Author
Listed:
- Cesar A. Fortes-Lima
(Uppsala University)
- Concetta Burgarella
(Uppsala University
University of Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro)
- Rickard Hammarén
(Uppsala University)
- Anders Eriksson
(University of Tartu)
- Mário Vicente
(University of Stockholm
Stockholm University)
- Cecile Jolly
(Uppsala University)
- Armando Semo
(Universidade do Porto
Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão
Universidade do Porto)
- Hilde Gunnink
(Ghent University
Leiden University Centre for Linguistics)
- Sara Pacchiarotti
(Ghent University)
- Leon Mundeke
(University of Kinshasa)
- Igor Matonda
(University of Kinshasa)
- Joseph Koni Muluwa
(Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Kikwit)
- Peter Coutros
(Ghent University)
- Terry S. Nyambe
(Livingstone Museum)
- Justin Cirhuza Cikomola
(Catholic University of Bukavu)
- Vinet Coetzee
(University of Pretoria)
- Minique Castro
(Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort)
- Peter Ebbesen
(University of Aalborg)
- Joris Delanghe
(Ghent University)
- Mark Stoneking
(Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Université Lyon 1, CNRS)
- Lawrence Barham
(University of Liverpool)
- Marlize Lombard
(University of Johannesburg)
- Anja Meyer
(University of the Witwatersrand)
- Maryna Steyn
(University of the Witwatersrand)
- Helena Malmström
(Uppsala University
University of Johannesburg)
- Jorge Rocha
(Universidade do Porto
Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão
Universidade do Porto)
- Himla Soodyall
(University of the Witwatersrand
Academy of Science of South Africa)
- Brigitte Pakendorf
(CNRS & Université de Lyon)
- Koen Bostoen
(Ghent University)
- Carina M. Schlebusch
(Uppsala University
University of Johannesburg
SciLifeLab)
Abstract
The expansion of people speaking Bantu languages is the most dramatic demographic event in Late Holocene Africa and fundamentally reshaped the linguistic, cultural and biological landscape of the continent1–7. With a comprehensive genomic dataset, including newly generated data of modern-day and ancient DNA from previously unsampled regions in Africa, we contribute insights into this expansion that started 6,000–4,000 years ago in western Africa. We genotyped 1,763 participants, including 1,526 Bantu speakers from 147 populations across 14 African countries, and generated whole-genome sequences from 12 Late Iron Age individuals8. We show that genetic diversity amongst Bantu-speaking populations declines with distance from western Africa, with current-day Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo as possible crossroads of interaction. Using spatially explicit methods9 and correlating genetic, linguistic and geographical data, we provide cross-disciplinary support for a serial-founder migration model. We further show that Bantu speakers received significant gene flow from local groups in regions they expanded into. Our genetic dataset provides an exhaustive modern-day African comparative dataset for ancient DNA studies10 and will be important to a wide range of disciplines from science and humanities, as well as to the medical sector studying human genetic variation and health in African and African-descendant populations.
Suggested Citation
Cesar A. Fortes-Lima & Concetta Burgarella & Rickard Hammarén & Anders Eriksson & Mário Vicente & Cecile Jolly & Armando Semo & Hilde Gunnink & Sara Pacchiarotti & Leon Mundeke & Igor Matonda & Joseph, 2024.
"The genetic legacy of the expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples in Africa,"
Nature, Nature, vol. 625(7995), pages 540-547, January.
Handle:
RePEc:nat:nature:v:625:y:2024:i:7995:d:10.1038_s41586-023-06770-6
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06770-6
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Citations
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Cited by:
- Tracey Hurrell & Jerolen Naidoo & Tiro Ntlhafu & Janine Scholefield, 2024.
"An African perspective on genetically diverse human induced pluripotent stem cell lines,"
Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-5, December.
- Gwenna Breton & Lawrence Barham & George Mudenda & Himla Soodyall & Carina M. Schlebusch & Mattias Jakobsson, 2024.
"BaTwa populations from Zambia retain ancestry of past hunter-gatherer groups,"
Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
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