Ancient mitochondrial genomes from the Argentinian Pampas inform the early peopling of the Southern Cone of South America
Xavier Roca-Rada,
Gustavo Politis,
Pablo G. Messineo,
Nahuel Scheifler,
Clara Scabuzzo,
Mariela González,
Kelly M. Harkins,
David Reich,
Yassine Souilmi,
João C. Teixeira,
Bastien Llamas,
Lars Fehren-Schmitz
Affiliations
Xavier Roca-Rada
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Gustavo Politis
INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Olavarría, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Pablo G. Messineo
INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Olavarría, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nahuel Scheifler
INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Olavarría, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Clara Scabuzzo
CICYTTP-CONICET, Provincia de Entre Ríos-UADER-División Arqueología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Dr. Materi y España (3105), Diamante, Entre Ríos Argentina
Mariela González
INCUAPA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Olavarría, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Kelly M. Harkins
UCSC Paleogenomics Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
David Reich
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Yassine Souilmi
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
João C. Teixeira
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Bastien Llamas
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Corresponding author
Lars Fehren-Schmitz
UCSC Paleogenomics Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; UCSC Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: The Southern Cone of South America (SCSA) is a key region for investigations about the peopling of the Americas. However, little is known about the eastern sector, the Argentinian Pampas. We analyzed 18 mitochondrial genomes—7 of which are novel—from human skeletal remains from 3 Early to Late Holocene archaeological sites. The Pampas present a distinctive genetic makeup compared to other Middle to Late Holocene pre-Columbian SCSA populations. We also report the earliest individuals carrying SCSA-specific mitochondrial haplogroups D1j and D1g from Early and Middle Holocene, respectively. Using these deep calibration time points in Bayesian phylogenetic reconstructions, we suggest that the first settlers of the Pampas were part of a single and rapid dispersal ∼15,600 years ago. Finally, we propose that present-day genetic differences between the Pampas and the rest of the SCSA are due to founder effects, genetic drift, and a partial population replacement ∼9,000 years ago.
