Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Palaeoanthropology

Tracking the first Americans

A study of 33 ancient skulls excavated from Mexico invites us to reconsider our view of the ancestry of the early Americans. Unlike most other early American remains, the skulls resemble those from south Asian populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The skull of an early American.

E. THOMPSON/AP PHOTO

Figure 2: Tracing American ancestry.

References

  1. Dixon, E. J. Quat. Sci. Rev. 20, 277–299 (2001).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Dalton, R. Nature 422, 10–12 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Neves, W. A. & Pucciarelli, H. M. J. Hum. Evol. 21, 261–273 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dillehay, T. D. The Settlement of the Americas: A New Prehistory (Basic Books, New York, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  5. González-José, R. et al. Nature 425, 62–65 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Turner, C. G. Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 27, 123–158 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Meltzer, D. J. Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci 27, 27–58 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Lahr, M. M. The Evolution of Modern Human Diversity (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Neves, W. A. et al. Homo 50, 258–263 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Steele, D. G. & Powell, J. F. Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 27, 93–122 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Jantz, R. E. & Owsley, D. W. Nevada Hist. Soc. Q. 40, 62–84 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dillehay, T. Tracking the first Americans. Nature 425, 23–24 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/425023a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/425023a

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing