Sep 02 2009
There are many examples around the world of two distinct ethnic groups living side by side.
Sometimes these groups co-exist peacefully. Other times they do not.
Often two groups’ differences – along with circumstantial factors – lead to tension between them and sometimes violence. The Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda, the Sunnis and Shiites of Iraq, and [...]
Jun 09 2009
Just over 20 years ago, the first study using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to trace prehistoric human migrations was published. In this seminal study, scientists managed to determine that all humans alive today can trace their maternal ancestry back to one woman who lived about 200,000 years ago in Africa. The findings were revolutionary, and [...]
Jan 08 2009
It seems like new discoveries about the peopling of the Americas are a dime a dozen these days. Without a doubt, the journey those first Americans took from the frozen wastelands of Asia down the Pacific coast into the Americas has been an active research subject for many decades. Archaeologists, linguists, and now geneticists have [...]
Nov 18 2008
This guest post is by Brenna Henn, a doctoral student in Stanford University’s Department of Anthropology and a 23andMe consultant. Brenna studies human evolution using genetic information. Her interests include the origin of modern humans, migration patterns among African groups, and genetic models of demography.
One of the reasons genetics is such a powerful tool for [...]
Oct 08 2008
One of the most infamous emperors of Chinese antiquity was the very first: Qin Shi Huang. Also known as Ying Zheng, he ruled the Chinese state of Qin from 247-210 BC. When he came to power, various Chinese kingdoms were engaged in a struggle against each other for superiority; by the time he died in [...]
Aug 07 2008
Despite mounting genetic evidence that modern humans are not descended from Neanderthals, there are still some who argue that our two species interbred when both roamed Europe about 35,000 years ago.
A report appearing tomorrow in the journal Cell puts another nail in that theory’s coffin. Svante Paabo’s group at the Max Planck Institute for Anthropology [...]
Mar 07 2008
People who study the spread of humans to the Americas can agree on one thing – the first migrants crossed from Asia by way of a land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska.
Just about everything else is subject to debate: who the people were, where they originated, when they migrated, how numerous they were and what [...]
