Ainu People - American Continent Connection Theory

American Continent Connection Theory

In the late 20th century, speculation arose that people of the group related to the Jōmon may have been one of the first to settle North America. This theory is based largely on skeletal and cultural evidence among tribes living in the western part of North America and certain parts of South America.

It is possible that North America had several peoples among its early settlers—these relatives of the Jōmon being one of them. The best known evidence that may support this theory is probably Kennewick Man.

Genetic mapping studies by Cavalli-Sforza have shown a sharp gradient in gene frequencies centered in the area around the Sea of Japan, and particularly in the Japanese Archipelago, that distinguishes these populations from others in the rest of eastern Asia and most of the American continent. This gradient appears as the third most important genetic movement (in other words, the third principal component of genetic variation) in Eurasia (after the "Great expansion" from Africa, which has a cline centered in Arabia and adjacent parts of the Middle East, and a second cline that distinguishes the northern regions of Eurasia, and particularly Siberia, from southerly parts of the continent), which would make it consistent with the early Jōmon period, or possibly even the pre-Jōmon period.