Turns out those aren't the apostle St James’s bones after all
Research shows that bone fragments of Jesus's (possible) brother belong to someone else.
17 February, 2021
Credit: zatletic / Adobe Stock
- New research in Rome has found that bones purported to be from St. James the Less are impossible.
- The femoral bone fragments date to somewhere between 214 and 340 CE—a few centuries off the mark.
- The analysis was conducted on bone fragments, oil, and mummy remains in the Basilica dei Santa Apostoli.
<p>The most psychologically riveting undiscovered archaeology in the Western world remains "proof" of Jesus and his disciples. Dan Brown's alternative religious history, "The Da Vinci Code," was denounced by the Church (even though it was admittedly fictional). Yet his book revealed something about human psychology, with this revival of the Holy Grail legend and Mary Magdalene selling 80 million copies sold worldwide.</p><p>Speaking of Mary, that was the name of James the Less's mother, making him the potential brother of Jesus. While he hasn't received the same veneration as James the Great (the patron saint of Spain), James the Less (aka the Younger) earned fame as one of Jesus's dozen disciples. His bones have been stored in Rome's Basilica dei Santi Apostoli for over 1,500 years—well, so people thought. According to a <a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-021-00481-9" target="_blank">new research article</a>, published in the journal Heritage Science, the femur is a few centuries younger than advertised. </p><p>Researchers used a variety of dating techniques, including mass spectrometric detection, X-Ray diffraction, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to analyze bone fragments and mummy remains in the Basilica dei Santa Apostoli. Investigating the supposed remains of St James and St Philip, they discovered that James's femoral bone dates to somewhere between 214 and 340 CE. This skeleton certainly did not walk with Jesus. </p><p>The team also discovered rapeseed oil and a ceramic shard dating to roughly the same era, give or take a century. All samples, in fact, dated to at least two centuries after the time of Christianity's savior. </p><p>The 6th-century church dedicated to James and Philip has gone through numerous renovations, including a 16th-century facelift that shielded it from recurring floods. In 1700, the church was basically rebuilt. In the late 19th century, relics were discovered in the catacombs and shuffled around. Keeping track of so many changes on paper has proved challenging; it shouldn't be surprising that the fragments were caught in the mix. Superstition trumps reality—but not technology. </p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY1ODk0Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MDU5ODgwNn0.ojJojmjsjAua5f5pJ779pq6VKnmXddnTt-s8Yxx3x0M/img.png?width=980" id="c4992" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="77a58287985ca37ec94b561425259cc4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2498" data-height="1328" />
a) Tibia of St Philip KLR-11036/C90 (femur of St James KLR-11030/C81); b & c) foot of St Philip KLR-12288/C18 and KLR-11029/C80
Credit: Rasmussen et. al
<p>The contention that St James the Less is Jesus's brother is also contested. As the researchers note, the Lord's brother, <em>Iakob</em>, is not mentioned in any list of the 12 disciples. Pivotal to the Church of Jerusalem, with 11 mentions in the New Testament, James was part of the council that decided whether gentiles should be circumcised. His influence remains part of us—well, deciding what remains part of us.</p><p>The team notes that the potential conflation of Jesus's brother with St James is a red flag. Calling a divine sibling "Lesser" doesn't make sense considering his outsized influence on the Church of Jerusalem. Jesus's brother is textually referred to as "Lord's brother" or "the Just." Some even consider St James the Less to be a cousin of Jesus, not a brother. </p><p>As mentioned, we love a good mystery. </p><p>Regardless, the bones in the Basilica are not of any James we know of. Lead author Kaare Lund Rasmussen, an archaeometry professor at the University of Southern Denmark, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/st-james-relic-someone-else.html" target="_blank">says</a>,</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Our dates, although disproving it was St. James, fall in a dark period, between the time when the apostles died and Christianity became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire."</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.sdu.dk/en/nyheder/forskningsnyheder/jesu-apostle-videnskabeligt-undersogt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> released after the publication of the study, Rasmussen continues, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We consider it very likely, that whoever moved this femur to the Santi Apostoli church, believed it belonged to St. James. They must have taken it from a Christian grave, so it belonged to one of the early Christians, apostle or not."</p><p>The mystery continues. While we might never discover actual bones or grails, there's always a novel waiting around for Netflix to option. </p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">--</span></p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>. His most recent book is</em> "<em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRVMP2M?pf_rd_r=MDJW43337675SZ0X00FH&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy</a>."</em></p>
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Ornamental dinosaur frills seem to have evolved thanks to sexual selection
While other factors exist, sexual prowess appears to have helped determine the role of Protoceratops frills.
