A couple of articles just came out that sheds more light on how humans moved around the earth and how far back we can acquire DNA.
It is going to be interesting seeing the progress of theories to explain the movement of people from the Orkney islands to the far eastern edge of Siberia. Or the interesting migration from the far east Asia to South America. There has been some hypothesis about the 12th century Chinese circumnavigating the global, but limit information to contradict or support it. This article is suggesting a much older migration. As more DNA samples are accumulated it will provide a very interesting read.
Surprises in our ancestry
Acquiring and sequencing DNA from someone who has been dead for 1000 years is an impressive feat. Comparing this person to modern Nordic people and the rest of us will allow research that is incompressible even today to most of us.
1000 year old Viking
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With the advances in modern science, biologists have made remarkable progress in tracing human migratory patterns based on identifiable gene markers contained within mitochondrial DNA. Of particular interest to Americans was the origin of Native Americans – long hypothesized to have migrated from Asia over the Bearing Strait several thousand years ago. This widely accepted theory contradicts the Book of Mormon’s hypothesis that American Natives are the descendants of Semitic migrants who arrived here approximately 590 BCE Presently, DNA evidence indicates Native Americans descended from Asia, not Israel as the church teaches. Asian migrants have populated this continent for over 50,000 years. The thousands of DNA samples from every known tribe of Native Americans indicate an Asiatic rather than Semitic origin and give greater support to the theory of a prehistoric Asiatic migration across the Bearing Strait.
The most common defense proffered by Mormon apologists in this case is that the Book of Mormon does not offer a testable hypothesis. In fact, in 2005, noted Mormon historian Richard L. Bushman went so far as to say that the American continent was not even the definite location of the Book of Mormon peoples. He writes:
"The Book of Mormon deposited its people on some unknown shore -- not even definitely identified as America -- and had them live out their history in a remote place in a distant time." - Richard Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p. 97
*Note: Perhaps then, to assuage any confusion over the seeming lack of evidence to demonstrate the Book of Mormon’s historicity, the opening line to 1st Nephi Chapter 1 should be changed from:
“I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents…”
To:
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
Other common defenses include ‘genetic drift’, ‘swamp effect’ and ‘bottleneck effect’ upon the initial migrant population of the Book of Mormon. In every case, the apologist response has not been to provide a cohesive hypothesis regarding the current DNA evidence, but has focused rather upon further pushing the text outside the realm of scientific provability; a position in which they are more than content to leave it, though their theories run counter to 170 years of Church teachings on the subject.
In an effort to demonstrate the falsity of the apologist’s approach, molecular biologist and former Mormon bishop Simon G. Southerton has written a comprehensive article in response to critical LDS apologist reviews of his book: ‘Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church’. Below are a few brief excerpts from that article. We encourage the readers of this site to follow the link to the Signature Books website and read the article in its entirety for further understanding on this important subject.
“For 175 years the leaders and general membership of the Mormon Church have believed American Indians and Polynesians are descended from Israelites based on their understanding of the Book of Mormon. We now know from DNA studies that the ancestors of these native peoples were essentially all derived from Asia. Latter-day Saint apologists have claimed the DNA research has “little or no bearing on the question of Book of Mormon historicity” and that it is all a “contrived controversy,” blown out of all proportion by critics with another agenda.1 Apologetic attempts to hose down the problem rely entirely on sweeping reinterpretations of the Book of Mormon narrative that reduce the Lehite and Mulekite colonization to a minor incursion in an as yet unknown corner of the Americas.2
The following are some of the most frequently advanced arguments from the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) related to DNA and the Book of Mormon… I have concluded that it would be best to summarize my responses in an equally succinct manner.
1. The Book of Mormon does not present a testable hypothesis.
Some LDS scientists argue that the Book of Mormon does not present a testable hypothesis and that, since other scientists are not testing the Book of Mormon directly, the data collected by non-Mormon scientists is irrelevant to the origin of Book of Mormon people… As of March 2006, 8,223 American Indians have been DNA tested in scientific experiments aimed at discovering where their founding ancestors came from. About 99.5% of their maternal DNA lineages are most closely related to Asian DNA. Most LDS adherents believe, and all the LDS prophets have taught, that Israelites are the principal ancestors of the American Indians… LDS beliefs about American Indian ancestry fall squarely into the scientific field of anthropology. Molecular anthropologists are uncovering evidence that is directly relevant to LDS beliefs in this area.
2. Mitochondrial DNA only tells us about one ancestral line out of many. If we go back ten generations, it only tells us about 1 in 1,024 of our ancestors. If we go back another ten generations, it only tells us about one in over a million of our ancestors.
