Reconstructing the Deep Population History of Central and South America
Reich, David
- 1Max Planck Inst Sci Human Hist
- 2Harvard University
- 3University of Pavia
- 4University of Adelaide
- 5Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE)
- 6Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen
- 7University of California System
- 8Universidade de Sao Paulo
- 9Max Planck Society
- 10University System of Ohio
- 11Ctr Invest Ecosistemas Patagonia
- 12Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru
- 13Michigan State University
- 14United States Department of Defense
- 15University of Exeter
- 16Yaaxche Conservat Trust
- 17University of New Mexico
- 18Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
- 19Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
- 20Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET)
- 21
- 22Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (UNIFESP)
- 23University of Buenos Aires
- 24German Archaeol Inst
Journal
Cell
ISSN
0092-8674
1097-4172
Open Access
hybrid
Volume
175
Start page
1185
We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 49 individuals forming four parallel time transects in Belize, Brazil, the Central Andes, and the Southern Cone, each dating to at least similar to 9,000 years ago. The common ancestral population radiated rapidly from just one of the two early branches that contributed to Native Americans today. We document two previously unappreciated streams of gene flow between North and South America. One affected the Central Andes by similar to 4,200 years ago, while the other explains an affinity between the oldest North American genome associated with the Clovis culture and the oldest Central and South Americans from Chile, Brazil, and Belize. However, this was not the primary source for later South Americans, as the other ancient individuals derive from lineages without specific affinity to the Clovis-associated genome, suggesting a population replacement that began at least 9,000 ago and was followed by substantial population continuity in multiple regions.