so realistic that individuals portrayed at different stages of their life are identifiable. Their paintings on ceramics were narrative and action-packed. Ceramics produced by two-press molds were identical in shape but individualized through unique surface painting. Tens of thousands of Moche ceramics have survived today. The stirrup-spout vessel continued to be the most common form of clay vessel, but Moche artists also created bowls, dippers, jars with long necks, spout-and-handle vessels, and double-chambered vessels that whistled when liquid was poured. Vessels were often effigies portraying elaborate scenes. A fineline painting tradition emerged, which resembles Greek black-figure pottery. A 29,000-square-foot Moche ceramics workshop with numerous kilns was discovered in at the mountain Mayal in the Chicama Valley. The workshop specialized in female figurines.” ref

“The Tiwanaku and Wari cultures shared dominance of the Andes, roughly from 500 to 1000 BCE. The Tiwanaku civilizations originated in Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia, and a staff-bearing deity figured largely in their artwork.  Tiwanaku artists continued the tradition of naturalistic, ceramic portrait vessels. The ubiquitous Wari ceramics carried over imagery from their textiles and metalwork, such as llama and alpaca imagery. Qunchupata in Peru was the epicenter of Wari ceramic production, featuring pit kilns and firing rooms. The stone floors of the firing rooms had rounded depressions for accommodating larger pots. Some Wari palaces had their own attached kilns. Broken potsherds were used as forms for building new pots and for scrapers. Evidence shows ceramics were often ritually destroyed.” ref

“Four Andean civilizations flourished in Late Intermediate Period: the Chancay, Chimú, Lambayeque, and Ica. Luxury goods, including elaborate ceramics, were mass-produced in vast quantities for the middle class as well as nobles. Identical ceramics created in molds took sway over individualized works. The Lambayeque culture of north coastal Peru created press-molded reliefs on blackware ceramics. Chimú ceramics, also predominantly blackware, often featured zoomorphic appliqués, such as monkeys or sea birds. They excelled at the doubled-chambered whistling vessels. Chancay ceramics, from the central coast, featured black-on-white designs on unique shapes, such as female effigies or elongated, oval jars. Their sand-tempered ceramics were hastily painted and left unpolished.  Ica culture ceramics, from the southern coasts, were the finest quality of their time. They were still handcrafted and had a wide range of polychrome slips, including black, maroon, orange, purple, red, white, and a glittery deep purple. Designs were abstract and geometric.” ref

“The Inca Empire or Tawantinsuyo spanned 3500 miles and controlled the world’s largest empire by 1500 CE. Artistically, they unified regional styles. Incan ceramics were geometric and understated, while color schemes remained regionally diverse. Mass-produced pottery, conformed to standardized measurements, such as the urpu, a long-necked jar with handles and a pointed bottom used to transport maize and chicha, maize beer. Qirus were Incan drinking vessels, made from wood or precious metals, as well as ceramics.” ref

Amazonia

“The pottery tradition at Pedra Pintada in Brazil represents the oldest known ceramics in the Americas. Dating back to 5630 BCE, this same tradition continued for 2500 years. Ceramics from the Taperinha site near Santarém, Brazil date back to 5130 BCE and include sand-tempered bowls and cooking vessels resembling gourds. Other ancient Amazonian ceramic traditions, Mina and Uruá-Tucumã featured shell- and sand-tempered pottery, that was occasionally painted red. Around 1000 CE, dramatic new ceramic styles emerged throughout Amazonia. Amazonian ceramics are geometric and linear in decoration. Polychrome pottery typically features red and black on white slips. Additionally ceramics were decorated by sculpting, incision, excision, and grooving. In the upper and central Amazon, the bark of the caraipé tree, Licania octandra, provided tempering material.” ref

“In regions of terra preta, or “black earth”, of the Amazon rainforest, an abundance of potsherds were used to develop the soil and build mounds, which protected buildings and cemeteries from seasonal flooding. Marajó Island, located at the mouth of the Amazon River was a major ceramic center, where the Marajoara Phase of polychrome ceramics last from around 400 to 1300 CE. In the central Amazon, the Mancapuru Phase, or Incised Rim Tradition, emerged in the 5th century CE. Marajoara ceramics, typically tempered with grog, were complex effigies of humans and animals, such as reptiles and birds. The dead were cremated and buried in elaborate ceramic urns. Ceramic artists are active in Marajó, using precontact styles for inspiration.” ref

“Women have traditionally been the ceramic artists in the Amazon. Female figures are common in anthropomorphic effigy vessels. Tangas are a unique Amazonian cultural item; they are triangular, concave ceramic pubic coverings held in place by strings, once worn by women of several Amazonian tribes. Today, they are still worn by girls during their puberty rites among Panoan-speaking peoples.” ref

Pre-contact: distribution of North, Central, and South American language families and their Deities/Paganism or Religious/Spiritual beliefs like Shamanism/or “medicine people”

Isthmo-Colombian Area (portions of Central and South America) mainly by Chibchan languages and Seats of Power

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Why are these 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art 

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Sky Burials: Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, and Paganism

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art 

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Axis Mundi

“In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the axis mundi is the axis of rotation of the planetary spheres within the classical geocentric model of the cosmos. In 20th-century comparative mythology, the term axis mundi – also called the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, the center of the world, or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing “the connection between Heaven and Earth” or the “higher and lower realms.” ref

“Mircea Eliade introduced the concept in the 1950s. Axis mundi closely relates to the mythological concept of the omphalos (navel) of the world or cosmos. Items adduced as examples of the axis mundi by comparative mythologists include plants (notably a tree but also other types of plants such as a vine or stalk), a mountain, a column of smoke or fire, or a product of human manufacture (such as a staff, a tower, a ladder, a staircase, a maypole, a cross, a steeple, a rope, a totem pole, a pillar, a spire). Its proximity to heaven may carry implications that are chiefly religious (pagoda, temple mount, minaret, church) or secular (obelisk, lighthouse, rocket, skyscraper). The image appears in religious and secular contexts. The axis mundi symbol may be found in cultures utilizing shamanic practices or animist belief systems, in major world religions, and in technologically advanced “urban centers”. In Mircea Eliade‘s opinion: “Every Microcosm, every inhabited region, has a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all.” ref

“There are multiple interpretations about the origin of the concept of the axis mundi. One psychological and sociological interpretation suggests that the symbol originates in a natural and universal psychological perception – i.e., that the particular spot that one occupies stands at “the center of the world”. This space serves as a microcosm of order because it is known and settled. Outside the boundaries of the microcosm lie foreign realms that – because they are unfamiliar or not ordered – represent chaos, death, or night. From the center, one may still venture in any of the four cardinal directions, make discoveries, and establish new centers as new realms become known and settled. The name of China — meaning “Middle Nation” (中国 pinyin: Zhōngguó) – is often interpreted as an expression of an ancient perception that the Chinese polity (or group of polities) occupied the center of the world, with other lands lying in various directions relative to it.” ref

“A second interpretation suggests that ancient symbols such as the axis mundi lie in a particular philosophical or metaphysical representation of a common and culturally shared philosophical concept, which is that of a natural reflection of the macrocosm (or existence at grand scale) in the microcosm (which consists of either an individual, community, or local environment that shares the same principles and structures as the macrocosm). In this metaphysical representation of the universe, mankind is placed into an existence that serves as a microcosm of the universe or the entire cosmic existence, and who – in order to achieve higher states of existence or liberation into the macrocosm – must gain necessary insights into universal principles that can be represented by his life or environment in the microcosm. In many religious and philosophical traditions around the world, mankind is seen as a sort of bridge between either: two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly (as in Hindu, and Taoist philosophical and theological systems); or three worlds, namely the earthly, heavenly, and the “sub-earthly” or “infra-earthly” (e.g., the underworld, as in the Ancient Greek, Incan, Mayan, and Ancient Egyptian religious systems). Spanning these philosophical systems is the belief that man traverses a sort of axis, or path, which can lead from man’s current central position in the intermediate realms into heavenly or sub-earthly realms. Thus, in this view, symbolic representations of a vertical axis represent a path of “ascent” or “descent” into other spiritual or material realms, and often capture a philosophy that considers human life to be a quest in which one develops insights or perfections in order to move beyond this current microcosmic realm and to engage with the grand macrocosmic order.” ref

“In other interpretations, an axis mundi is more broadly defined as a place of connection between heavenly and the earthly realms – often a mountain or other elevated site. Tall mountains are often regarded as sacred and some have shrines erected at the summit or base. Mount Kunlun fills a similar role in China. Mount Kailash is holy to Hinduism and several religions in Tibet. The Pitjantjatjara people in central Australia consider Uluru to be central to both their world and culture. The Teide volcano was for the Canarian aborigines (Guanches) a kind of axis mundi. In ancient Mesopotamia, the cultures of ancient Sumer and Babylon built tall platforms, or ziggurats, to elevate temples on the flat river plain. Hindu temples in India are often situated on high mountains – e.g., Amarnath, Tirupati, Vaishno Devi, etc. The pre-Columbian residents of Teotihuacán in Mexico erected huge pyramids, featuring staircases leading to heaven. These Amerindian temples were often placed on top of caves or subterranean springs, which were thought to be openings to the underworld. Jacob’s Ladder is an axis mundi image, as is the Temple Mount. For Christians, the Cross on Mount Calvary expresses this symbol. The Middle Kingdom, China, had a central mountain, Kunlun, known in Taoist literature as “the mountain at the middle of the world”. To “go into the mountains” meant to dedicate oneself to a spiritual life.” ref

“As the abstract concept of axis mundi is present in many cultural traditions and religious beliefs, it can be thought to exist in any number of locales at once. Mount Hermon was regarded as the axis mundi in Canaanite tradition, from where the sons of God are introduced descending in 1 Enoch 6:6. The ancient Armenians had a number of holy sites, the most important of which was Mount Ararat, which was thought to be the home of the gods as well as the center of the universe. Likewise, the ancient Greeks regarded several sites as places of Earth’s omphalos (navel) stone, notably the oracle at Delphi, while still maintaining a belief in a cosmic world tree and in Mount Olympus as the abode of the gods. Judaism has the Temple Mount; Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary; and Islam has the Ka’aba (said to be the first building on Earth), as well as the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock). In Hinduism, Mount Kailash is identified with the mythical Mount Meru and regarded as the home of Shiva; in Vajrayana Buddhism, Mount Kailash is recognized as the most sacred place where all the dragon currents converge and is regarded as the gateway to Shambhala. In Shinto, the Ise Shrine is the omphalos.” ref

“Sacred places can constitute world centers (omphaloi), with an altar or place of prayer as the axis. Altars, incense sticks, candles, and torches form the axis by sending a column of smoke, and prayer, toward heaven. It has been suggested by Romanian religious historian Mircea Eliade that architecture of sacred places often reflects this role: “Every temple or palace – and by extension, every sacred city or royal residence – is a Sacred Mountain, thus becoming a Centre.” Pagoda structures in Asian temples take the form of a stairway linking earth and heaven. A steeple in a church or a minaret in a mosque also serve as connections of earth and heaven. Structures such as the maypole, derived from the Saxons‘ Irminsul, and the totem pole among indigenous peoples of the Americas also represent world axes. The calumet, or sacred pipe, represents a column of smoke (the soul) rising from a world center. A mandala creates a world center within the boundaries of its two-dimensional space analogous to that created in three-dimensional space by a shrine. In the classical elements and the Vedic Pancha Bhoota, the axis mundi corresponds to Aether, the quintessence.” ref

“A common shamanic concept, and a universally told story, is that of the healer traversing the axis mundi to bring back knowledge from the other world. It may be seen in the stories from Odin and the World Ash Tree to the Garden of Eden and Jacob’s Ladder to Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel. It is the essence of the journey described in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The epic poem relates its hero’s descent and ascent through a series of spiral structures that take him through the core of the earth, from the depths of hell to celestial paradise. It is also a central tenet in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Anyone or anything suspended on the axis between heaven and earth becomes a repository of potential knowledge. A special status accrues to the thing suspended: a serpent, a rod, a fruit, mistletoe. Derivations of this idea find form in the Rod of Asclepius, an emblem of the medical profession, and in the caduceus, an emblem of correspondence and commercial professions. The staff in these emblems represents the axis mundi, while the serpents act as guardians of, or guides to, knowledge.” ref

“Secular structures can also function as axes mundi. In Navajo culture, the hogan acts as a symbolic cosmic center. In some Asian cultures, houses were traditionally laid out in the form of a square oriented toward the four compass directions. A traditional home was oriented toward the sky through feng shui, a system of geomancy, just as a palace would be. Traditional Arab houses are also laid out as a square surrounding a central fountain that evokes a primordial garden paradise. Mircea Eliade noted that “the symbolism of the pillar in [European] peasant houses likewise derives from the ‘symbolic field’ of the axis mundi. In many archaic dwellings, the central pillar does in fact serve as a means of communication with the heavens, with the sky.” The nomadic peoples of Mongolia and the Americas more often lived in circular structures. The central pole of the tent still operated as an axis, but a fixed reference to the four compass points was avoided.” ref

“Plants often serve as images of the axis mundi. The image of the Cosmic Tree provides an axis symbol that unites three planes: sky (branches), earth (trunk), and underworld (roots). In some Pacific Island cultures, the banyan tree – of which the Bodhi tree is of the Sacred Fig variety – is the abode of ancestor spirits. In the Hindu religion, the banyan tree is considered sacred and is called ashwath vriksha (“Of all trees I am the banyan tree” – Bhagavad Gita). It represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding branches. The Bodhi tree is also the name given to the tree under which Gautama Siddhartha, the historical Buddha, sat on the night he attained enlightenment.” ref

“The Mesoamerican world tree connects the planes of the underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial realm. The Yggdrasil, or World Ash, functions in much the same way in Norse mythology; it is the site where Odin found enlightenment. Other examples include Jievaras in Lithuanian mythology and Thor’s Oak in the myths of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis present two aspects of the same image. Each is said to stand at the center of the paradise garden from which four rivers flow to nourish the whole world. Each tree confers a boon. Bamboo, the plant from which Asian calligraphy pens are made, represents knowledge and is regularly found on Asian college campuses. The Christmas tree, which can be traced in its origins back to pre-Christian European beliefs, represents an axis mundi. In Yoruba religion, oil palm is the axis mundi (though not necessarily a “world tree”) that Ọrunmila climbs to alternate between heaven and earth.” ref

“The human body can express the symbol of the world axis. Some of the more abstract Tree of Life representations, such as the sefirot in Kabbalism and the chakra system recognized by Hinduism and Buddhism, merge with the concept of the human body as a pillar between heaven and earth. Disciplines such as yoga and tai chi begin from the premise of the human body as axis mundi. The Buddha represents a world center in human form. Large statues of a meditating figure unite the human form with the symbolism of the temple and tower. Astrology in all its forms assumes a connection between human health and affairs and celestial-body orientation. World religions regard the body itself as a temple and prayer as a column uniting earth and heaven. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes combined the role of the human figure with those of portal and skyscraper. The Renaissance image known as the Vitruvian Man represented a symbolic and mathematical exploration of the human form as world axis.” ref

The Center of the World “Axis Mundi” and/or “Sacred Mountains” Mythology Could Relate to the Altai Mountains, Heart of the Steppe

“Golden Mountains of Altai is the name of the Altai and Katun Natural Reserves, Lake Teletskoye, Belukha Mountain, and the Ukok Plateau. The region represents the most complete sequence of altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia, from steppe, forest-steppe, mixed forest, subalpine vegetation to alpine vegetation”. The Altai region is made up of four primary sites and landscapes: Mount Belukha, the Ukok Plateau, the Katun River, and the Karakol Valley. Mount Beluka is regarded as a sacred site to Buddhists and the Burkhanist. Their myths surrounding this portion of the mountain range lent credence to their claim that it was the location of Shangri-la (Shambala). The Ukok Plateau is an ancient burial site of the early Siberian people. Moreover, a number of myths are connected to this portion of the Golden Mountains. For example, the plateau was thought to have been the Elysian fields. The Katun River is an important religious location to the Altaians where they (during celebrations) utilize ancient ecological knowledge to restore and maintain the river. The Karakol Valley is home of three indigenous villages where tourism is greatly managed. While the Golden Mountains of Altai are listed on the World Heritage List under natural criteria, it holds information about the nomadic Scythian culture. The permafrost in these mountains has preserved Scythian burial mounds. These frozen tombs, or kurgans, hold metal objects, pieces of gold, mummified bodies, tattooed bodies, sacrificed horses, wood/leather objects, clothes, textiles, etc. However, the Ukok Plateau (in the Altai Mountains) is a sacred site to the Altai people, so archeologists and scholars who are looking to excavate the site for human remains raise controversy.” ref

