Ancient DNA and the Early Population History of Western South America: What Have We Learned So Far and Where Do We Go From Here

Abstract

Even though the analysis of DNA from archaeological bone comes with some major limitations, it constitutes the most directmeans of investigating prehistoric population dynamics. The interdisciplinary contextualization of genetic data with the archaeological and palaeoecological record helps to reconstruct past population histories and the demography of ancient populations. For South America, palaeogenetic studies have become increasingly important. Here we review the existing ancient DNA data from pre-Columbian individuals to assess their potential to contribute to our understanding of early South American population history. The spatial and temporal distribution of ancient South American populations analysed to date is very uneven and the data resolution of the analysed genetic markers is low. Nevertheless, the data suggest that there were population dynamic processes accompanying cultural development in Western South America. With the new methodologies and better sampling strategies employed in current paleogenetic projects and more effective interdisciplinary cooperations it will be soon possible to achieve a better understanding of the peopling of the continent and the succeeding population history.