Credit: Michael Crawford
Reindeer herders of Siberia are photographed by a research team led by Michael Crawford, KU professor of anthropology, who led the first foreign anthropological team into Siberia in 1989 after the breakup of the Soviet Union. In a recent study, researchers used DNA samples collected on this expedition from members of indigenous groups in Siberia and compared them with samples of individuals from China, and 10 Native American populations across Central and South America. The researchers' analysis of DNA sequences suggested the Native American founding population that migrated from Siberia consisted of about 250 people.