12 February, 2021
Credit: AntoninJury, CC BY-SA 4.0
- New research seeks to explain why dinosaurs featured an elaborate diversity of ornamentation in their frills and crests.
- A team at the Natural History Museum in London investigated a sheep-size Gobi Desert dweller known as Protoceratops.
- While sex alone does not explain the design, "socio-sexual selection" seems to have played an essential role.
<p>Fewer than 1 percent of all animals that ever lived have been fossilized. Yet fossils are essential for understanding the nature, notes Paige Williams in "The Dinosaur Artist." They provide an evolutionary glimpse into an ancient world. As she writes,</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Without fossils, an understanding of the earth's formation and history would not be possible… We would not know that the climate has warmed and cooled and is changing still… Without fossils, we would not know that birds evolved from dinosaurs; or that Earth was already billions of years old before flowering plants appeared; or that sea creatures transitioned to life on land and primates to creatures that crafted tools, grew crops, and started wars." </p><p>Dinosaurs occupy a particularly special place in our collective imagination. Williams states that natural history museums would likely not exist without fossils as well. Now a new study, conducted by researchers at the Natural History Museum in London and published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, might have answered an age-old question: Why did dinosaurs feature such an elaborate diversity of ornamentation in their frills and crests? </p><p>The answer probably won't surprise you, however: sex. </p>
The New Face of Protoceratops?
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dc69d9f614563872f6ff571e2b761d26"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hb5tghw9LO0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>While there is no way to definitively answer an evolutionary question about Triassic reptiles, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Andrew Knapp has been closely analyzing Protoceratops frills. He was <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-02-dinosaur-frills-result-sexual.html" target="_blank">investigating if sexual selection</a> played a role in this sheep-size Gobi Desert dweller.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"In many fossil animals, we have unusual structures and traits which aren't really seen in living animals today. Protoceratops didn't have any horns but they still had a huge frill."</p><p>The researchers highlight the importance of "socio-sexual selection" throughout history: traits that serve a variety of purposes, including ornamentation and weaponry, as well as behaviors that helped to establish dominance hierarchies in societies. Humans are not the only species in which the loudest and/or flashiest alphas rise to the top; that information long predates our own genes. </p><p>Common examples of sexual selection include the famous tail feathers of peacocks or the elaborate mating rituals of bowerbirds. As Knapp says, however, such rituals are "quite often more complicated than just males being big and flashy and females being dull." He continues, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"While there are quite a few examples in living animals where usually females select males based on the size of their tail feathers or calls, it is quite often overlooked that males do the same thing with females as well."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY0MzA1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2ODQ5ODM0MX0.gYkLk6lP1Xy6Z1GLrmlbHk9oVRVmLydPGKf2C_9MsbE/img.jpg?width=980" id="a058e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9729a1dff784434802c6b56f9e295e5e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1300" data-height="975" />
Public domain
<p>The case of Protoceratops frills is complex. Knapp and his team made four predictions about the shape of their skulls as possibly playing socio-sexual signaling roles at the outset of their study. Three were supported by the research:</p><ul><li>low integration with the rest of the skull</li><li>significantly higher rate of change in size and shape during ontogeny</li><li>higher morphological variance than other skull regions</li></ul><p>The fourth prediction, sexual dimorphism (two different forms existing in the same population), is notoriously difficult to determine given that large sample sizes are needed to understand the impact of each form. </p><p>The group looked at 3D scans of 30 Protoceratops skulls and found positive allometry—distinct patterns of growth that could have been sexually selected. Yet without including other factors, such as selecting for coloration of these reptilian ornaments, the team couldn't conclude with certainty that frills were due to mating alone. </p><p>Knapp concludes that it's only sex that determined the impact of these frills—but it certainly seems to have played a role.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The boundaries between sexual and social selection are quite blurred, and social selection will quite often be an important factor too."</p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>. His most recent book is</em> "<em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRVMP2M?pf_rd_r=MDJW43337675SZ0X00FH&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy</a>."</em></p>
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How high did our ancestors get? We might soon be able to tell.
