Analysis of skeletal remains has led to at least two models to explain the origin of early human populations in the Americas. a, It was originally thought that the first colonizers were the direct ancestors of present-day Native Americans, who arrived from northeast Asia and possibly central Asia in three successive migrations about 12,000 years ago. b, More recent analyses of the craniofacial features of skulls dating from the end of the Ice Age suggest that the first arrivals were from south Asia or the Pacific Rim. These 'Palaeoamericans' were thought to be unrelated to the majority of modern Amerindian remains — a later group of colonizers from northeast Asia were thought to have given rise to these late-prehistoric populations. Now, González-José et al.5 have found that a group of early historic Amerindian skulls from the Baja peninsula in Mexico bear a strong resemblance to the early Palaeoamericans, suggesting that the colonization of the Americas was more complex than had previously been suspected.