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TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2001

A study published in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims the first Native Americans most resembled the prehistoric Jomon people of Japan and their Ainu descendants.

The first Natives came across the Bering Strait about 15,000 years ago to populate much of the Americas, says the sttudy. These Natives are said to look like the Jomon, who while living on the Asian continent, are not really all that "Asian."

Then, 5,000 years ago, a second migration brought a genetically "Asian" group of people the study says are known today as Eskimos, Aleuts and Navajos. So when European explorers showed up 500 years ago, they found a mixture of the non-Asian Asians and the Asian Asians, says the study.

While other researchers agree there were waves of migration, they say the first Native Americans arrived 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Get the Story:
Earliest Americans Seen as More Diverse (The Washington Post 7/31)
Ancient Japanese settled in America (AP 7/30)

Relevant Links:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - http://www.pnas.org