Virtually all mitochondrial lineages found throughout the world can be grouped into less than twenty-five major family groups represented by letters A, H, X, and so on. In the case of the American Indians, essentially all of their mitochondrial lineages fall into one of five major families: A, B, C, D, or X, none of which were derived from a recent migration from Israel… Even those mitochondrial lineages that end up in males and are not passed on to the next generation came from the same five sources.
3. We don’t know enough about the genetic background of Book of Mormon peoples.
We know that Lehi and Mulek were members of two different Israelite tribes… It is perfectly reasonable to assume that both the Lehites and Mulekites were Israelites… We know a considerable amount about the DNA lineages of living people whose ancestors were Israelites reaching back 2600 years ago. Israelite DNA lineages belong to the same family groups found in European populations: the H, I, J, K, N, T, U, V, W, and X groups.
…LDS apologists have already conceded that DNA research has revealed that American Indians are essentially all descended from Asian ancestors.
4. The X lineage could be evidence for Israelite ancestry.
…In order for the X lineage to be considered possible evidence of Lamanite DNA, apologists need to explain away the following facts:
Amerindian DNA lineages belonging to the X family are at least as diverse as the lineages belonging to the A, B, C, and D lineage families, meaning they have been present in the New World for about as long.
The X lineage occurs at a frequency of 8 percent in Canadian tribes and 3 percent in tribes from the United States. To date, the X lineage has not been found in Central or South America, where the three major New World civilizations are located. The vast majority of apologists consider Mesoamerica to be the only plausible setting for the Book of Mormon narrative because of the Book of Mormon’s description of major populations living in complex and literate cultures.
There is evidence that X-lineage DNA has been isolated from ancient remains that pre-date the Jaredite and Lehite time period by thousands of years.
Amerindian X lineages are distantly related to X lineages found in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. They are estimated to have separated from these populations over 30,000 years ago—no later than 17,600 years ago…
5. Does the Q lineage family provide a link between ancient Israelites and Native Americans?
No. The Q (Y-chromosome) haplotype is prominent among the Kets (93.7 percent) and Selkups (66.4 percent) of Siberia and among Native Americans (over 80 percent). Lineage Q also appears in European Jews (5 percent), but is rare in the Middle East. Scientists suspect its presence among European (Ashkenazi) Jewry is by way of the Khazar people who converted to Judaism in the eighth century… The Native American Q lineage is a unique form known as Q3, a lineage which is absent in European and Jewish populations.
6. The mitochondrial DNA lineages tell us nothing about the male lineages.
This is correct, but Y-chromosome studies among Native Americans show very strong links to Asia (>85%), as do studies among Polynesians (>90%). There is a much higher presence of lineages that are of European or African origin, but this is not surprising given that males, beginning with Spanish explorers, dominated the early European conquest of the Americas and Polynesia.
7. The wives of the early Book of Mormon colonists (Sariah and others) may have been Asian since their ancestry is not specifically mentioned, and they could have brought the A, B, C, D, and X lineages to the Americas.
It is exceedingly unlikely that Asians carrying Asian lineages traveled to Israel to intermarry with the ancestors of the Lehites and Mulekites. If this did occur, we would expect to see (but do not see) Asian lineages among Middle Eastern populations. The amount of DNA variation found in each of the five American Indian female DNA lineage families indicates that they have been present in the Americas for at least 15,000 years, possibly longer. This predates the existence of Israel by many thousands of years.
8. DNA testing of modern individuals often fails to detect all previous genetic lineages due to lineage extinction. Israelite DNA would have been swamped out in the New World due to the bottleneck effect, genetic drift, and other technical problems which would prevent us from detecting Israelite genes.
The argument that Lamanite DNA may have gone extinct strains reinterpretations of the Book of Mormon to breaking point. In this reinvention of Lamanite destiny, the Book of Mormon people are reduced to an insignificant side show in American history, so insignificant that we would find it hard to detect their genes today… The Book of Mormon plainly states that the descendants of the Lehites and Mulekites… formed substantial populations that were ruled over by Lehi’s descendants. Are we to believe that these populations were largely comprised of American Indians who swamped out the Israelite genes yet didn’t assume any significant influence in these civilizations?