Altai Mountains

“The Altai Mountains (also spelled Altay Mountains), are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the Sayan Mountains in the northeast, and gradually becomes lower in the southeast, where it merges into the high plateau of the Gobi Desert. It spans from about 45° to 52° N and from about 84° to 99° E. The region is inhabited by a sparse but ethnically diverse population, including Russians, Kazakhs, Altais, and Mongols. The local economy is based on bovine, sheep, and horse husbandry, agriculture, forestry, and mining. The controversial Altaic language family takes its name from this mountain range.” ref

“The name comes from two words: al meaning “gold/reddish/yellowish” in Mongolic language, and -tai meaning “mountain” in Turkic languages too; thus, literally, the “Golden Mountain”. That matches their old Chinese name 金山, literally “Gold Mountain”. Also, the word altın/altun/al which means gold is a cognate word for Turkic and Mongolic languages. The mountains are called Altain nuruu (Алтайн нуруу) in Khalkha Mongolian, altai-yin niruɣu in Chakhar Mongolian, and Altay tuular (Алтай туулар) in the Altay language. They are also called Алтай таулары or التاي تاۋلارى‎ in Kazakh; Altay dağları in Turkish; Altajskije gory (Алтайские горы) in Russian; Altay Taghliri (ىالتاي تاغلىرى‎ or Алтай Тағлири) in Uyghur; ā’ěrtài shānmài in Chinese (阿尔泰山脉 simplified, 阿爾泰山脈 traditional, or اَعَرتَىْ شًامَىْ‎ in Xiao’erjing); and Arteː shanmeː (Артэ Шанмэ) in Dungan.” ref

“In the north of the region is the Sailughem Mountains, also known as Kolyvan Altai, which stretch northeast from 49° N and 86° E towards the western extremity of the Sayan Mountains in 51° 60′ N and 89° E. Their mean elevation is 1,500 to 1,750 m. The snow-line runs at 2,000 m on the northern side and at 2,400 m on the southern, and above it the rugged peaks tower some 1,000 m higher. Mountain passes across the range are few and difficult, the chief being the Ulan-daban at 2,827 m (2,879 m according to Kozlov), and the Chapchan-daban, at 3,217 m, in the south and north respectively. On the east and southeast this range is flanked by the great plateau of Mongolia, the transition being affected gradually by means of several minor plateaus, such as Ukok (2,380 m) with Pazyryk Valley, Chuya (1,830 m), Kendykty (2,500 m), Kak (2,520 m), (2,590 m), and (2,410 m). This region is studded with large lakes, e.g. Uvs 720 m above sea level, Khyargas, Dorgon, and Khar 1,170 m, and traversed by various mountain ranges, of which the principal are the Tannu-Ola Mountains, running roughly parallel with the Sayan Mountains as far east as the Kosso-gol, and the Khan Khökhii mountains, also stretching west and east.” ref

“The Altai mountains are home to a diverse fauna, because of its different habitats, like steppes, northern taigas, and alpine vegetation. Steep slopes are home to the Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica), whereas the rare argali (Ovis ammon) is found on more gentle slopes. Deer are represented by five species: Altai wapiti (Cervus elaphus sibiricus), moose (Alces alces), forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus valentinae), Siberian musk deer (Moschus moschiferus), and Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus). Moose and reindeer, however, are restricted to the northern parts of the mountain range. The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is found in the lower foothills and surrounding lowlands. Until recently, the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa) was found in the Russian Altai mountains, more specifically in the Chuya River steppe close to the Mongolian border. Large predators are represented by snow leopards (Panthera uncia, syn. Uncia uncia), wolves (Canis lupus), lynx (Lynx lynx), and brown bears (Ursus arctos), in the northern parts also by the wolverine (Gulo gulo). The Tien Shan dhole (Cuon alpinus hesperius) (a northwestern subspecies of the Asiatic wild dog) also lives there. And until the 20th century, the Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) was found in the southern parts of the Altai mountains, where it reached Lake Zaisan and the Black Irtysh. Single individuals were also shot further north, for example, close to Barnaul. Closely related to the Caspian tiger is the extant Amur tiger, which has the taxonomic name Panthera tigris altaica. The wisent was present in the Altai mountains until the Middle Ages, perhaps even until the 18th century. Today, there is a small herd in a nursery in the Altai Republic.” ref

“The Altai mountains have retained a remarkably stable climate-changing little since the last ice age. In addition, the mix of mammals has remained largely the same, with a few exceptions such as extinct mammoths, making it one of the few places on earth to retain an ice age fauna. The Altai mountains were home to the Denisovan branch of hominids who were contemporaries of Neanderthals and of Homo sapiens (modern humans), descended from Hominids who reached Asia earlier than modern humans. The Denisova hominin, dated to 40,000 years ago, was discovered in the Denisova Cave of the Altai mountains in southern Siberia. Knowledge of the Denisovan humans derives primarily from DNA evidence and artifacts, as no complete skeletons have yet been recovered. DNA evidence has been unusually well preserved because of the low average temperature in the Denisova caves. Neanderthal bones and tools made by Homo sapiens have also been found in the Denisova Cave, making it the only place in the world where all three hominids are known to have lived.” ref