Traces of heroin and cocaine have been found in the tartar of 19th-century Dutch farmers.
11 January, 2021
Photo: Elena / Adobe Stock
- Archaeologists can now tell what drugs our ancestors used thanks to tooth tartar.
- For this study, they tested 10 cadavers and discovered 44 drugs and metabolites.
- This new method will offer us insights into the types of drugs our ancestors used.
<p>Archaeologists rejoiced last year when a team discovered that an Israeli shrine <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/cannabis-bible" target="_self">contained remnants of cannabis and frankincense</a>. Improved laboratory techniques allowed the researchers to test substances discovered on the altar, which dates back to 750-715 BCE. The team believes this is another indication that cannabis served a ritualistic purpose during biblical times. </p><p>Brian Muraresku, the author of "The Immortality Key," hopes religious scholars will <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/psychedelic-christianity" target="_self">take such techniques seriously</a>. For example, testing ancient vessels for hallucinogenic resins will allow us to form a more complete picture of early Christian rituals. </p><p>Every year, breakthroughs are made in the technologies we use to study the past. At this point, all we need is the will—and serious funding, of course.</p><p>Researchers from the Department of Forensic Medicine at Denmark's Aarhus University have utilized another means for tracing the past: tooth tartar. In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0379073820305090?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new study</a>, published in Forensic Science International, the archaeologists utilize ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) to peer into the lives of our ancestors through their dental calculus. </p><p>And you've been letting your dentist scrape away valuable information. </p><p>This research began when Leiden University doctoral student Bjørn Peare Bartholdy was investigating the self-medication techniques of 19th-century Dutch farmers. He wanted to understand how they managed pain and disease. Tartar, which can survive more than one million years on fossils, has previously been used to study ancient diets. If it could reveal carbohydrate intake, it should offer insights into opioid use. </p><p>So he turned to the team at Aarhus, including forensic dentist Dorthe Bindslev, who mixed tartar minerals such as hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite with a variety of controlled substances to detect the molecules in the fossils. For this study, they tested 10 cadavers and discovered 44 drugs and metabolites.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQzMjIwMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTgxMjY1N30.dXESAVsjEprL_0TVI1Ta9Ma4ltW2up5Uj3U51WGaIUY/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C114%2C0%2C93&height=700" id="8b17a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a19e0c3d83a0db8c6cd2f984cd3d2ac2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1245" data-height="700" />
Credi: Сергей Кучугурный / Adobe Stock
<p>This is no easy method. Tartar levels vary from person to person. As they write, the variables include "the intake of fermentable carbohydrates, acidic foods and medicines; the salivary flow rate; the endogenous concentrations of inorganic ions in saliva; and salivary buffer systems, impact calculus formation."</p><p>They also have to factor in accidental consumption or inhalation of drugs, which also leaves a record. That said, the team is pleased with the results. Archaeology has long measured cultural drug use; now they can gain insights into exactly <em>who</em> did the inhaling, which might provide information about the identity and role of the skeletons they unearth.</p><p>The team found cocaine, heroin, and heroin metabolites in the remains of these Dutch farmers, which could help Bartholdy piece together their pain management protocols. More pedestrian consumption was also found: "The common consumption of caffeine containing drinks and the widespread use of tobacco products were reflected by the investigated samples."</p><p>There are a few barriers: this particular technology is expensive and hard to access—it's not a common laboratory machine. And while tartar is hardy, not every substance is going to survive for millennia, or even years. Amphetamines, MDMA, and codeine have "low logP and plasma-protein binding," while benzodiazepines and morphine exhibit "high plasma-protein binding." The team was surprised to discover cocaine and heroin in the samples given their chemical and enzymatic instability.</p><p>That said, this research empowers archaeologists with yet another tool in their research kit. While scholars like Muraresku might not convince the Vatican to give up their vessels, we may soon have another way of discovering early Christian psychedelic usage. We should also learn more about pain management—and maybe even the pleasure of our ancestors.</p><p><span></span>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. His most recent book is</em> "<em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRVMP2M?pf_rd_r=MDJW43337675SZ0X00FH&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy</a>."</em></p>
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Did early humans hibernate?