…Nephi saw a vision of the New World in about 600 BC in which he saw that his “seed” and “the seed of [his] brethren” had multiplied until they did “number as many as the sand of the sea” (1 Nephi. 12:1). Numerous passages throughout the Book of Mormon detail the fulfillment of this prophecy. In 588 BC the Lehite populations were prospering “exceedingly” and “multiplying” in the land (2 Nephi. 5:13), and by 399 BC they had “multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land” (Jarom 1:8). When the descendants of Mulek join the Nephites, we are informed, they are “exceedingly numerous” (Omni 1:17). By about 124 BC, there were so many people in the Book of Mormon civilizations, they could not number them because they had “multiplied exceedingly and waxed great in the land” (Mosiah 2:2). By about 46 BC, they had spread until they “covered the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east (Hel. 3:8).
9. The arguments of the critics rely mostly on the non-doctrinal “principal ancestors” statement in the introduction to the Book of Mormon
Several LDS apologists have claimed that the critic’s case against the Book of Mormon relies almost entirely on the non-doctrinal statement in the introduction to the Book of Mormon. This is not the case. The introductory statement in the Book of Mormon enjoys widespread doctrinal and prophetic support, as several critics of Book of Mormon historicity have documented.
In fact, the many statements from church leaders and revelations of Joseph Smith include the following doctrinal pronouncements:
"We also bare testimony that the 'Indians' (so called) of North and South America are a remnant of the tribes of Israel; as is now made manifest by the discovery and revelation of their ancient oracles and records." —"Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Apr. 1845.
"In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era… The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph… The principal nation of the second race fell into battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country." —Joseph Smith to John Wentworth, editor, Chicago Democrat, 1842.
"He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang..." —Joseph Smith–History 1:34
"And now, behold, I say unto you that it is not revealed, and no man knoweth where the city Zion shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites." —Doctrine and Covenants 28:9
"And thou shalt assist to settle all these things, according to the covenants of the church, before thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites." —Doctrine and Covenants 28:14
"And that which I have appointed unto him is that he shall go with my servants, Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer, Jun., into the wilderness among the Lamanites." —Doctrine and Covenants 32:2
"And thus you shall take your journey into the regions westward, unto the land of Missouri, unto the borders of the Lamanites." —Doctrine and Covenants 54:8
The belief that Native Americans throughout North, Central, and South America, as well as Polynesia, are the descendants of the Lamanites is not simply based on one unofficial statement in the introduction to the Book of Mormon. This belief is deeply embedded in the LDS Church and has had a major influence on the way the church has interacted with native peoples in the Americas and the Pacific for well over a century. …Many Native American and Polynesian members of the church have received patriarchal blessings in which they have been told they belong to the tribe of Manasseh, the same tribe as Lehi. It is not simply a matter of an “overbelief” in a non-doctrinal portion of the modern edition of the Book of Mormon. It is a belief that is deeply entrenched in the church with strong doctrinal foundations in scripture and prophetic authority.
10. Other people could have lived in ancient America concurrently with Book of Mormon peoples.
The fact that FARMS apologists felt it necessary to propose that other people could have lived concurrently with Book of Mormon people is evidence enough that the Book of Mormon is silent about them. Virtually nobody outside of the apologetic community appears to have read the Book of Mormon carefully enough to notice reference to the hoards of other people apologists claim are mentioned in the text. American Indians not only could, they in fact did live in ancient America between 2000 BC and AD 400, and they did live in the Americas for at least 10,000 years prior to that time period. What is unclear is whether Book of Mormon people existed at all, and all reliable evidence to date provides no concrete support for their existence.
11. When God cursed American Indians and changed their skin color, as reported in the Book of Mormon, God could have changed their DNA as well.
If so, why would God change the DNA so it matched Asian DNA? Latter-day Saints have already offended Blacks and the Native Americans. Is it necessary to offend Asians now, as well?
12. We don’t yet know enough about the earliest colonization of the Americas. Evidence points to Australians, Japanese, or even Europeans existing alongside the first Siberian colonists.
There is debate among scientists about the early colonization of the Americas, but there are some important facts upon which all agree. Scientists concur that the Siberian migration, which began in excess of 14,000 years ago, accounts for all or essentially all of the ancestors of the American Indians. There is currently no genetic evidence to support the arrival of any other people in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus…
13. The Lamanite population may have been severely reduced during the disease epidemics that accompanied European colonization.
American Indian populations were decimated by the introduction of diseases that had been present in European populations for centuries and for which they had acquired a measure of immunity. American Indians lacked immunity to these diseases and it has been estimated that as much as 90 percent of New World native populations were wiped out in disease epidemics. If there had been a Lamanite population present in the New World, there is no reason to believe it would have been more or less susceptible to these diseases than neighboring American Indians who had been present in the Americas for in excess of 15,000 years. Consequently, the disease epidemics are unlikely to have had any impact on our ability to detect a Lamanite presence. They can't be detected now and their proportional presence would have to be assumed to be approximately the same now as prior to the arrival of Columbus.
