Ancient genomes in South Patagonia reveal population movements associated with technological shifts and geography

NAKATSUKA, NATHAN; LUISI, PIERRE; MOTTI, JOSEFINA; SALEMME, MÓNICA; SANTIAGO, FERNANDO C.; D´ANGELO DEL CAMPO MANUEL; VECCHI, RODRIGO; ESPINOSA-PARRILLA, YOLANDA; PRIETO, ALFREDO; ADAMSKI, NICOLE; LAWSON, ANN MARIE; HARPER, THOMAS K.; CULLETON, BRENDAN J.; KENNETT, DOUGLAS J.; LALUEZA-FOX, CHARLES; MALLICK, SWAPAN; ROHLAND, NADIN; GUICHÓN, R.; CABANA, GRACIELA.; NORES, RODRIGO.; REICH, DAVID

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

Nature Publishing Group

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2020 vol. 11

2041-1723

At least since European contact, five ethnic groups have been living in southern Patagonia: Kawéskar in the Western Archipelagos and Yámana in the south with primarily marine-based economies; Aónikenk and Selk?nam in the north and east with primarily terrestrially-based economies; and Haush in the extreme east with a mosaic of cultural traits shared with maritime and terrestrial groups. We generated genome-wide data from 20 ancient individuals and document how genetic lineages already present in South Patagonia from the Middle Holocene (~6600-5800 54 BP individuals) contributed a large fraction of the ancestry of Late Holocene groups (<2000 BP 55 individuals), except in the Western Archipelagos. Gene flow from the north by ~4700 BP added  additional ancestry to groups practicing marine economies, and a later gene flow event had impact  in all Late Holocene South Patagonians. From ~2200-1200 BP, mixture between neighbors  resulted in a cline correlated to geographic ordering along the coast.