New anthropological research suggests our ancestors enjoyed long slumbers.
30 December, 2020
Credit: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock
- Neanderthal bone fragments discovered in northern Spain mimic hibernating animals like cave bears.
- Thousands of bone fragments, dating back 400,000 years, were discovered in this "pit of bones" 30 years ago.
- The researchers speculate that this physiological function, if true, could prepare us for extended space travel.
<p>Humans have a terrible sense of time. We think in moments, not eons, which accounts for a number of people that still don't believe in evolutionary theory: we simply can't imagine ourselves any differently than we are today. </p><p>Thankfully, scientists and researchers have vast imaginations. Their findings often depend on creative problem-solving. Anthropologists are especially adept at this skill, as their job entails imagining a prehistoric world in which humans and our forebears were very different creatures. </p><p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003552120300832" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new paper</a>, published in the journal L'Anthropologie, takes a hard look at ancient bone health and arrives at a surprising conclusion: Neanderthals (and possibly early humans) might have endured long, harsh winters by hibernating. </p><p>Adaptability is the key to survival. Certain endotherms evolved the ability to depress their metabolism for months at a time; their body temperature and metabolic rate lowered while their breathing and heart rate dropped to nearly imperceptible levels. This handy technique solved a serious resource management problem, as food supplies were notoriously scarce during the frozen months. </p><p>While today the wellness industry eschews fat, it has long had an essential evolutionary function: it keeps us alive during times of food scarcity. As autumn months pass, large mammals become hyperphagic (experiencing intense hunger followed by overeating) and store nutrients in fat deposits; smaller animals <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/367950" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bury food nearby</a> for when they need a snack. This strategy is critical as hibernating animals can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3105343/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lose over a quarter of their body weight</a> during winter. </p><p>For this paper, Antonis Bartsiokas and Juan-Luis Arsuaga, both in the Department of History and Ethnology at Democritus University of Thrace, scoured through remains of a "pit of bones" in northern Spain. In 1976, archaeologists found a 50-foot shaft leading down into a cave in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Atapuerca" target="_blank">Atapuerca</a>, where thousands of bone fragments have since been discovered. Dating back 400,000 years—some of the fragments may be as old as 600,000 years—researchers believe the bodies were intentionally buried in this cave.</p>
Evidence of ancient human hibernation / human hibernation for space travel | Dr Antonis Bartsiokas
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c18723ed15c9b3ed88a24552f681711e"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ba72UrBWsc4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>While the fragments have been well studied in the intervening decades, Arsuaga (who led an early excavation in Atapuerca) and Bartsiokas noticed something odd about the bones: they displayed signs of seasonal variations. These proto-humans appear to have experienced annual bone growth disruption, which is indicative of hibernating species.</p><p>In fact, the remains of cave bears were also found in this pit, increasing the likelihood that the burial site was reserved for species that shared common features. This could be the result of a dearth of food for bears and Neanderthals alike. The researchers write that modern northerners don't need to sleep for months at a time; an abundance of fish and reindeer didn't exist in Spain, as they do in the Arctic. They write, </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The aridification of Iberia then could not have provided enough fat-rich food for the people of Sima during the harsh winter—making them resort to cave hibernation."</p><p>The notion of hibernating humans is appealing, especially to those in cold climates, but some experts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/dec/20/early-humans-may-have-survived-the-harsh-winters-by-hibernating" target="_blank">don't want to put the cart before the horse</a>. Large mammals don't engage in textbook hibernation; their deep sleep is known as a "torpor." Even then, the demands of human-sized brains could have been too large for extended periods of slumber.</p><p>Still, as we continually discover our animalistic origins to better understand how we evolved, the researchers note the potential value of this research.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The present work provides an innovative approach to the physiological mechanisms of metabolism in early humans that could help determine the life cycle and physiology of extinct human species."</p><p>Bartsiokas <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba72UrBWsc4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">speculates</a> that this ancient mechanism could be coopted for space travel in the future. If the notion of hibernating humans sounds far-fetched, the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/01/human-hibernation-real-possibility/605071/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">idea has been contemplated for years</a>, as NASA began funding research on this topic in 2014. As the saying goes, everything old is new again. </p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>. His new book is</em> "<em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KRVMP2M?pf_rd_r=MDJW43337675SZ0X00FH&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy</a>."</em></p>
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New DNA evidence rewrites Caribbean history
Two new studies shed light on who first inhabited the islands, who replaced them, and how few people lived there.
