Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct “Paleoamericans.” We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America.

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The National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (NM-UFRJ), Brazil, suffered a serious fire in 2018, resulting in the loss or severe damage of many collections. The human osteological collection, also affected, was one of the largest and oldest in the country, holding over two thousand entries from prehistoric to historic sites, including some international donations. The oldest remains were those of “Luzia”, dating to 11.5 thousand years. While part of the collection was recovered from the debris, the bones were mostly warped and damaged by the fire, making the possibility of identification uncertain. Therefore, this collection is now inadequate for regular forensic and bioarchaeological studies. Considering the need for the construction of a new human osteological collection, especially with forensic perspectives, we conducted a survey of Brazilian national and local (capitals of the Southeast region) legislation, regarding donation and institutionalization of human remains for scientific collections and ossuaries, considering the potential ethics and logistics aspects. Results suggest that legislation generally treats human remains studies and collections as an issue of lesser importance Thus, private donations may become the simplest way to receive human remains, even though they are generally age biased. We conclude that it is necessary to broaden legal and ethical discussions in order to build contemporary human bone collections with proper scientific potential for the needs of society.

Sítios arqueológicos marcados pela aparente presença de conchas, nomeados assim por sua característica mais visível, podem ser encontrados em diferentes regiões do mundo. No Brasil, conhecidos principalmente como sambaqui, e no Japão como kaizuka, os estudos de tais montes de conchas estão inseridos em questões locais, regionais e mundiais. Assim, buscamos situar os estudos de montes de conchas em relação aos questionamentos dos quais são objeto e, em uma perspectiva comparada, em que medida estão inseridos em linhas investigativas passíveis de diálogo.