Map of Melanesia. From [2]
Came across a very interesting article online today, it relates to some remains found in a Siberian cave, at Denisova, (I posted about this in my entry on Homo erectus in America - Part 2), which shared a common ancestor with modern humans about one million years ago.
"Densiovians" and Melanesians
Well, this article "DNA says new human relative roamed widely in Asia" mentions that these Denisovians were not restricted to their cave habitat in central Asia, but, seem to have spread out across Asia:
Scientists found evidence that in the genomes of people now living in Melanesia, about 5 percent of their DNA can be traced to Denisovans, a sign of ancient interbreeding that took researchers by surprise.[1]
Melanesia, as the map above shows, is just above Australia and comprises not only Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia, but also Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Somehow these distant relatives got their DNA into modern Melanesians in Southeast Asia, but there are two possibilities:
1. Mating with modern humans after we came out of Africa and reached that area some 55,000 years ago.
2. No intermixing. Both Denisovians and modern Melanesians have retained ancestral strands of DNA in our genes, sequences that other modern humans have lost.
"Denisovians" in America?
It would be interesting to see if modern Amerindian populations have the same ancestral DNA as Denisovians, which would indicate that either the Denisovians came to America first, and mixed with the later humans when we arrived in America later.
Or, that a group of humans with Denisovian DNA moved into America and settled there.
Perhaps Denisovians could explain the "hominid" ape men or "Bigfoot" sightings in America just as easily as Homo erectus could. What is needed is to prove that one or the other came to America: we must find remains or artifacts made by them.
Melanesians in America?
Regarding people in South East Asia and their possible migration to America, I wrote about it in my book [3]:
mtDNA taken from skeletons of the now extinct Yagan, Selk’nam and Alakaluf populations as well as Aonikenk Tehuelche show that they, from a genetic viewpoint, were different from all other American natives (including the Mapuche in northern Patagonia).
[...]
Human remains discovered in Brazil show a very strong resemblance to modern South Pacific people, suggesting that America was first colonized by the generalized human (Homo sapiens) population that inhabited East Asia in the Late Pleistocene. These people arrived in America in very ancient times long before the Mongolid morphology of the forebearers of the Clovis had evolved [3]
Portuguese anthropologist Mendes Correia (1888-1960) proposed a migration route for these "Austronesians" from their homeland in Australia via Tasmania, the Antarctic and Drake Passage, instead of a trans-Pacific oceanic route, entering South America at Tierra del Fuego some 8,000 years BP. It his a highly disputed concept and lacks archaeological proof. Alternatively they could have sailed across the Pacific Ocean.
This same notion, but regarding the Melanesians reaching America through Polinesia was put forward by Erland Nordenskiold in 1931, [4] an event which would have happened long before the arrival of modern Polynesians in the region. This could account for many similar myths shared by peoples on both sides of the Pacific, and particularly, some that are common to Australians and Patagonians regarding mythical (or maybe real) monsters and entities such as: Yowie, Gubba, Mimi, Bunyip, the "Dreamtime". Or maybe these coincidences can be due to the "genetic memory" mentioned in yesterday's post, a shared "archetype" common to all humans.
Interesting reading on Homo erectus in America and very interesting topics regarding our ancient ancestor: The Pleistocene Coalition, they challenge conventional (or should I say "orthodox" views in a scientific way).
Sources.
[1] Malcom Ritter, (2010). DNA says new human relative roamed widely in Asia, AP Science writer. 22.12.10.
[2] ANU College of Asia & the Pacific. The Australian National University
Melanesia
[3] Whittall Austin. (2010). Unpublished. Patagonian Monsters. Zagier & Urruty. Soon to be released.
[4] Kenneth Emory, (1942). Oceanian Influence on American Indian Culture. Nordenskiold's veiw. Volume 51 1942 > The Journal of Polynesian Society. Vol 51 No. 2 pb 126-135
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia
http://www.landforms.eu/shetland/Storegga.html
ReplyDeletehttp://guestblog.my-mu.com/?p=80
There were three Storegga slides, one in 50,000 B.C and two near each other loosely about 8000 years ago, after the YOUNGER DRYAS. Doggerland was finally eventually flooded by degrees and a Mesolithic people had to find new homes, but many were finally swept away at about the time Mt Aetna also erupted by a wave bigger than the one that hit Crete at the end of Minoan civilization much later on!
If Atlantis is Doggerland, was James Churchward very correct about a LEMURIAN sea empire over the Pacific with cultural centers in Melanesia? He talked of a great wave taking out much of the Great Uighir Empire in central Asia loosely at about 16.000 B.C, and if the Egyptians traded with Indonesia on a regular basis over tens of thousands of years... the Antarctic voyage along a vast ice sheet to Patagonia is looking more and more likely!
Just the other day, organic fibers woven into a cloth like linen some 30,000+ years ago imply a twine or rope could have very Neanderthal dates! Spearheads are now thought to be more ancient and were thrown by Homo Heidelbergensis people living on the tip of South Africa some 500,000 years ago. Toss in rafts, and the striking of pyrite by flint, and you CAN easily people the Americas by sea along the Antarctic sheet ice greatly prior to the Calico, California flint factory date of 200,000 B.C!
http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/4270521/BarYosef_PrehistoricLinen.pdf?sequence=2
http://www.guilfordian.com/worldnation/2013/04/12/history-in-the-making-new-discoveries-that-change-everything/