Origins of the Austro‐Asiatic Populations

Abstract

The Austro‐Asiatic linguistic family, which is considered to be the oldest of all the families in South Asia, has substantial presence in Southeast Asia. The origin and expansion of the Austro‐Asiatic populations have been a contentious issue and so far there has been no formidable archaeological or linguistic evidence in favour of any of the hypotheses suggested. In recent years there has been a couple of genetic studies assessing the genetic unity, history and migration of Austro‐Asiatic groups. In this article we examine different hypotheses, based on both the genetic and nongenetic evidences. We infer a common paternal origin of Austro‐Asiatics and the migration of paternal ancestors of Austro‐Asiatic populations from East to South Asia, followed by the origin of Austro‐Asiatic languages which subsequently spread to Southeast Asia, with primarily male‐mediated migrations.