Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Kathrin Nägele
  • Cosimo Posth
  • Yadira Chinique de Armas
  • Silvia Teresita Hernandez Godoy
  • Ulises M. González Herrera
  • Maria A. Nieves-Colon
  • Rita Radzeviciute
  • Jason Laffoon
  • William J. Pestle
  • Thiseas C. Lamnidis
  • William C. Schaffer
  • Robert S. Carr
  • Jane S. Day
  • Carlos Arredondo Antunez
  • Armando Rangel Rivero
  • Antonio J. Martinez-Fuentes
  • Edwin Crespo-Torres
  • Ivan Roksandic
  • Anne C. Stone
  • Carles Lalueza-Fox
  • Menno Hoogland
  • Mirjana Roksandic
  • Corinne L. Hofman
  • Johannes Krause

The Caribbean was one of the last regions of the Americas to be settled by humans, but where they came from and how and when they reached the islands remain unclear. We generated genome-wide data for 93 ancient Caribbean islanders dating between 3200 and 400 calibrated years before the present and found evidence of at least three separate dispersals into the region, including two early dispersals into the Western Caribbean, one of which seems connected to radiation events in North America. This was followed by a later expansion from South America. We also detected genetic differences between the early settlers and the newcomers from South America, with almost no evidence of admixture. Our results add to our understanding of the initial peopling of the Caribbean and the movements of Archaic Age peoples in the Americas.

Original languageEnglish
JournalScience
Volume369
Issue number6502
Pages (from-to)456-460
ISSN0036-8075
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, CANIMAR ABAJO, RADIOCARBON, POPULATION, ANCESTRY, CLASSIFICATION, EXTRACTION, CHRONOLOGY, SEQUENCE, MATANZAS

ID: 248893542