A dog-like canid from 33,000 years ago was found in the Razboinichya Cave. DNA analysis published affirmed that it was more closely related to modern dogs than to wolves. The Altai Mountains have been identified as being the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon which arose during the Bronze Age around the start of the 2nd millennium BCE and led to a rapid and massive migration of peoples from the region into distant parts of Europe and Asia.” ref

The five highest mountains of the Altai are:

· Belukha, 4,506 m (14,783 ft), Kazakhstan–Russia

· Khüiten Peak , 4,374 m (14,350 ft), China–Mongolia

· Mönkh Khairkhan , 4,204 m (13,793 ft), Mongolia

· Sutai Mountain , 4,220 m (13,850 ft), Mongolia

· Tsambagarav , 4,195 m (13,763 ft), Mongolia ref

“Sacred mountains are central to certain religions and are the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious worlds. Many religions have traditions centered on sacred mountains, which either are or were considered holy (such as Mount Olympus in Greek mythology) or are related to famous events (like Mount Sinai in Judaism and descendant religions). In some cases, the sacred mountain is purely mythical, like the Hara Berezaiti in Zoroastrianism. Mount Kailash is believed to be the abode of the Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati, and is considered sacred in four religions: Hinduism, Bon, Buddhism, and Jainism. Volcanoes, such as Mount Etna in Italy, were also considered sacred, Mount Etna being believed to have been the home of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge. The north face of Mount Kailash, a mountain in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China which is considered sacred by four religions.” ref

Greek and Inca

“Mount Olympus is the highest mountain peak in Greece. It was once regarded as the “home of the Greek Gods/The Twelve Olympians of the Hellenistic World”. It was also considered the site of the War of the Titans (Titanomachy) where Zeus and his siblings defeated the Titans. Mount Othrys is a mountain in Central Greece, which is believed to be the home of the Titans during the ten-year war with the Gods of Mount Olympus.” ref

“Mount Ida, also known as Mountain of the Goddess, refers to two specific mountains: one in the Greek island of Crete and the other in Turkey (formerly known as Asia Minor). Mount Ida is the highest mountain on the island of Crete is the sacred mountain of the Titaness Rhea, also known as the mother of the Greek Gods. It is also believed to be the cave where Greek God Zeus was born and raised.” ref

“The other Mount Ida is located in Northwestern Turkey alongside the ruins of Troy (in reference to the Hellenistic Period). The mountain was dedicated to Cybele, the Phrygian (modern-day Turkey) version of Earth Mother. Cybele was the goddess of caverns and mountains. Some refer to her as the “Great Mother” or “Mother of the Mountain”. The mythic Trojan War is said to have taken place at Mount Ida and that the Gods gathered upon the mountaintop to observe the epic fight. Mount Ida in Turkey is also represented in many of the stories of Greek author Homer such as Iliad and Odyssey.” ref

“Mount Athos, located in Greece, is also referred to as the Holy Mountain. It has great historical connections with religion and classical mythology. In Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox forms of Christianity, it is believed that after the Ascension of the Lord, the Virgin Mary landed on the island and came upon a pagan temple. It was there that the pagan practitioners converted from paganism to Christianity. The Virgin Mary then blessed the land and claimed it her own.” ref

“In classical mythology, Mount Athos is named after the Thracian giant who battled Poseidon, God of the Sea, during the clash of the titans and Gods. It is also said that Greek historian was given the task of creating a canal through the mountain after the failed journey of Persian leader, Xerxes. Over time, Alexander the Great has become associated with the mountain for his worldly powers. The myth states that Roman architect Dinocrates had wanted to carve Alexander the Great’s figure onto the top of the mountain in tribute to him.” ref

“The ancient Inca displayed a connection with death and their mountains. It is well known by scholars that the Inca sensed a deep reservoir of spirituality along the mountain range. Situating their villages in the mountains, they felt these places acted as portal to the gods. Ritual child sacrifices called Capachochas were conducted annually, where the most precious gift that could be given (innocent, blemishless, perfect human life) would be sacrificed to the gods. Tremendous effort would be taken as the sacrificial victims would be paraded alive throughout the cities, with multiple festivals and feasts taking place. The final destination would be the tops of some of the highest mountains near their villages, leaving these sacrifices to freeze in the snow. These would take place during great times of distress, during times of famine, violent periods of war, and even during times of political shift. This connection with the mountain as a sacred space is paramount. There would be no other place that would be sufficient or acceptable enough for the gods to accept these gifts. It is neither a surprise nor a coincidence that their honored dead were placed on the highest peaks of the mountains to express the shared connection between the sacred mountain, the gods, and the dead.” ref

Other religious beliefs

“Machapuchare, a sacred Nepalese mountain, viewed from foothills. Various cultures around the world maintain the importance of mountain worship and sacredness. One example is the Taranaki peoples of New Zealand. The Taranaki tribe view Mount Taranaki as sacred. The tribe was historically sustained by this mountain’s waterways. As in other instances in Māori mythology, the mountain is anthropomorphised in various stories. For the tribespeople, Mount Taranaki has a deep spiritual significance and is seen as a life force. It is viewed as the place where life is given and to where people are returned after death.” ref

