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Can DNA be used to link the Anasazi to current native American peoples?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Recent advances in technology have allowed the extraction of mitochondrial DNA from prehistoric skeletal material. Haplogroup B4'5 is thought to have been common among the Anasazi of the ancient U.S. Southwest. Haplogroup B4'5 appears to have been a fixture in the Southwest at least since the introduction of agriculture to the region from Mesoamerica 2,500 to 3,500 years ago. In some areas the haplogroup is found in 100% of the Native American population and sometimes multiple populations share the identical forms of the haplogroup; for example, a single variant of haplogroup B4'5 is shared by the Navajo, Zuni, Jemez and Seri groups, as well as others.
Haplogroup B4'5 reaches levels of 75-90% among the Pueblo groups of New Mexico and Arizona, which are thought to descend from the cliff-dwelling Anasazi who occupied the Southwest from the 8th century AD until their sudden disappearance in the early 12th century.
The Anasazi didn't literally disappear; modern Pueblo people and most scholars believe warfare or environmental catastrophe forced them to abandon their elaborate cliff dwellings for settlements in the Rio Grande valley. Recent studies of DNA extracted from 2,000-year-old remains have supported that view by establishing the presence of haplogroup B4'5 among the Anasazi.
There may have also been some small amounts of the "X" haplogroup as well. Dr. Smith was able to examine the haplogroups of ancient Anasazi skeletons and to compare these to samples from current populations. The study showed a makeup that was consistent with previous studies showing the Anasazi to be part of the pueblo family that includes the Hopi and other tribes in the Southwest. But the study also revealed the presence of another haplogroup which appears similar to an "X" haplogroup found in the Navajo, but which has not been found in the Hopi.
Haplogroup X is an oddball among the branches of the human mitochondrial DNA tree. It is scattered around the globe in the Northern Hemisphere, but aside from concentrations in a few isolated groups it almost never rises above a small percentage of the population. The presence of haplogroup X2 among Native Americans was something of a mystery when originally discovered, and to some degree still is.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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what nation was an amalgam of peoples of both native american and african origin
Who is the anasazis leaders name?
I'm not so sure but, there wasn't really a leader of the Anasazi Native American tribe
Who was the chief of the Anasazi tribe?
Anasazi is a Navajo word for a native american group (not one tribe) that existed in the area before the Navajo and experienced a serious population decline before Europeans arrived. So they existed for many thousands of years. Their descendants are most likely the Hopi, so the culture of the so called Anasazi was probably similar to that of modern day Hopi. So when the Navajo arrived and called them Anasazi they probably called themselves Hopi as they do now.
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Anasazi
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Which Native American culture group included direct descendants of the Anasazi, built pueblos, and irrigated their fields?
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anasazi
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what nation was an amalgam of peoples of both native american and african origin
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Anasazi
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Which early Native American society built cliff dwellings and which built mounds?
anasazi
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Who is the anasazis leaders name?
I'm not so sure but, there wasn't really a leader of the Anasazi Native American tribe
Are Aztec Indians Native American Indians?
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