COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IPY: Reconstruction of Human Genetic History Along the North Slope

AbstractThis协作项目将记录遗传变异的地理模式在史前和现代人口沿着阿拉斯加北坡和评估如何北极阿拉斯加的古代居民与当代的因纽特人人口在整个环北极地区。这将通过表征母系遗传的线粒体（mt）DNA序列，父系遗传的Y-染色体标记，以及双亲遗传的常染色体遗传标记在考古学来源的史前样本和阿拉斯加北海岸的当代人群。 直接比较史前种群及其可能的现代后代的遗传变异模式，并将这种生物学变异置于考古学（时间）背景下，是重建种群历史的有力工具。 虽然史前遗传数据将来自众所周知的考古背景（例如，Nuvuk），研究小组还将直接确定史前材料的子样本的日期，以确认样本的时间位置。 他们还将从古代样本中产生稳定的同位素数据，以促进该地区史前饮食和古生态学的重建，并有助于重建古代移民/殖民事件。该项目所产生的关于现存和史前人口的数据将提供美国北极西北部因纽特人的明确遗传特征，并允许测试关于北极东部因纽特人起源的几种假设。 此外，这里进行的研究将允许更详细地分析和了解整个北美高北极地区的图勒扩张，这是最后一次伟大的跨大陆迁移和殖民事件之一。 更全面地了解这种人类扩散将使我们能够识别快速殖民化的遗传特征，替代与混合殖民模式，并有助于澄清北美北极种群的起源和历史。

AbstractThis collaborative project will document geographic patterns of genetic variation in both prehistoric and modern human populations along the North Slope of Alaska and assess how the ancient residents of arctic Alaska are related to contemporary Inupiaq populations throughout the circumarctic region. This will be achieved by the characterization of maternally inherited mitochondrial (mt)DNA sequences, paternally inherited Y-chromosome markers, as well as biparentally inherited autosomal genetic markers in both the archaeologically derived prehistoric samples and the contemporary populations of the North coast of Alaska. Direct comparison of patterns of genetic variation in prehistoric populations and their possible modern descendants, and the placement of this biological variation in archaeological (temporal) context, is a powerful tool for the reconstruction of population history. Although the prehistoric genetic data will come from well-known archaeological contexts (e.g., Nuvuk), the research team will also directly date a subsample of the prehistoric material to confirm the temporal placement of the samples. They will also generate stable isotope data from the ancient samples to facilitate reconstruction of prehistoric diets, paleoecology of the region, and contribute to the reconstruction of ancient migration/colonization events. The data to be generated by this project, on both extant and prehistoric populations, will afford a definitive genetic characterization of the Inupiat people of the northwestern American arctic, and permit testing several hypotheses regarding the origin of the eastern arctic Inuit population. Additionally, the research undertaken here will permit a much more detailed analysis and understanding of the Thule expansion across the North American high arctic, one of the last great transcontinental migrations and colonization events. A fuller understanding of this human dispersal will permit us to identify genetic signatures of rapid colonization, replacement versus admixing colonization models, and help clarify the origin and history of North American arctic populations.