In less than a decade, analyses of ancient genomes have transformed our understanding of the Indigenous peopling and population history of the Americas. These studies have shown that this history, which began in the late Pleistocene epoch and continued episodically into the Holocene epoch, was far more complex than previously thought. It is now evident that the initial dispersal involved the movement from northeast Asia of distinct and previously unknown populations, including some for whom there are no currently known descendants. The first peoples, once south of the continental ice sheets, spread widely, expanded rapidly and branched into multiple populations. Their descendants—over the next fifteen millennia—experienced varying degrees of isolation, admixture, continuity and replacement, and their genomes help to illuminate the relationships among major subgroups of Native American populations. Notably, all ancient individuals in the Americas, save for later-arriving Arctic peoples, are more closely related to contemporary Indigenous American individuals than to any other population elsewhere, which challenges the claim—which is based on anatomical evidence—that there was an early, non-Native American population in the Americas. Here we review the patterns revealed by ancient genomics that help to shed light on the past peoples who created the archaeological landscape, and together lead to deeper insights into the population and cultural history of the Americas.

在不到十年的时间里，对古代基因组的分析改变了我们对美洲土著人民和人口历史的理解。这些研究表明，这段始于更新世晚期并断断续续进入全新世的历史远比之前想象的复杂。现在很明显，最初的分散涉及来自东北亚的独特且以前未知的人口的迁移，其中包括一些目前没有已知后代的人。最早的民族曾经生活在大陆冰盖以南，分布广泛，迅速扩张并分支成多个种群。他们的后代——在接下来的十五千年里——经历了不同程度的孤立、混合、延续和更替，他们的基因组有助于阐明美洲原住民主要亚群之间的关系。值得注意的是，美洲的所有古代人，除了后来到达的北极人之外，与当代美洲土著人的关系比与其他地方任何其他人口的关系更密切，这挑战了基于解剖学证据的说法，即有一个早期的，美洲的非美洲原住民人口。在这里，我们回顾了古代基因组学揭示的模式，这些模式有助于揭示创造考古景观的过去民族，并共同导致对美洲人口和文化历史的更深入了解。与当代美国土著个体的关系比与其他地方任何其他人口的关系更密切，这挑战了基于解剖学证据的说法，即美洲存在早期的非美洲原住民人口。在这里，我们回顾了古代基因组学揭示的模式，这些模式有助于揭示创造考古景观的过去民族，并共同导致对美洲人口和文化历史的更深入了解。与当代美国土著个体的关系比与其他地方任何其他人口的关系更密切，这挑战了基于解剖学证据的说法，即美洲存在早期的非美洲原住民人口。在这里，我们回顾了古代基因组学揭示的模式，这些模式有助于揭示创造考古景观的过去民族，并共同导致对美洲人口和文化历史的更深入了解。