Ancient DNA reveals a multistep spread of the first herders into sub-Saharan Africa

Mary E Prendergast; Mark Lipson; Elizabeth A Sawchuk; Iñigo Olalde; Christine A Ogola; Nadin Rohland; Kendra A Sirak; Nicole Adamski; Rebecca Bernardos; Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht; Kimberly Callan; Brendan J Culleton; Laurie Eccles; Thomas K Harper; Ann Marie Lawson; Matthew Mah; Jonas Oppenheimer; Kristin Stewardson; Fatma Zalzala; Stanley H Ambrose; George Ayodo; Henry Louis Gates Jr; Agness O Gidna; Maggie Katongo; Amandus Kwekason; Audax Z P Mabulla; George S Mudenda; Emmanuel K Ndiema; Charles Nelson; Peter Robertshaw; Douglas J Kennett; Fredrick K Manthi; David Reich

doi:10.1126/science.aaw6275

Ancient DNA reveals a multistep spread of the first herders into sub-Saharan Africa

Science. 2019 Jul 5;365(6448):eaaw6275. doi: 10.1126/science.aaw6275. Epub 2019 May 30.

Authors

Mary E Prendergast^{1

2}, Mark Lipson³, Elizabeth A Sawchuk⁴, Iñigo Olalde², Christine A Ogola⁵, Nadin Rohland², Kendra A Sirak², Nicole Adamski^{2

6}, Rebecca Bernardos², Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht^{2

6}, Kimberly Callan^{2

6}, Brendan J Culleton⁷, Laurie Eccles⁸, Thomas K Harper⁸, Ann Marie Lawson^{2

6}, Matthew Mah^{2

6

9}, Jonas Oppenheimer^{2

6}, Kristin Stewardson^{2

6}, Fatma Zalzala^{2

6}, Stanley H Ambrose¹⁰, George Ayodo¹¹, Henry Louis Gates Jr¹², Agness O Gidna¹³, Maggie Katongo¹⁴, Amandus Kwekason¹³, Audax Z P Mabulla¹³, George S Mudenda¹⁴, Emmanuel K Ndiema⁵, Charles Nelson¹⁵, Peter Robertshaw¹⁶, Douglas J Kennett¹⁷, Fredrick K Manthi⁵, David Reich^{3

6

9}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Humanities, Saint Louis University, 28003 Madrid, Spain. mary.prendergast@slu.edu mlipson@genetics.med.harvard.edu elizabeth.sawchuk@stonybrook.edu reich@genetics.med.harvard.edu.
² Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
³ Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. mary.prendergast@slu.edu mlipson@genetics.med.harvard.edu elizabeth.sawchuk@stonybrook.edu reich@genetics.med.harvard.edu.
⁴ Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11790, USA. mary.prendergast@slu.edu mlipson@genetics.med.harvard.edu elizabeth.sawchuk@stonybrook.edu reich@genetics.med.harvard.edu.
⁵ Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁶ Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁷ Institutes for Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁸ Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁹ Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
¹¹ Department of Public and Community Health, School of Health Sciences, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya.
¹² Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
¹³ National Museums of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
¹⁴ Livingstone Museum, Livingstone, Zambia.
¹⁵ Academy for Lifelong Learning, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Anthropology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

Abstract

How food production first entered eastern Africa ~5000 years ago and the extent to which people moved with livestock is unclear. We present genome-wide data from 41 individuals associated with Later Stone Age, Pastoral Neolithic (PN), and Iron Age contexts in what are now Kenya and Tanzania to examine the genetic impacts of the spreads of herding and farming. Our results support a multiphase model in which admixture between northeastern African-related peoples and eastern African foragers formed multiple pastoralist groups, including a genetically homogeneous PN cluster. Additional admixture with northeastern and western African-related groups occurred by the Iron Age. These findings support several movements of food producers while rejecting models of minimal admixture with foragers and of genetic differentiation between makers of distinct PN artifacts.

Publication types

Historical Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Agriculture / history*
DNA, Ancient
Genome, Human*
History, Ancient
Human Migration / history*
Humans
Kenya
Occupations / history*
Tanzania

Substances

DNA, Ancient

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding