Andean Population Dynamics Revealed by Genome-wide Data from the High Elevation Cuncaicha Rock Shelter

Summary

Present-day Andean human populations harbor a relatively high genetic diversity but a minimal population structure and differentiation among them. Moreover, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome studies on pre-contact human remains suggest that both modern and ancient Andean populations derive from a single ancestral origin. However, nuclear ancient DNA (aDNA) data from the Andes in particular and South America in general are still too scarce to fully address questions on genetic continuity through time. The employment of enrichment techniques in the aDNA field now provides the opportunity of targeting over a million autosomal variants and increases the resolution on past population dynamics. Here we analyze mtDNA and genome-wide data of five human burials from the Cuncaicha rock shelter spanning between 9,000 and 4,000 years ago. Cuncaicha is an archaeological site at 4,480 meters above sea level in the southern Peruvian highlands, which exhibits human occupation from the Late Pleistocene onwards. Tracking genomic changes at the same site over a temporal transect will provide insights on the demographic processes shaping Andean populations across the Holocene.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Evolutionary Adaptations and Population History of the Atacama Desert   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16809