28 December, 2020
Credit: zstock / Adobe Stock
- A pair of new studies has finally managed to analyze the DNA of early residents of the Caribbean.
- The DNA indicated that many residents were closely related, despite hundreds of miles of distance between them.
- The findings dramatically alter our understanding of the residents of the Caribbean before Europeans arrived.
<p> The loss of information about the history of peoples can sometimes occur by accident, caused by nothing more than environmental factors. It is particularly true for genetic information in certain climates. Warm, wet climes, like that of the Caribbean, can cause the genetic material in human remains to decay long before science can examine it. </p><p>Thanks to advances in technology, geneticists can gather more information about the Caribbean people before Europeans arrived than ever before. The findings, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03053-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nature</a>, shed light on their origins, numbers, and their level of interaction with others. </p>
How to recover DNA in a tropical environment
<p> As mentioned above, the DNA in human remains breaks down fairly quickly in tropical environments. It is only now that we can use certain bones, those which protect the inner ear, to acquire enough material to learn about the original residents of the area. </p><p>An international team of researchers examined the remains of 174 <a href="https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/fmon-adr122220.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">people</a>. The findings of a previous <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6502/456" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> that examined 93 other skeletons were also included in their <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/12/invaders-nearly-wiped-out-caribbeans-first-people-long-before-spanish-came-dna-reveals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">analysis</a>. Unlike many previous studies, this investigation was carried out with the knowing consent of the decedents of the island natives. </p>What does the DNA tell us?
<iframe width="730" height="430" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uVrVdtSFK7c" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p> The oldest remains indicate that original inhabitants of the islands arrived there around 6,000 years ago and were related to groups living in South and Central America. These people are known as the "Archaic Age People" but who they are exactly remains unclear, as the genetic findings didn't match any particular group in South America. </p><p> Then, around 3,000 years ago, another group of people migrated north. These Arawak-speaking, ceramic-making farmers from South America displaced the Archaic Age People. While small groups of the latter appear to have held out in isolation until 900 C.E, they eventually disappeared as a separate group of people. However, intermarriage between the two groups appears to have been rare. </p><p> The DNA also tells us that people were rather closely related across vast distances. In one case, dozens of individuals, including two men living 600 miles apart, shared as much DNA as first cousins. Such a high proportion of such cases suggests a low population with only limited levels of genetic diversity. </p>What does this mean for our understanding of the pre-contact Caribbean?
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQzNDMyMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTQ5MTA4OX0.7eL6KWx70ABnOjqMbSCiWl9haTxGaITfRzxS8sjeGRM/img.jpg?width=980" id="04f14" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="471edf9fc8866f923f21d36f004fb686" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1440" data-height="960" />vessel, made between AD 1200-1500 in present-day Dominican Republic
Credit: Kristen Grace/Florida Museum
<p> The findings upend ideas of multiple, large migrations of South American people into the region entirely. Archaeologists had previously associated different pottery styles with different eras caused by new groups of people moving in and bringing their ceramics with them. This study found no reason to suppose these migrations took place. Instead, these same people seem to have changed their style. </p><p>Additionally, the genetic similarities between the people across large swaths of time and space suggest that the populations were much smaller than previously reported. While Columbus reported millions of people living on the islands he landed on, these findings provide support estimates the population was in the tens of thousands at the time. This could have implications for our understanding of the history of post-contact interactions.</p><p>It also raises new questions about how the pre-contact peoples interacted. Genetic evidence suggests the archaic group was largely left alone, but why was that? We know that some trading was taking place between groups on different islands, but how much? Was this trade what prevented some smaller groups from suffering the adverse effects of inbreeding? </p><p>Such questions will have to be the subject of further research.</p>
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