DiscussMormonism.com

The new study by the University of Michigan, published Monday, examined genes of indigenous people from North to South America and from two Siberian groups, the university said in a report introducing the research.

Analysis found one unique genetic variant widespread across both the northern and southern American continents -- suggesting that all Native Americans were descended from a single group, not various ones as the rival theory holds.

Anthropologists and archeologists have long argued over whether Native Americans are descended from migrants who crossed by land to the northwest 12,000 years ago, or waves of arrivals by sea and land from elsewhere in Asia and Polynesia beginning up to 30,000 years ago.

suggesting that all Native Americans were descended from a single group

The Dude wrote:It's still true that if a small group of Viking-Nephites came to Mesoamerica around 600 BC, when it was already populated by powerful and widespread Siberian civilizations, we probably wouldn't be able to pick out the extant DNA even if we did know what markers would identify a Hebrew-Norseman of that period.

Strangely, the Nephite sagas say very little about the vast Siberian civilizations and culture who the Nephites lived "among", but they must have been there. We know this because of DNA as well as from archaeology. Let's go look in the Book of Mormon and see what clues we can find, clues that Joseph Smith himself never noticed. As they say, it is time to find Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon instead of thinking we can find remnants of the Nephites in Mesoamerica. Some FARMS articles and John Sorenson can lead us through where a straighforward reading of the Book of Mormon is not clear about the indigenous people; all are Lamanites to the Book of Mormon writers, named descendants of Lehi, and possibly Mulek or an Ericson.

Don't try to find Nephites in the ancient world, don't try to find their DNA. It won't be there. You have a better bet by looking for the ancient world -- and Siberian DNA -- in the Book of Mormon. Strange but true.

( The Viking sagas at least mention [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skræling]skraelings[/url]. )

MishMagnet wrote:Lehi's boat = landbridge.

It's so obvious. I can't believe you haven't taken time to educate yourselves.

Runtu wrote:...how on earth did a small band of strangers gain political, economic, and religious dominance over them?

Satanwassetup wrote:Awesome. This will be the next great apologetic discovery, you just need to find some "interesting parallels" between land bridges and boats. Lets see, they both have water on at least two sides, and they both allow people to stand on them without getting wet. Now we just need to find linguistic evidence of ancient people referring to land bridges as boats or vice versa. An ancient boat with the initials L.B. on the side would work.

Who Knows wrote:

Runtu wrote:...how on earth did a small band of strangers gain political, economic, and religious dominance over them?

And how did none of it survive?

Who Knows wrote:
Sorry to quote myself, but this is a good point.

For the apologists, Lehi & Cos. group had to be big enough to influence the millions of NAs already here in the americas. But at the same time, it had to be small enough to leave no genetic footprint.

Is such a thing even possible?