14. Science can never provide a final answer to a religious question.
The Book of Mormon raises questions about the ancestry of American Indians by the claims it makes. Many of these are historical claims and are not exclusively religious. Many Mormons have a firm belief that Native Americans are largely descended from Israelites as a consequence of believing the Book of Mormon. Feeling-based beliefs are far less reliable than Mormons would care to admit, and science has proven that these beliefs have no basis in fact…
People have been waiting for 175 years for credible scientific evidence of any description to support the historical claims of the Book of Mormon. How long do we need to wait to prove we are patient? With each passing year, new information sheds more light on the colonization of the Americas, and with each year we find the claims of the Book of Mormon being shrunk by LDS apologists…
15. We have no “chain of custody” proving a link between the lab results and the point of DNA collection
John Butler recently claimed that the DNA results produced in population genetics research are unreliable because no chain of custody procedures were followed. Accredited DNA testing facilities are required by law to follow chain of custody documentation procedures to ensure results will be legally admissible—accepted by courts and other government agencies. Chain of custody requires that:
• Samples are collected by an impartial third party such as a clinic or laboratory.
• The individuals tested are positively identified by checking government-issued identifications, and they are photographed and fingerprinted for records.
• The samples are carefully tracked and matched to each test participant throughout the entire DNA testing process.
Butler appears to be confusing forensic applications of DNA technology with its use in human population genetics… When greater than 99.6 percent of the DNA lineages of Native Americans most closely resemble DNA lineages found among Asians, this is compelling evidence that they have a common ancestor: evidence sufficiently compelling to convince even LDS apologists.”
In addition to all of this, the clearest refutation of the recent apologetic effort to marginalize the Book of Mormon peoples to such a restrictive geographic region for the purposes of deflecting the criticisms relative to DNA studies comes from the Church itself. In an 1845 proclamation, the Quorum of Twelve Apostles stated the following [emphasis added]:
“A Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: To all the Kings of the world; to the President of the United States of America; To the Governors of the several states and to the Rulers and Peoples of all nations.”
“We testify that the foregoing doctrine is the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ, in its fullness; and that it is the only true, everlasting, and unchangeable gospel; and the only plan revealed on earth whereby man can be saved."
“We also bear testimony that the “Indians” (so called) of North and South America are a remnant of the tribes of Israel, as is now made manifest by the discovery and revelation of their ancient oracles and records.
“And that they are about to be fathered, civilized, and made one nation in this glorious land.
“They will also come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and of the fullness of the gospel; and they will embrace it, and become a righteous branch of the house of Israel. "
This position was affirmed in April of 1971 by [then] apostle Spencer W. Kimball at a Lamanite Youth Conference:
“You are of royal blood, the children of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Lehi.”
“With pride I tell those who come to my office that a Lamanite is a descendant of one Lehi who left Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ and with his family crossed the mighty deep and landed in America. And Lehi and his family became the ancestors of all of the Indian and Mestizo tribes in North and South and Central America and in the islands of the sea, for in the middle of their history there were those who left America in ships of their making and went to the islands of the sea.”
Most faithful Latter-Day Saints regard official Church proclamations and declarations from apostles and prophets as scripture or revelation directly given from God to his chosen leaders. Given that the proclamation and the statement by Elder Kimball clearly designate that the natives “of North and South America are a remnant of the tribes of Israel”, that said proclamation was endorsed by the standing Quorum of Twelve Apostles at the time of its publication, and that Elder Kimball’s remarks were later into a July 1971 Ensign article, "Of Royal Blood", there should be little question in the minds of faithful Latter-Day Saints regarding the identity of the peoples of the Book of Mormon.
In fact, in the same Ensign issue noted above, Elder Kimball’s remarks are prefaced by “The Lamanites (Introduction)” which states the following:
“Most members of the Church know that the Lamanites, who consist of the Indians of all the Americas as well as the islanders of the Pacific, are a people with a special heritage. They are also a people with special problems in relation to contemporary society.”
And in the face of such certain declarations, it becomes all the more difficult to reconcile the incredible claims of the Book of Mormon and it’s proponents with the growing scientific data that stands in stark opposition to those claims.
References
http://www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/Losing2.htm
http://zarahemlacitylimits.com/wiki/index.php/A_Proclamation_of_the_Twelve_Apostles_of_the_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints
July, 1971 Ensign: Of Royal Blood
July, 1971 Ensign: The Lamanites (Introduction)
Of further interest
http://www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/Losing3.htm.
https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html
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