RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Genomic Prehistory of the Indigenous People of Uruguay
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.11.11.468260
DO 10.1101/2021.11.11.468260
A1 Lindo, John
A1 De La Rosa, Rosseirys
A1 dos Santos, Andre Luiz Campelo
A1 Sans, Mónica
A1 DeGiorgio, Michael
A1 Figueiro, Gonzalo
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/11/16/2021.11.11.468260.abstract
AB The prehistory of the people of Uruguay is greatly complicated by the dramatic and severe effects of European contact, as with most of the Americas. After the series of military campaigns that exterminated the last remnants of nomadic peoples, Uruguayan official history masked and diluted the former indigenous ethnic diversity into the narrative of a singular people that all but died out. Here we present the first whole genome sequences of the Indigenous people of the region before the arrival of Europeans, from an archaeological site in eastern Uruguay that dates from 2,000 years before present. We find a surprising connection to ancient individuals from Panama and eastern Brazil, but not to modern Amazonians. This result may be indicative of a distinct migration route into South America that may have occurred along the Atlantic coast. We also find a distinct ancestry previously undetected in South America. Though this work begins to piece together some of the demographic nuance of the region, the sequencing of ancient individuals from across Uruguay is needed to better understand the ancient prehistory and genetic diversity that existed before European contact, thereby helping to rebuild the history of the indigenous population of what is now Uruguay.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.