Corpus ID: 18362475 Inference of Ancient Black Mexican Tribes and DNA Clyde A. Winters Published 20 March 2015 Political Science

Background: Controversy surrounds the time period when Indigenous Mexican-African admixture occurred. Most researchers assume this admixture took place after the Atlantic Slave Trade. But, Spanish eyewitness accounts, Mayan skeletons with sickle cell anemia, and West African skeletal remains generally,indicate that there were Black Native Mexican and Meso-American communities in Meso-America before 1492. Using genetic association studies of available Indigenous Mexican and African genome-wide SNP genotypes and HLA we infer the probable pre-or post Columbian date for the admixture. Here we analyze the historical and archaeogentic literature relating to the American foundational haplogroups and HLA to extract ancestry information detailing when Indigenous Mexican-African admixture took place. Results: Indigenous Mexican and Afr ican archaeogenetic, DNA and HLA resources were analyzed to determine to what extent admixture had occurred between these populations. The sample indicated that Indigenous Mexican-African admixture has taken place across Mexican fundamental male and female lineages; and that Africans and Indigenous Mexicans share HLA al leles. In addit ion, archaeogenetic evidence including, African [Mande] inscriptions, Mande substratum in Mayan languages, Africans depicted in Mayan murals at San Bartolo and Xultun, African skeletons generally, and ancient Mayan skeletons with sickle cell anemia support Spanish eyewitness accounts of Black Native American tribes [Otomi, Chontal (Mayan speaking group) ,Yarura and etc.] in Meso-America when they arrived on the scene. Conclusion: We demonstrate that given the age of the African skeletons, excavated at Meso-American archaeological sites and Spanish eyewitness accounts of Black Mexicans, Indigenous MexicanAfrican admixture occurred prior to the European discovery of America. The date for the African skeletons indicate that there were several waves of West Africans who probably introduced African haplotypes into the Americas. The 25,000 Malians who sailed to America in 1310 probably had a major influence on the exchange of African genes in the Americas. Introduction Meso-America is the geographical name for Mexico and the countries of Central America. Today people believe that the Blacks of Mexico and the Blacks of Guatemala, Hondurus and Belize are the descendants of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) slaves taken to Mexico during the Atlantic Slave trade. Researchers have suggested that Sub-Saharan Africans (SSA) were among the first Americans (1-6). Spanish explorers found Sub-Saharan African communities in Mexico when they arrived (1,7). Sub-Saharan Africans were living in Mexico in 1492 (1-2). These SSA were trading with the mongoloid Amerindians, in addition to having their own settlements in the Americas. Amerigo Vespucci met African merchants on their way back to West Africa in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean (7). Much of what we know about African nautical sciences comes from Vaco da Gama. Vasco da Gama is said to have found information about the West Indies from Ahmad b. Majid, a West African he met during his travels along the West Coast of Africa (8). Da Gama claimed that ibn Majid wrote a handbook of navigation on the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Sea of Southern China and the waters around the West Indian Islands. Majid is also said to be the inventor of the compass (8-9). The Spanish left us mention of many Sub-Saharan Communities in Central America and Mexico (10-11). These dark skinned Indians were Africans not mongoloid Indians. Paul Gaffarel noted that when Balboa reached America he found "negre veritables" or true Blacks(12). Balboa noted "...Indian traditions of Mexico and Central America indicate that Negroes were among the first occupants of that territory" (12)." This is probably why so many Mexicans have "African faces " . In addition, eyewitness accounts of SSA populations in the Caribbean, and Mexico anthropologists have found SSA skeletons at Pre-Columbian sites (5, 13-17 ). Some of the ancient Mayan skeletal remains indicate that they suffered from sickle cell anemia an illness associated with Sub-Saharan Africans (18-20). The presence of sickle cell anemia among the ancient Maya, supports Quatrefages claim that the Chontal Maya were Africans( 7,11) . WebmedCentral > Review articles Page 2 of 9 WMC004856 Downloaded from http://www.webmedcentral.com on 20-Mar-2015, 07:31:34 AM  https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Inference-of-Ancient-Black-Mexican-Tribes-and-DNA-Winters/6355ab4bd86725686c07bd6b1a805684f7e2c67e