Are they related to the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the same region when Europeans arrived?

And how do their genomes compare to other ancient Americans from the same period, from other regions, from other parts of the continent?

For the Texas sites, these questions are charged with both scientific and cultural significance.

The scientific significance is clear.

The terminal Pleistocene and Early Archaic periods — from roughly 13,000 to 6,000 years ago — are among the most important and least understood in the genetic history of the Americas.

Very few individuals from this period have been successfully genetically analyzed, because ancient DNA degrades rapidly in warm, humid conditions.