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South-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas J. Kennett

    (University of California)

  • Mark Lipson

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard University)

  • Keith M. Prufer

    (University of New Mexico
    University of New Mexico)

  • David Mora-Marín

    (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

  • Richard J. George

    (University of California)

  • Nadin Rohland

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Mark Robinson

    (Exeter University)

  • Willa R. Trask

    (Central Identification Laboratory, Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam)

  • Heather H. J. Edgar

    (University of New Mexico)

  • Ethan C. Hill

    (University of New Mexico)

  • Erin E. Ray

    (University of New Mexico)

  • Paige Lynch

    (University of New Mexico)

  • Emily Moes

    (University of New Mexico)

  • Lexi O’Donnell

    (University of Mississippi, University)

  • Thomas K. Harper

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Emily J. Kate

    (Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University of Vienna)

  • Josue Ramos

    (Belize Institute of Archaeology)

  • John Morris

    (Belize Institute of Archaeology)

  • Said M. Gutierrez

    (Ya’axché Conservation Trust)

  • Timothy M. Ryan

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Brendan J. Culleton

    (Institutes of Energy and the Environment, The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Jaime J. Awe

    (Belize Institute of Archaeology
    Northern Arizona University)

  • David Reich

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard University
    Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

Abstract

The genetic prehistory of human populations in Central America is largely unexplored leaving an important gap in our knowledge of the global expansion of humans. We report genome-wide ancient DNA data for a transect of twenty individuals from two Belize rock-shelters dating between 9,600-3,700 calibrated radiocarbon years before present (cal. BP). The oldest individuals (9,600-7,300 cal. BP) descend from an Early Holocene Native American lineage with only distant relatedness to present-day Mesoamericans, including Mayan-speaking populations. After ~5,600 cal. BP a previously unknown human dispersal from the south made a major demographic impact on the region, contributing more than 50% of the ancestry of all later individuals. This new ancestry derived from a source related to present-day Chibchan speakers living from Costa Rica to Colombia. Its arrival corresponds to the first clear evidence for forest clearing and maize horticulture in what later became the Maya region.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas J. Kennett & Mark Lipson & Keith M. Prufer & David Mora-Marín & Richard J. George & Nadin Rohland & Mark Robinson & Willa R. Trask & Heather H. J. Edgar & Ethan C. Hill & Erin E. Ray & Paige L, 2022. "South-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-29158-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29158-y
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