Ancient genomes document multiple waves of migration in Southeast Asian prehistory.

Science
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Southeast Asia is home to rich human genetic and linguistic diversity, but the details of past population movements in the region are not well known. Here, we report genome-wide ancient DNA data from 18 Southeast Asian individuals spanning from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age (4100 to 1700 years ago). Early farmers from Man Bac in Vietnam exhibit a mixture of East Asian (southern Chinese agriculturalist) and deeply diverged eastern Eurasian (hunter-gatherer) ancestry characteristic of Austroasiatic speakers, with similar ancestry as far south as Indonesia providing evidence for an expansive initial spread of Austroasiatic languages. By the Bronze Age, in a parallel pattern to Europe, sites in Vietnam and Myanmar show close connections to present-day majority groups, reflecting substantial additional influxes of migrants.

Year of Publication
2018
Journal
Science
Volume
361
Issue
6397
Pages
92-95
Date Published
2018 07 06
ISSN
1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.aat3188
PubMed ID
29773666
PubMed Central ID
PMC6476732
Links
Grant list
R01 GM100233 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
HHMI / Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States