Ancient DNA analysis reveals temporal and geographical patterns of mitochondrial diversity in pre‐Hispanic populations from Central Argentina

NORES, RODRIGO; TAVELLA, MARÍA PÍA; FABRA, MARIANA; DEMARCHI, DARÍO A.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2022

1042-0533

Objectives: The study of the ancient populations of Central Argentina has acrucial importance for our understanding of the evolutionary processes in theSouthern Cone of South America, given its geographic position as a crossroads.Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the temporal and geographicalpatterns of genetic variation among the groups that inhabited the current territoryof Cordoba Province during the Middle and Late Holocene.Methods: We analyzed the mitochondrial haplogroups of 74 individuals and46 Hypervariable Region I (HVR-I) sequences, both novel and previouslyreported, from archeological populations of the eastern Plains and westernSierras regions of the province of Cordoba. The HVR-I sequences were alsocompared with other ancient groups from Argentina and with present-daypopulations from Central Argentina by pairwise distance analysis and identificationof shared haplotypes.Results: Significant differences in haplogroup and haplotype distributionsbetween the two geographical regions were found. Sierras showed geneticaffinities with certain ancient populations of Northwestern Argentina, whilePlains resembled its neighbors from Santiago del Estero Province and the Pampasregion. We did not observe genetic differences among the pre 1200 and post1200 yBP temporal subsets of individuals defined by the emergence of horticulture,considering both geographical samples jointly.Conclusions: The observed patterns of geographical heterogeneity could indicatethe existence of biologically distinct populations inhabiting the mountainousregion and the eastern plains of Cordoba Province in pre-Hispanic times.Maternal lineages analyses support a scenario of local evolution with greattemporal depth in Central Argentina, with continuity until the present.