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Ancient DNA uncovers past migrations in California

Genomic data from ancient humans who lived up to 7,400 years ago, sampled from across California and Mexico, unveil patterns of migration that could explain how some Indigenous languages spread in parts of North America.
  1. Alan Izarraras-Gomez

    1. Alan Izarraras-Gomez is in the International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Querétaro, 76230, Mexico.

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  2. Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo

    1. Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo is in the International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Querétaro, 76230, Mexico.

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Migration and the sharing of cultural information between generations and groups have contributed to the proliferation of languages around the world. Before the arrival of the first European colonizers in the sixteenth century, the region that now encompasses California harboured a huge diversity of Indigenous languages. Writing in Nature, Nakatsuka et al.1 report the analysis of ancient DNA sampled from individuals in locations that now belong to northwest Mexico, Baja California (a Mexican peninsula) and California (Fig. 1) — work that sheds light on the movement of people and languages, as well as other characteristics of Indigenous populations, in this part of the world.

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Nature 624, 43-44 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03503-7

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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