The Paleo-Aleut to Neo-Aleut transition revisited

• We discuss cultural continuity versus population replacement in the Aleutians.
• We review previously published genetic and isotopic data from the Aleutians.
• We re-evaluate data in context of archaeological evidence and marine ecosystems.
• We present new X-ray fluorescence provenience data of raw materials from the area.
• Change can be explained by rise of social complexity versus population replacement.

Recent genetic and isotopic analyses of human remains from the Aleutian Islands have revived a defining debate of 20th century northern research in the Americas; that of population continuation versus replacement ∼1000 years ago in the Aleutian region. According to original analyses a particular cranial shape (Neo-Aleut) appears only in the eastern and central Aleutians after ∼1000 BP. Recent genetic data seem to suggest that a closely related population (Neo-Aleut) did move into the region but co-existed with the previous population (Paleo-Aleut). Isotope data reveal that the Neo-Aleut had a larger proportion of sea mammals in their diet than Paleo-Aleut people, interpreted as further evidence that the Neo-Aleut migrated to the area with a different set of skills, developed to obtain higher trophic level resources. Using marine isotopic data, archaeological evidence, and X-ray fluorescence provenience data of raw materials, we propose an alternative hypothesis that supports both the genetic and isotopic data, but does not contradict the known regional prehistory. We suggest the genetic and isotopic differences found are based not on population movements but on the beginnings of social complexity, differential access to higher status foods, and the acquisition of wives from the Kodiak region to the east.