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Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander G. Ioannidis

    (Stanford University
    National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), Unit of Advanced Genomics, CINVESTAV)

  • Javier Blanco-Portillo

    (National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), Unit of Advanced Genomics, CINVESTAV)

  • Karla Sandoval

    (National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), Unit of Advanced Genomics, CINVESTAV)

  • Erika Hagelberg

    (University of Oslo)

  • Juan Francisco Miquel-Poblete

    (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

  • J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar

    (National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN))

  • Juan Esteban Rodríguez-Rodríguez

    (National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), Unit of Advanced Genomics, CINVESTAV)

  • Consuelo D. Quinto-Cortés

    (National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), Unit of Advanced Genomics, CINVESTAV)

  • Kathryn Auckland

    (University of Oxford)

  • Tom Parks

    (University of Oxford)

  • Kathryn Robson

    (University of Oxford)

  • Adrian V. S. Hill

    (University of Oxford
    University of Oxford)

  • María C. Avila-Arcos

    (International Laboratory for Human Genome Research (LIIGH), UNAM Juriquilla)

  • Alexandra Sockell

    (Stanford University)

  • Julian R. Homburger

    (Stanford University)

  • Genevieve L. Wojcik

    (Stanford University)

  • Kathleen C. Barnes

    (University of Colorado)

  • Luisa Herrera

    (University of Chile)

  • Soledad Berríos

    (University of Chile)

  • Mónica Acuña

    (University of Chile)

  • Elena Llop

    (University of Chile)

  • Celeste Eng

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Scott Huntsman

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Esteban G. Burchard

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Christopher R. Gignoux

    (University of Colorado)

  • Lucía Cifuentes

    (University of Chile)

  • Ricardo A. Verdugo

    (University of Chile
    University of Chile)

  • Mauricio Moraga

    (University of Chile
    University of Chile)

  • Alexander J. Mentzer

    (University of Oxford
    University of Oxford)

  • Carlos D. Bustamante

    (Stanford University
    Stanford University)

  • Andrés Moreno-Estrada

    (National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), Unit of Advanced Genomics, CINVESTAV)

Abstract

The possibility of voyaging contact between prehistoric Polynesian and Native American populations has long intrigued researchers. Proponents have pointed to the existence of New World crops, such as the sweet potato and bottle gourd, in the Polynesian archaeological record, but nowhere else outside the pre-Columbian Americas1–6, while critics have argued that these botanical dispersals need not have been human mediated7. The Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl controversially suggested that prehistoric South American populations had an important role in the settlement of east Polynesia and particularly of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)2. Several limited molecular genetic studies have reached opposing conclusions, and the possibility continues to be as hotly contested today as it was when first suggested8–12. Here we analyse genome-wide variation in individuals from islands across Polynesia for signs of Native American admixture, analysing 807 individuals from 17 island populations and 15 Pacific coast Native American groups. We find conclusive evidence for prehistoric contact of Polynesian individuals with Native American individuals (around ad 1200) contemporaneous with the settlement of remote Oceania13–15. Our analyses suggest strongly that a single contact event occurred in eastern Polynesia, before the settlement of Rapa Nui, between Polynesian individuals and a Native American group most closely related to the indigenous inhabitants of present-day Colombia.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander G. Ioannidis & Javier Blanco-Portillo & Karla Sandoval & Erika Hagelberg & Juan Francisco Miquel-Poblete & J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar & Juan Esteban Rodríguez-Rodríguez & Consuelo D. Quinto-Cort, 2020. "Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement," Nature, Nature, vol. 583(7817), pages 572-577, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:583:y:2020:i:7817:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2487-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2487-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias & Javier Blanco-Portillo & Bogdan Pricop & Alexander G. Ioannidis & Balthasar Bickel & Andrea Manica & Lucio Vinicius & Andrea Bamberg Migliano, 2024. "Deep history of cultural and linguistic evolution among Central African hunter-gatherers," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(7), pages 1263-1275, July.
    2. Gabriel Aguirre-Fernández & Chiara Barbieri & Anna Graff & José Pérez de Arce & Hyram Moreno & Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, 2021. "Cultural macroevolution of musical instruments in South America," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Robert J. DiNapoli & Carl P. Lipo & Terry L. Hunt, 2021. "Triumph of the Commons: Sustainable Community Practices on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-23, November.

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