A paleogenomic reconstruction of the deep population history of the Andes

Nathan Nakatsuka;Iosif Lazaridis;BARBIERI C

Investigation

;Pontus Skoglund;Nadin Rohland;Swapan Mallick;Cosimo Posth;Kelly Harkins-Kinkaid;Matthew Ferry;Éadaoin Harney;Megan Michel;Kristin Stewardson;Jannine Novak-Forst;José M Capriles;Marta Alfonso Durruty;Karina Aranda Álvarez;David Beresford-Jones;Richard Burger;Lauren Cadwallader;Ricardo Fujita;Johny Isla;George Lau;Carlos Lémuz Aguirre;Steven LeBlanc;Sergio Calla Maldonado;Frank Meddens;Pablo G Messineo;Brendan J Culleton;Thomas K Harper;Jeffrey Quilter;Gustavo Politis;Kurt Rademaker;Markus Reindel;Mario Rivera;Lucy Salazar;José R Sandoval;Calogero M Santoro;Nahuel Scheifler;Vivien Standen;Maria Ines Barreto;Isabel Flores Espinoza;Elsa Tomasto-Cagigao;Guido Valverde;Douglas J Kennett;Alan Cooper;Johannes Krause;Wolfgang Haak;Bastien Llamas;David Reich;Lars Fehren-Schmitz

2020-01-01

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Abstract

There are many unanswered questions about the population history of the Central and South Central Andes, particularly regarding the impact of large-scale societies, such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Inca. We assembled genome-wide data on 89 individuals dating from ∼9,000-500 years ago (BP), with a particular focus on the period of the rise and fall of state societies. Today's genetic structure began to develop by 5,800 BP, followed by bi-directional gene flow between the North and South Highlands, and between the Highlands and Coast. We detect minimal admixture among neighboring groups between ∼2,000–500 BP, although we do detect cosmopolitanism (people of diverse ancestries living side-by-side) in the heartlands of the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. We also highlight cases of long-range mobility connecting the Andes to Argentina and the Northwest Andes to the Amazon Basin. Video Abstract: [Figure presented] Genome-wide data from 89 ancient humans illuminates the changes to the genetic landscape in the Central Andes over 9,000 years, revealing large-scale gene flow and cosmopolitan societies in the Tiwanaku and Inca polities.