> evidence that humans were in North America 10,000 years before we previously thought, but there is no way we should treat that as a lower bound
Can’t we use genetic drift to bound those estimates?
Can’t we use genetic drift to bound those estimates?
Edit: And to be clear, not all population replacement is violent. The Norse in Greeneland were gone when the Inuit showed up for instance.
They’re separate signals.
If radiometric dating of a cave painting says 10,000 years, that’s obviously evidence. But if drift says 20,000 years, that gives room for doubt. If drift says 12,000 years +/- 2, less so.