Solutrean hypothesis: genetics, the mammoth in the room

Abstract

The Solutrean Hypothesis for the origin of the Clovis archaeological culture has received numerous challenges and critiques. Oft-repeated contra-assertions, predominantly from archaeologists, range from: “NO genetic evidence”, to: it must have been either a sole Beringian or European origin, so Beringia wins, to: the troublesome fifth American mtDNA lineage “X2a” overlanded from West-Eurasia to Beringia, leaving no trace en-route, to: there is no evidence from the rest of the genome to parallel X2a. We refute these contra-assertions, detailing published contrary evidence, supporting a West-Eurasian origin for some Native American ancestors, mainly found in north-eastern America, in parallel to the majority arriving from Beringia. Specifically this includes mtDNA-X2a found in ancient and modern Native American populations, with no evidence to support migration of X2a through Siberia. Prima facie (i.e. under-researched) published evidence also exists for equivalent levels of West-Eurasian Y-chromosomes and autosomal markers in the same regions.