Whether that ancestral population entered the Americas in a single dispersal event or in multiple events from the same general source in northeastern Asia is a question that the current evidence does not fully resolve.

The genetic models favor relatively few founding events from a single source population, but they do not necessarily require a single dispersal event.

Multiple waves of migration from the same general Beringian source population would produce genetic patterns that might be difficult to distinguish from a single founding event, given the limitations of current ancient DNA data.

Living Communities and the Science of the Past

The Anzick burial and the genomic research conducted on the child’s remains exist within a broader context of the relationship between archaeological science and living Native American communities — a relationship that has been complex, sometimes contentious, and gradually evolving toward more genuinely collaborative models.