A Genetic Surprise
DNA testing on the six-week-old infant — later named Sunrise Girl by local Native communities — revealed something unprecedented.
Her genome did not match known Native American genetic branches.
Instead, she belonged to a previously unidentified lineage.
Researchers named it USR1.
According to geneticist Eske Willerslev, this DNA lineage may date back 20,000 to 34,000 years.
That makes it one of the oldest known Native American genetic signatures ever discovered.
Not One Branch — But Several
Further analysis brought another twist.
The second infant — the stillborn — had different maternal ancestry.
She was more closely related to what scientists classify as the Northern Native American branch.
This meant two genetically distinct lineages were buried together.
It raised major questions:
- Were multiple groups living side by side?
- Did different migrations occur?
- Did these populations separate before or after crossing Beringia?
The findings suggest early Native American ancestry may have split into at least three groups, not two as previously believed.
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