“In Korea, people have maintained ancient ways of worshiping mountain spirits. While they are not in fact worshiping the land itself, the gods associated with this worship are united to the land. These spirits are female entities to whom people pay tribute while passing by the mountains, asking for good luck and protection. People also travel to these mountains to ask for fertility. While people generally hold to these female deities for protection or to perpetuate life, one of their most important functions is to protect the dead. The ponhyangsansin is a guardian spirit that is protecting an important clan grave site in the village. Each mountain goddess has an equally interesting story that is tied to their accounts of war against Japan, and the historical legacy of their emperors. Each spirit learned difficult lessons and experienced some sort of hardship. These legacies in the mountains serve as a kind of monument to the history of Korea. While many of the accounts may be true, their details and accuracy are shrouded by time and ritual. While the inaugurations of new ponhyang san sin are not being conducted, fallen important clansmen and leaders are strategically placed in the mountains in order for these strong, heroine-like spirits may fiercely guard their graves. The history of Korea is in turn protecting its own future.” ref

“In Japan, Mount Kōya-san is the home to one of the holiest Buddhist monastery complexes in the country. It was founded by a saint, Kukai, who is also known as Kobo Dashi and is regarded as a famous wandering mystic; his teachings are infamous throughout Japan and he is credited with being an important figure in shaping early Japanese culture. Buddhists believe that Kobo Dashi is not dead, but will instead awake and assist in bringing enlightenment to all people, alongside the Buddha and other bodhisattvas. It is believed that he was shown the sacred place to build the monastery by a forest god; this site is now the location of a large cemetery that is flanked by 120 esoteric Buddhist temples. Approximately a million pilgrims visit Mount Kōya-san a year; these pilgrims have included both royals and commoners who wish to pay their respects to Kobo Dashi. Mount Fuji, known as Fuji-san in Japanese, is another sacred mountain in Japan. Several Shinto temples flank its base, which all pay homage to the mountain. A common belief is that Fuji-san is the incarnation of the earth spirit itself. The Fuki-ko sect maintains that the mountain is a holy being, and the home to the goddess Sengen-sama. Annual fire festivals are held there in her honor. Fuji-san is also the site of pilgrimages; reportedly, 40,000 people climb up to its summit every year.” ref

“Tibet’s Mount Kailash is a sacred place to five religions: Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Bon Po (a native Tibetan religion prior to Buddhism), Sikhism, and Ayyavazhi religions. According to Hinduism and Ayyavazhi, Mount Kailash is the home of the deity Shiva. In the Hindu religion, Mount Kailash also plays an important role in Rama’s journey in the ancient Sanskrit epic, Ramayana. Buddhists hold that Mount Kailash is the home of Samvara, a guardian deity, and a representation of the Buddha. Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash has supernatural powers that are able to clean the sins of a lifetime of any person. Followers of Jainism believe that Kailash is the site where the founder of Jainism reached enlightenment. Bon Po teaches that Mount Kailash is the home of a wind goddess. Followers of Sikhism believe the 1st Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak arrived at Mt. Kailash during the 3rd Uddasi (divine journey) and debated with the Siddhas.” ref

“Mount Meru is a cosmic mountain which is described to be one of the highest points on Earth and is the center of all creation. In the Hindu religion, it is believed that Meru is home to the god Brahma, who is believed to be the father of the human race and all the demigods produced afterward. Indian cosmology believes that the sun, moon, and stars all revolve around Mount Meru. Folklore suggests the mountain rose up from the ground piercing the heavens giving it the moniker “navel of the universe”.” ref

“According to the Torah, and consequently the Old Testament of the Bible, Mount Sinai is the location that Moses received the Ten Commandments directly from God. The tablets form the covenant, which is a central cornerstone of the Jewish faith. Saint Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Sinai. It was founded by empress Helena, who was the mother of the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine. It was completed under the rule of Justinian two centuries later. The monastery was visited by the prophet Muhammed, who blessed it and promised: “that it would be cherished by Muslims for all time”. Today, the monastery is home to a group of Greek Orthodox monks, as well as a large collection of Byzantine art, illuminated manuscripts, icons, and books; the collection of icons, in particular, has been proclaimed one of the oldest in the world.” ref

“The Navajo possess a strong belief system in regards to the natural-supernatural world and have a belief that objects have a supernatural quality. For example, the Navajo consider mountains to be sacred. There are four peaks, which are believed to have supernatural aspects. The mountains each represent a borderline of the original Navajo tribal land. The mountain ranges include Mount Taylor, the San Francisco Peaks, Blanca Peak, and Hesperus Peak located in the La Plata Mountains.” ref

“Each mountain/peak is representative of a color, direction, and correlates with a cultural light phenomenon dealing with the cosmic scheme of the rising and of the setting sun. Directionally, the mountains are described in a clockwise motion following the movement of the Sun beginning with the eastern mountain of Blanca Peak. Blanca Peak is associated with the color white and the “Dawn Man” referring to the rising of the sun. Next in the south is Mount Taylor, which is associated with the color blue and the “Horizontal Blue Man” referring to the daytime. In the west is the San Francisco Peaks, which is representative of the color yellow and the “Horizontal Yellow Woman” and is associated with the setting of the sun. And finally in the north is the Hesperus Peak of the La Plata Mountains which is given the color black and belongs to the light phenomenon of the “Darkness Woman” representing the nighttime.” ref

