In the DNA of an ancient infant, scientists find traces of the very first Americans
by Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times
Jan 03, 2018
4 minutes
Across a span of 11,500 years, a baby is speaking to us.
Although she was just an infant when she died, her diminutive remains are helping researchers understand how ancient people first entered and then moved around the Americas.
The little girl recently was given the name Xach'itee'aaneh T'eede Gaay (Sunrise Girl-Child) by indigenous people in the Alaskan interior who live close to the place where her body was found.
Archaeological evidence suggests her family buried her with care in a pit beneath the central hearth in their temporary home. They laid her to rest on a bed of ocher and placed offerings of weapons
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