Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct “Paleoamericans.” We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America.

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There is a consensus that modern humans arrived in the Americas 15,000–20,000 y ago during the Late Pleistocene, most probably from northeast Asia through Beringia. However, there is still debate about the time of entry and number of migratory waves, including apparent inconsistencies between genetic and morphological data on Paleoamericans. Here we report the identification of mitochondrial sequences belonging to haplogroups characteristic of Polynesians in DNA extracted from ancient skulls of the now extinct Botocudo Indians from Brazil. The identification of these two Polynesian haplogroups was confirmed in independent replications in Brazil and Denmark, ensuring reliability of the data. Parallel analysis of 12 other Botocudo individuals yielded only the well-known Amerindian mtDNA haplogroup C1. Potential scenarios to try to help understand these results are presented and discussed. The findings of this study may be relevant for the understanding of the pre-Columbian and/or post-Columbian peopling of the Americas.

Nesse estudo foram realizadas análises de isótopos de carbono e nitrogênio de esmalte dentário e dentina de indivíduos sepultados em camadas sem e com cerâmica do sítio Forte Marechal Luz, localizado no litoral de Santa Catarina. Os resultados do colágeno da dentina sugerem que os indivíduos teriam uma dieta proteica rica em recursos marinhos durante o período de formação dos dentes analisados. No entanto, comparando períodos anteriores com posteriores à presença da cerâmica, observa-se uma leve tendência para resultados mais negativos no carbono nas camadas com cerâmica, indicando um maior consumo de recursos como plantas C3 e animais terrestres durante os períodos posteriores de ocupação do sítio e, consequentemente uma evidência de maior diversificação alimentar.