Ancient DNA reveals five streams of migration into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers

Yue Chen Liu*, Rosalind Hunter-Anderson*, Olivia Cheronet, Joanne Eakin, Frank Camacho, Michael Pietrusewsky, Nadin Rohland, Alexander Ioannidis, J. Stephen Athens, Michele Toomay Douglas, Rona Michi Ikehara-Quebral, Rebecca Bernardos, Brendan J. Culleton, Matthew Mah, Nicole Adamski, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Kimberly Callan, Ann Marie Lawson, Kirsten Mandl, Megan MichelJonas Oppenheimer, Kristin Stewardson, Fatma Zalzala, Kenneth Kidd, Judith Kidd, Theodore G. Schurr, Kathryn Auckland, Adrian V.S. Hill, Alexander J. Mentzer, Consuelo D. Quinto-Cortés, Kathryn Robson, Douglas J. Kennett, Nick Patterson, Carlos D. Bustamante, Andrés Moreno-Estrada, Matthew Spriggs, Miguel Vilar, Mark Lipson, Ron Pinhasi*, David Reich*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    13 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Micronesia began to be peopled earlier than other parts of Remote Oceania, but the origins of its inhabitants remain unclear. We generated genome-wide data from 164 ancient and 112 modern individuals. Analysis reveals five migratory streams into Micronesia. Three are East Asian related, one is Polynesian, and a fifth is a Papuan source related to mainland New Guineans that is different from the New Britain–related Papuan source for southwest Pacific populations but is similarly derived from male migrants ~2500 to 2000 years ago. People of the Mariana Archipelago may derive all of their precolonial ancestry from East Asian sources, making them the only Remote Oceanians without Papuan ancestry. Female-inherited mitochondrial DNA was highly differentiated across early Remote Oceanian communities but homogeneous within, implying matrilocal practices whereby women almost never raised their children in communities different from the ones in which they grew up.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)72-79
    Number of pages8
    JournalScience
    Volume377
    Issue number6601
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2022

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