Community identity

“History shows that mountains were commonly part of a complex system of mountain and ancestor worship. Having immortalized fallen brethren in the edifice, the people share a common allegiance with all the other people of a community. The meanings that were etched into the mountain and mound terrain connected the villagers. They were all subject to the same landscape and village history, which were bound together by their cultural significance. The history of ancestors could be told by simply pointing at specific mountains and remembering the stories that were passed down throughout the generations. The worship of ancestors and the mountains were largely inseparable. An interconnected web between history, landscape, and culture was thus formed. Examples of this would be the Hindu belief that Mount Kailas is the final resting place for the souls of the dead, as well as the large cemetery placed on Mount Kōya-san.” ref

“Sacred mountains can also provide an important piece of a culture’s identity. For example, Bruno Messerli and Jack Ives write, “The Armenian people regard Mount Ararat, a volcano in eastern Turkey believed to be the site of Noah’s Ark in the Bible, to be a symbol of their natural and cultural identity”. As a result of the mountain’s role as a part of a cultural identity, even people who do not live close to the mountain feel that events occurring to the mountain are relevant to their own personal lives. This results in communities banning certain activities near the mountain, especially if those activities are seen as potentially destructive to the sacred mountain itself.” ref

Pilgrimages

“To date, Kailash has never been climbed, largely due to the fact that the idea of climbing the mountain is seen as a major sacrilege. Instead, the worshipful embark on a pilgrimage known as the kora. The kora consists of a 32-mile path that circles the mountain, which typically takes five days with little food and water. Various icons, prayer flags, and other symbols of the four religions that believe Kailash is sacred mark the way. To Buddhists and Hindus, the pilgrimage is considered a major moment in a person’s spiritual life. Olsen writes, “One circuit is believed to erase a lifetime of sin, while 108 circuits is believed to ensure enlightenment”. As one of the most sacred mountains in the Middle East, mentioned in the Old Testament can be seen on the mountain’s summit, such as the area where Moses “sheltered from the total glory of God”.” ref

“Sacred Mountains are often seen as a site of revelation and inspiration. Mount Sinai is an example, as this is the site where the covenant is revealed to Moses. Mount Tabor is where it is supposed Jesus was revealed to be the Son of God. Muhammed is said to have received his first revelation on Mount Hira. The mountains’ roles as places of revelation and transformation often serve to attract tourists as much as they do religious pilgrims. However, in some cases, the financial revenue is overlooked and sacred mountains are conserved first due to their role in the community. Members of The Aetherius Society conduct pilgrimages to 19 mountains around the world that they describe as being “holy mountains”.” ref

Conservation

“Sacred mountains are often viewed as the source of a power which is to be awed and revered. Often, this means that access to the sacred mountain is restricted. This could result in climbing being banned from a sacred mountain completely (as in the case of Mount Kailash) or for secular society to give the mountain a wide berth. Because of the respect accorded to a mountain’s sacred power, many areas have been declared off limit for construction and remain conserved. For example, a large amount of forest has been preserved due to its proximity to Mount Kōya-san. Additionally, sacred mountains can be seen as the source of something vital. This could be a blessing, water, life, or healing. Mount Kailash’s role as the source for four major rivers is celebrated in India and not simply seen as mundane. Rather, this also adds to its position as a sacred place, especially considering the sacred position of the Ganges river in Indian culture. Mountains that are considered home to deities are also central to prayers for the blessings from the gods reputed to live there. This also creates a sense of purity in the source of the mountain. This prompts people to protect streams from pollution that are from sacred mountains, for example.” ref

“Views of preservation and sacredness become problematic when dealing with diverse populations. When one observes the sacred mountain of the Sacramento Valley in the United States, it becomes clear that methods and opinions stretch over a vastly differing body of protesters. Shasta Mountain was first revered by the Native American tribe, the Wintu. Shasta was in effect a standing monument for the individuals of their cultural history. This bounded view of sacred mountains changed drastically during the 1800s. It is commonly assumed that sacred mountains are limited by a single society, trapped in a time capsule with only one definition to explain it: the indigenous tribe. Shasta’s glory had expanded to multiple regions of the world, communities of differing religions making their pilgrimage up to the summits of this glorious mountain. The Wintu tribe did not hold a monopoly on the sacredness anymore. There were others contesting to the meanings, adding new rituals and modifying old ones. With the advent of new technology and desires to turn this mountain into a skiing lodge, angry voices from all over the world rose up with variants of demands on why and how we should preserve this beautiful mountain.” ref

“Almost every day different religious practices such as nude bathing, camping out with magic crystals, yoga, and many “quasi-Christian” groups such as the I AM march their ways up to the tips of this mountain. With this activity the mountain pathways become clustered, cluttered, and littered. Even the pathways’ existence leads to erosion, and further slow degradation of the mountain. The Wintu tribe has voiced concerns and asked for support from the government to regulate the activities practiced on “their” mountain saying that “they are disturbed by the lack of respect” shown for this piece of land. It has become greatly debated if the more vulnerable and “spiritually desirable” places of the mountain should be closed and maintained only by the Wintu tribe, who see this land as a sacred graveyard of their ancestors, or open to all who seek spiritual fulfillment such as the modern-day group of the I AM.” ref

