The specific proportion of Ancient North Eurasian versus East Asian ancestry in the founding population of the Americas varies somewhat between different Native American populations and has been a subject of ongoing research and debate.

But the existence of the Ancient North Eurasian component is now well-established, and it traces back, at least in part, to the population represented by the Mal’ta boy.

A Second Opening: What The Boy’s Genome Also Said

The revelations in the 2013 paper went beyond the connection to Native Americans.

The Mal’ta genome also contained information about the broader genetic history of Eurasian populations — information that helped reshape understanding of how the modern genetic landscape of Eurasia was formed.

The Ancient North Eurasian signal that is visible in the Mal’ta genome also appears — in modified and diluted form — in some modern Western Eurasian populations.