Naia (skeleton)

Naia is a 12,000- to 13,000-year-old human skeleton of a teenage female that was found on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The bones were part of a 2007 discovery of a cache of animal bones in an underwater chamber called Hoyo Negro (Spanish for "Black Hole") in the Sac Actun cave system.[1] The remains have been described as the "oldest, most complete and genetically intact human skeleton in the New World".[2] Her name is derived from a type of water nymph in Greek mythology - the Naiads.

The morphological traits of Naia's skull have been regarded as similar to those of Kennewick Man, a set of well-preserved Paleoamerican remains discovered in 1996, and other Paleomerican skeletons.[3] DNA testing of Naia has classified the MtDNA Subhaplotype as D1, which is common in modern Native Americans.[3] Subhaplotype D1 mtDNA has been found among the Ulchi of the lower Amur region near Sakhalin Island.[4] Ancient skeletons on Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, have also revealed MtDNA with a classification of Subhaplotype D1.[5] However, some argue that the origin of Subhaplotype D1 was in Beringia.[6] The purported Beringian origin of Subhaplotype D1 has led some to the opinion that Naia's heritage is with the migration out of Siberia to Beringia as part of a homogeneous founder population of Native Americans.[7]

Naia was part of a group called Paleo-Americans. There have been multiple skeletons of these peoples found. Fighting was common among men, they were all tall and strong. The women were a different story, they were smaller, and showed signs of malnutrition and domestic abuse. Most features on men were strong and aggressive, the smaller more domestic men were usually killed in fights over women.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hodges, Glen (2014-05-14). "Most Complete Ice Age Skeleton Helps Solve Mystery of First Americans". National Geographic.
  2. ↑ Kumar, Mohi (2014-05-15). "DNA From 12,000-Year-Old Skeleton Helps Answer the Question: Who Were the First Americans?". Smithsonian.com.
  3. 1 2 James C. Chatters, Douglas J. Kennett, Yemane Asmerom, Brian M. Kemp, Victor Polyak, Alberto Nava Blank, Patricia A. Beddows, Eduard Reinhardt, Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales, Deborah A. Bolnick, Ripan S. Malhi, Brendan J. Culleton, Pilar Luna Erreguerena, Dominique Rissolo, Shanti Morell-Hart, Thomas W. Stafford Jr. (2014-05-16). "Late Pleistocene Human Skeleton and mtDNA Link Paleoamericans and Modern Native Americans" (PDF). Science 344: 750–754. doi:10.1126/science.1252619.
  4. ↑ Starikovskaya, Elena B., Sukernik, Rem I., Derbeneva, Olga A., Volodko, Natalia A., Ruiz-Pesini, Eduardo, Torroni, Antonio, Brown, Michael D., Lott, Marie T., Hosseini, Seyed H., Huoponen, Kirsi, and Wallace, Douglas C. (2005). "Mitochondrial DNA diversity in indigenous populations of the southern extent of Siberia, and the origins of Native American haplogroups". Ann. Hum. Genet. 69: 67–89. doi:10.1046/j.1529-8817.2003.00127.x. PMC 3905771. PMID 15638829.
  5. ↑ Adachi N, Shinoda K, Umetsu K, Matsumura H, (2009). "Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Jomon skeletons from the Funadomari site, Hokkaido, and its implication for the origins of Native American.". Am J Phys Anthropol 138: 255–65. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20923. PMID 18951391.
  6. ↑ Erika Tamm, Toomas Kivisild, Maere Reidla, Mait Metspalu, David Glenn Smith, Connie J. Mulligan, Claudio M. Bravi, Olga Rickards, Cristina Martinez-Labarga, Elsa K. Khusnutdinova, Sardana A. Fedorova, Maria V. Golubenko, Vadim A. Stepanov, Marina A. Gubina, Sergey I. Zhadanov, Ludmila P. Ossipova, Larisa Damba, Mikhail I. Voevoda, Jose E. Dipierri, Richard Villems, Ripan S. Malh. "Beringian Standstill and Spread of Native American Founders". PLoS ONE 2: e829. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000829. PMC 1952074. PMID 17786201.
  7. ↑ Doughton, Sandi (2014-05-15). "Ancient girl’s skeleton changes scientist’s mind on human migration". The Seattle Times.
  8. ↑ Hodges, Glenn (2015) The First Americans Retrieved March 2, 2016
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