Mysterious 6000-year-old skeletons with never seen-seen DNA rewrite human history

Archaeologists have discovered 6,000 years old skeletons in Colombia who belonged to a mysterious group of people who could rewrite human history.

The remains, discovered at the old preceramic location of Checua near Bogotá, were from hunter-gatherers whose DNA does not correspond to those of a well-known indigenous population in the region today.

Instead, their genetic characteristics reveal For thousands of years isolated.

By analyzing the old DNA of 21 people who lived in the Bogotá Altiplano between 6,000 and 500 years ago, researchers reconstructed a rare genetic timeline that included nearly six millennia.

The DNA samples, extracted from bones and teeth, show that the oldest individuals in Checua carried a unique ancestral signature that has completely disappeared from the modern gene pool.

Their origins were not only merged with others, but it disappeared completely.

“This area is the key to understand how America was populated,” said Kim-Louise Kettek, main author and a Ph.D. Student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution in Germany.

“It was the land bridge between North and South America and the meeting point of three major cultural regions: Mesoamerica, Amazonia and the Andes.”

From a genetic point of view, these early people were not related to other old groups in South America, as found in Chile or Brazil, nor they shared origin with early North -American populations, including those of the Channel Islands in California.

The study also offers new insights into the so-called Isthmo-Colombian area, a cultural and genetic transition zone that extends from Honduras through Panama and in the northern Andes of Colombia.

“Our results show that the Checua individuals come from the earliest population that spread very quickly and spread in South America,” explains Kim-Louise Kettek, the first author of the study and a Ph.D. Student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution in Germany.

‘We could not find offspring of these early hunter-gatherers of the Colombian high plains, the genes were not passed on.

“That means that there was a complete exchange of the population in the area around Bogotá.”

About 2,000 years ago the genetic landscape of the Bogotá Highlands dramatically changed.

The unique descent in the earliest Checua continues to disappear, replaced by a new population with DNA that is very similar to that of old Panamanians and modern Chibchan-speaking groups in Costa Rica and Panama.

Andrea Casas-Vargas, co-author and researcher at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, said that genetic evidence suggests that the culture that followed in the Altiplano arrived with migrants from Central America.

In addition to technological progress such as ceramics, these migrants probably introduced the Chibchan languages ​​in what is now Colombia.

“Branches of this language family are still spoken in Central America today,” said Casas-Vargas.

She also noted that the full disappearance of the genetic traces of the original population is rare in South America.

“Until now, a strong genetic continuity has been observed in the population of the Andes and the southern cone of South America for a long time and cultural changes,” she said.

These newcomers are connected to Central America and show that the population of the Bogotá Highlands has changed considerably over time.

They brought the Herrera tradition, a culture known for its earthenware and early agriculture. Their descendants helped to shape the Muisha civilization, which dominated the region until the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century.

But the shift did not come with signs of war or invasion. Archaeologists found no proof of violence.

Instead, the change may have gradually come through migration, cultural exchange or marriage.

Over time, the unique DNA of the Checua People faded, diluted and eventually deleted.

Scientists analyzed both mother -dna and wider markers to trace origin. While Checua men wore a common Indian Y-DNA signature (Q1B1A), the rest of their genetic profile showed deep insulation and no link to later populations.

Later groups who lived on the plateau had a stronger ties with Venezuela and Midden -America, which suggests that the region eventually became part of a larger network that stretched over the northern part of the continent.

Although Chibchan languages ​​are still spoken in Costa Rica, Panama and North Colombia, today’s indigenous Colombians do not immediately fall off the Checua or even the early Chibchan-linked Herrera people.

Professor Cosimo Posh emphasized the importance of distinguishing genetics of culture: ‘Questions about history and origin touch a sensitive area of ​​self -perception and identity of the indigenous population.

“The genetic institution may not be seen as the same as cultural identity.”

He added that the research team that deals with the Guardia Indígena Muileisa, the living descendants of the Muile culture in the high plains of Bogotá, to respect and record on the community.

“As scientists who answer questions that are relevant to the indigenous communities in Colombia, we respect and appreciate the wealth on the community -based knowledge.”

This research marks Colombia’s first look at ancient DNA and scientists believe that it is just the beginning.

Many surrounding regions such as West -Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador have never been genetically analyzed. They could keep more indications about the waves of people who have formed the continent.

Scientists say this is just the beginning. Since this marks the first old genomic data set of Colombia, many non -camped and possibly unknown populations can still be hidden underground.

“Old DNA from those areas will be crucial to understand how people migrated to South America,” Kettek said.