Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory Science Newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more.
CNN
–
Scientists studying the bodies of ancient people revealed in Colombia have discovered that the people they were studying do not have known ancestors or modern descendants.
In the investigation published on May 30th In the Journal of Science Advances, a team of researchers reported genetic data from 21 individuals whose skeletal bodies were found in Bogotá Altiplano, central Columbia.
Previous studies have demonstrated the existence of two strains: Native Americans in the North and Native Americans in the South. This developed after people first arrived on the continent from Siberia across an ice bridge and began moving south.
The latter is divided into at least three sub-phylogenetics whose movements are being tracked in South America, but scientists have yet to confirm when the first people moved from Central America to South America.
This study will help map the movements of the first settlers who were nomadic hunter-gatherers. Research author Andrea Casas Vargas, a researcher at Columbia University, told CNN on Wednesday that she also discovered that she has its own DNA.
Casas Vargas said the team was “very surprised” when they discovered that the team did not share DNA with other people in their genetic records.
“We didn’t expect to find unreported strains in other groups,” she said.
Casus Vargas emphasized that Colombia’s position as an entry point to South America is important for understanding the American population.
“This study is extremely important because it was the first to sequence the complete genome in an ancient Colombian sample,” she said.
The results raised questions about where they came from and why they disappeared, Casas Vargas said.
“We are not certain what happened at the time that caused their disappearance, whether it was due to changes in the environment or replaced by other population groups,” she added.
According to Casas Vargas, we hope that further research will provide some answers.
“The next study will look for other archaeological sites from other parts of the country and analyze them at a genetic level, complementing this initial finding,” she said.
Christina Wariner, professor of scientific archaeology at Harvard University, told CNN that Columbia was “an important region for understanding the people of South America, but up until now it has been a void for ancient DNA research in the Americas.”
“This study highlights the deep history of population migration and mixing in today’s population formation, and points to Central America as an important region that influences the development of complex societies in both North and South America,” she added.