Colombia Ancient DNA: Lost Indigenous Group Found
News Directory 3 reports on the discovery of ancient DNA evidence revealing a lost hunter-gatherer lineage in Colombia. This groundbreaking find unveils a previously unkown group that thrived near modern-day Bogotá roughly 6,000 years ago, onyl to vanish approximately 4,000 years later. The research, published in Science Advances, sheds light on notable cultural shifts and potential migrations that reshaped early South America. Delve into the lives of these early inhabitants, their genetic makeup, and the events that led to their disappearance. The study highlights the importance of ancient DNA analysis to unravel the complex tapestry of human history and understand ancestral connections. What further revelations await as they study more ancient genomes? Discover what’s next in this unfolding story.
Ancient DNA Reveals Lost Hunter-Gatherer Lineage in Colombia
Updated June 5, 2025
A new study of ancient DNA has identified a previously unknown genetic lineage of hunter-gatherers in Colombia. these people lived near present-day Bogotá roughly 6,000 years ago but vanished about 4,000 years later, according to research published in Science Advances. The findings offer insights into significant cultural transformations that occurred during this period. This research highlights the importance of studying ancient populations to understand early population movements and cultural exchanges in South America.
The first Americans are believed to have migrated from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge during the last ice age, arriving in North America at least 23,000 years ago. Evidence suggests human presence in South America dating back 14,550 years. Some early Indigenous groups settled in the Altiplano, a plateau near modern Bogotá. This area experienced several cultural changes during the Early and Middle Holocene epochs. The emergence of ceramic pottery during the Herrera period, around 2,800 years ago, was already known, but the origins of this technology remained unclear. This new analysis of ancient DNA provides valuable clues about the people who inhabited this region and their connections to other populations.
To investigate these ancient population movements, researchers sequenced genomes from the bones and teeth of 21 skeletons found at five archaeological sites in the Altiplano. The samples spanned 5,500 years and included seven genomes from the Checua site (6,000 years old), nine from the Herrera period (around 2,000 years old), three from the Muisca period (1,200 to 500 years old), and two from guane populations north of Bogotá (about 530 years old). This thorough genetic analysis offers a detailed look at the genetic history of the region and the relationships between different groups of people.
“These are the first ancient human genomes from Colombia ever to be published,” said Cosimo Posth, a paleogeneticist at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
The Checua genomes belonged to a relatively small group of hunter-gatherers.Their DNA showed little similarity to Indigenous North American groups or any ancient or modern populations in Central or South America. “Our results show that the Checua individuals derive from the earliest population that spread and differentiated across South America very rapidly,” said Kim-Louise Krettek, a doctoral student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen.
However, this population disappeared completely around 4,000 years ago, with no trace of their DNA in later groups inhabiting the area. “We couldn’t find descendants of these early hunter-gatherers of the Colombian high plains — the genes were not passed on,” Krettek said. “That means in the area around Bogotá there was a complete exchange of the population.” This suggests a significant demographic shift in the region,with the original inhabitants being replaced by a new group of people.
these findings suggest that cultural changes at the start of the Herrera period, including the increased use of ceramics, were introduced by migrating groups from Central America between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. The study of ancient DNA is crucial for understanding these complex population dynamics and cultural exchanges.
“In addition to technological developments such as ceramics, the people of this second migration probably also brought the Chibchan languages into what is present-day Colombia,” said Andrea Casas-Vargas, a geneticist at the National University of Colombia. “Branches of this language family are still spoken in Central America today.”
The Chibchan-related ancestry may have spread and mixed with other groups on multiple occasions. The genetic makeup of later Altiplano individuals is more similar to pre-Hispanic individuals from Panama than to Indigenous Colombians, indicating some intermingling in Colombia. Ancient remains from Venezuela also show some Chibchan-related ancestry,though less closely linked to ancient Colombians,suggesting multiple Chibchan language expansions into South America. Further research is needed to fully understand the extent and impact of these migrations and cultural exchanges.
What’s next
Future research involving sequencing more ancient genomes in the Altiplano and surrounding areas coudl help pinpoint when Central American populations arrived and how widespread thay became. This will provide a more detailed understanding of the population history and cultural evolution of the region.