Genetic continuity and change among the Indigenous peoples of California

Nathan Nakatsuka (), Brian Holguin, Jakob Sedig, Paul E. Langenwalter, John Carpenter, Brendan J. Culleton, Cristina García-Moreno, Thomas K. Harper, Debra Martin, Júpiter Martínez-Ramírez, Antonio Porcayo-Michelini, Vera Tiesler, M. Elisa Villapando-Canchola, Alejandro Valdes Herrera, Kim Callan, Elizabeth Curtis, Aisling Kearns, Lora Iliev, Ann Marie Lawson, Matthew Mah, Swapan Mallick, Adam Micco, Megan Michel, J. Noah Workman, Jonas Oppenheimer, Lijun Qiu, Fatma Zalzala, Nadin Rohland, Jose Luis Punzo Diaz, John R. Johnson () and David Reich ()
Additional contact information
Nathan Nakatsuka: Harvard Medical School
Brian Holguin: University of California at Santa Barbara
Jakob Sedig: Harvard University
Paul E. Langenwalter: Biola University
John Carpenter: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Sonora
Brendan J. Culleton: The Pennsylvania State University
Cristina García-Moreno: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Sonora
Thomas K. Harper: The Pennsylvania State University
Debra Martin: University of Nevada
Júpiter Martínez-Ramírez: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Sonora
Antonio Porcayo-Michelini: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Vera Tiesler: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas
M. Elisa Villapando-Canchola: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Sonora
Alejandro Valdes Herrera: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historía
Kim Callan: Harvard Medical School
Elizabeth Curtis: Harvard Medical School
Aisling Kearns: Harvard Medical School
Lora Iliev: Harvard Medical School
Ann Marie Lawson: Harvard Medical School
Matthew Mah: Harvard Medical School
Swapan Mallick: Harvard Medical School
Adam Micco: Harvard Medical School
Megan Michel: Harvard Medical School
J. Noah Workman: Harvard Medical School
Jonas Oppenheimer: Harvard Medical School
Lijun Qiu: Harvard Medical School
Fatma Zalzala: Harvard Medical School
Nadin Rohland: Harvard Medical School
Jose Luis Punzo Diaz: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historía
John R. Johnson: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
David Reich: Harvard Medical School

Nature, 2023, vol. 624, issue 7990, 122-129

Abstract: Abstract Before the colonial period, California harboured more language variation than all of Europe, and linguistic and archaeological analyses have led to many hypotheses to explain this diversity1. We report genome-wide data from 79 ancient individuals from California and 40 ancient individuals from Northern Mexico dating to 7,400–200 years before present (bp). Our analyses document long-term genetic continuity between people living on the Northern Channel Islands of California and the adjacent Santa Barbara mainland coast from 7,400 years bp to modern Chumash groups represented by individuals who lived around 200 years bp. The distinctive genetic lineages that characterize present-day and ancient people from Northwest Mexico increased in frequency in Southern and Central California by 5,200 years bp, providing evidence for northward migrations that are candidates for spreading Uto-Aztecan languages before the dispersal of maize agriculture from Mexico2–4. Individuals from Baja California share more alleles with the earliest individual from Central California in the dataset than with later individuals from Central California, potentially reflecting an earlier linguistic substrate, whose impact on local ancestry was diluted by later migrations from inland regions1,5. After 1,600 years bp, ancient individuals from the Channel Islands lived in communities with effective sizes similar to those in pre-agricultural Caribbean and Patagonia, and smaller than those on the California mainland and in sampled regions of Mexico.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06771-5

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