The prehistoric peopling of Southeast Asia

2018/07/05 by Hugh McColl, Fernando Racimo, Lasse Vinner +63 · 8 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Prehistory #Southeast asia #Geography #Archaeology #Ancient history #History

paper · doi:10.1126/science.aat3628

openalex publication_date 2018/07/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Ancient migrations in Southeast Asia The past movements and peopling of Southeast Asia have been poorly represented in ancient DNA studies (see the Perspective by Bellwood). Lipson et al. generated sequences from people inhabiting Southeast Asia from about 1700 to 4100 years ago. Screening of more than a hundred individuals from five sites yielded ancient DNA from 18 individuals. Comparisons with present-day populations suggest two waves of mixing between resident populations. The first mix was between local hunter-gatherers and incoming farmers associated with the Neolithic spreading from South China. A second event resulted in an additional pulse of genetic material from China to Southeast Asia associated with a Bronze Age migration. McColl et al. sequenced 26 ancient genomes from Southeast Asia and Japan spanning from the late Neolithic to the Iron Age. They found that present-day populations are the result of mixing among four ancient populations, including multiple waves of genetic material from more northern East Asian populations. Science , this issue p. 92 , p. 88 ; see also p. 31

Citations

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• Austronesian languages [wikipedia]
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