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Postglacial genomes from foragers across Northern Eurasia reveal prehistoric

mobility associated with the spread of the Uralic and Yeniseian languages

Abstract

“The North Eurasian forest and forest-steppe zones have sustained millennia of sociocultural connections among northern peoples. We present genome-wide ancient DNA data for 181 individuals from this region spanning the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age. We find that Early to Mid-Holocene hunter-gatherer populations from across the southern forest and forest-steppes of Northern Eurasia can be characterized by a continuous gradient of ancestry that remained stable for millennia, ranging from fully West Eurasian in the Baltic region to fully East Asian in the Transbaikal region. In contrast, cotemporaneous groups in far Northeast Siberia were genetically distinct, retaining high levels of continuity from a population that was the primary source of ancestry for Native Americans. By the mid-Holocene, admixture between this early Northeastern Siberian population and groups from Inland East Asia and the Amur River Basin produced two distinctive populations in eastern Siberia that played an important role in the genetic formation of later people. Ancestry from the first population, Cis-Baikal Late Neolithic-Bronze Age (Cisbaikal_LNBA), is found substantially only among Yeniseian-speaking groups and those known to have admixed with them. Ancestry from the second, Yakutian Late Neolithic-Bronze Age (Yakutia_LNBA), is strongly associated with present-day Uralic speakers. We show how Yakutia_LNBA ancestry spread from an east Siberian origin ~4.5kya, along with subclades of Y-chromosome haplogroup N occurring at high frequencies among present-day Uralic speakers, into Western and Central Siberia in communities associated with Seima-Turbino metallurgy: a suite of advanced bronze casting techniques that spread explosively across an enormous region of Northern Eurasia ~4.0kya. However, the ancestry of the 16 Seima-Turbino-period individuals–the first reported from sites with this metallurgy–was otherwise extraordinarily diverse, with partial descent from Indo-Iranian-speaking pastoralists and multiple hunter-gatherer populations from widely separated regions of Eurasia. Our results provide support for theories suggesting that early Uralic speakers at the beginning of their westward dispersal where involved in the expansion of Seima-Turbino metallurgical traditions, and suggests that both cultural transmission and migration were important in the spread of Seima-Turbino material culture.” ref

Haplogroup N from China to Fennoscandia: Migrations and Relationship of Language (Dene-Yeniseian and Uralic), DNA, and Cultures

Dené–Yeniseian language family proposal

“A relationship between the Na-Dené languages of North America (such as Navajo and Apache), and the Yeniseian languages of Siberia was first proposed as early as 1923, and developed further by others. A detailed study was done by Edward Vajda and published in 2010. This theory received support from many linguists, with archaeological and genetic studies providing it with further support. The Arctic Small Tool tradition of Alaska and the Canadian Arctic may have originated in East Siberia about 5,000 years ago. This is connected with the ancient Paleo-Eskimo peoples of the Arctic. The Arctic Small Tool tradition source may have been the Syalakh-Bel’kachi-Ymyakhtakh culture sequence of East Siberia, dated to 6,500–2,800 years ago. The interior route is consistent with the spread of the Na-Dene language group and subhaplogroup X2a into the Americas after the earliest paleoamerican migration. Nevertheless, some scholars suggest that the ancestors of western North Americans speaking Na-Dene languages made a coastal migration by boat.” ref

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“The Paleolithic dog was a Late Pleistocene canine. They were directly associated with human hunting camps in Europe over 30,000 years ago and it is proposed that these were domesticated. They are further proposed to be either a proto-dog and the ancestor of the domestic dog or an extinct, morphologically and genetically divergent wolf population. There are a number of recently discovered specimens which are proposed as being Paleolithic dogs, however, their taxonomy is debated. These have been found in either Europe or Siberia and date 40,000–17,000 years ago. They include Hohle Fels in Germany, Goyet Caves in Belgium, Predmosti in the Czech Republic, and four sites in Russia: Razboinichya Cave in the Altai Republic, Kostyonki-8, Ulakhan Sular in the Sakha Republic, and Eliseevichi 1 on the Russian plain.” ref

1. 40,000–35,500 years ago Hohle Fels, Schelklingen,Germany
   2. 36,500 years ago Goyet Caves,Samson River Valley, Belgium
   3. 33,500 years ago Razboinichya Cave,  Altai Mountains, (Russia/Siberia)
   4. 33,500–26,500 years ago Kostyonki-Borshchyovo archaeological complex, (Kostenki site) Voronezh, Russia
   5. 31,000 years ago Predmostí, Moravia, Czech Republic
   6. 26,000 years ago Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche region, France
   7. 17,300–14,100 years ago Dyuktai Cave, northern Yakutia, Siberia
   8. 17,000–16,000 years ago Eliseevichi-I site, Bryansk Region, Russian Plain, Russia
   9. 16,900 years ago Afontova Gora-1, Yenisei River, southern Siberia
   10. 14,223 years ago Bonn–Oberkassel, Germany
   11. 13,500 years ago Mezine, Chernigov region, Ukraine
   12. 13,000 years ago Palegawra, (Zarzian culture) Iraq
   13. 12,800 years ago Ushki I, Kamchatka, eastern Siberia
   14. 12,790 years ago Nanzhuangtou, China
   15. 12,300 years ago Ust’-Khaita site, Baikal region, Siberia
   16. 12,000 years ago Ain Mallaha (Eynan) and HaYonim terrace, Israel
   17. 10,150 years ago Lawyer’s Cave, Alaska, USA
   18. 9,000 years ago Jiahu site, China
   19. 8,000 years ago Svaerdborg site, Denmark
   20. 7,425 years ago Lake Baikal region, Siberia
   21. 7,000 years ago Tianluoshan archaeological site, Zhejiang province, China ref

Dog Domestication, Shamanism, and Emerging “Sacred Companion” Mortuary Rituals between 33,000 to 12,000 years ago?

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