A new genetic study has clarified the relationships between the ancient and modern cultures in Canada’s Arctic.
The results confirm that a single group – known as Paleo-Eskimo – arrived around 3000 BCE and disappeared around 1300 CE when a new group arrived from northern Alaska, the ancestors of today’s Inuit. Genetic information shows that there was very little intermixing between the two groups.
Another important finding was that a major shift in technology, habitation and art styles that occurred around 500 BC was a result of innovation within Paleo-Eskimo culture, rather than evidence of the arrival of another group.
Original research paper published in the journal Science on August 28, 2014.
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