SummaryWe report genome-wide ancient DNA from 49 individuals forming four parallel time transects in Belize, Brazil, the Central Andes, and the Southern Cone, each dating to at least ∼9,000 years ago. The common ancestral population radiated rapidly from just one of the two early branches that contributed to Native Americans today. We document two previously unappreciated streams of gene flow between North and South America. One affected the Central Andes by ∼4,200 years ago, while the other explains an affinity between the oldest North American genome associated with the Clovis culture and the oldest Central and South Americans from Chile, Brazil, and Belize. However, this was not the primary source for later South Americans, as the other ancient individuals derive from lineages without specific affinity to the Clovis-associated genome, suggesting a population replacement that began at least 9,000 years ago and was followed by substantial population continuity in multiple regions.

Native American population history is reexamined using a large data set of pre-Columbian mitochondrial genomes.

ResumenEn las últimas dos décadas se ha producido un incremento notable de la información arqueológica sobre las Tierras Bajas sudamericanas. No obstante, el mapa arqueológico de este área sigue contando con algunos vacíos importantes para conocer las particularidades del registro en cada región específica y muchas regiones están aún poco estudiadas. Uno de estos vacíos corresponde al Delta del río Paraná, que en los últimos años ha empezado a ser objeto de investigaciones sistemáticas. En este artículo se realiza una revisión crítica del estado actual de las investigaciones en el Delta del Paraná y se sintetiza la evidencia obtenida en las nuevas investigaciones efectuadas por los autores en el Delta Superior. Se discuten además los patrones de uso del espacio deltaico durante el Holoceno Tardío. En este contexto, se aborda el desarrollo de la arquitectura en tierra en el marco de una perspectiva suprarregional y comparada, integrando en la discusión otros casos de áreas vecinas (Uruguay y sur de Brasil) en los que la ocupación intensiva de tierras bajas condujo a la construcción de montículos (localmente denominados cerritos). Finalmente se exploran las evidencias arqueológicas e históricas que sugieren cierto grado de desigualdad social entre las poblaciones humanas del Delta del Paraná.

Summary There are many unanswered questions about the population history of the Central and South Central Andes, particularly regarding the impact of large-scale societies, such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Inca. We assembled genome-wide data on 89 individuals dating from ∼9,000-500 years ago (BP), with a particular focus on the period of the rise and fall of state societies. Today’s genetic structure began to develop by 5,800 BP, followed by bi-directional gene flow between the North and South Highlands, and between the Highlands and Coast. We detect minimal admixture among neighboring groups between ∼2,000–500 BP, although we do detect cosmopolitanism (people of diverse ancestries living side-by-side) in the heartlands of the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. We also highlight cases of long-range mobility connecting the Andes to Argentina and the Northwest Andes to the Amazon Basin. Video Abstract