Each new ancient genome adds constraints to the models, allowing researchers to test specific hypotheses against new evidence and to revise their estimates of when and where different population splits occurred.

The picture is more complex than the simple Clovis-first story that dominated twentieth-century thinking, but it is a complexity that is being mapped in increasing detail.

The Child As A Person

Across all of the scientific and ethical and political dimensions of the Anzick story, there is a risk — present in almost any narrative that spends most of its time on science and debate — of losing sight of the person at the center of it.

The Anzick child was a person.