SHOCKING: Scientists discover mysterious 6000-year-old human DNA in..., holds unique...

In a major archaeological discovery, scientists have found that ancient human skeletons unearthed in the Bogotá Altiplano in central Colombia belong to a previously unknown population. These remains, dating from 6,000 to 500 years ago, do not match any known ancient or modern human groups from the region. The research, published in the journal Science Advances in May, involved genetic analysis of 21 individuals. The team discovered that some of these people came from a distinct genetic lineage that has not been seen in any other Central or South American populations so far. In earlier studies, scientists had identified two main Native American lineages, northern and southern. These lineages formed as people moved south after arriving in the Americas from Siberia. The southern lineage has at least three subgroups, but scientists still don’t know exactly when or how people moved from Central America into South America.

What makes this study special is that it shows the hunter-gatherers who lived in Colombia around 6,000 years ago were genetically different from others. The researchers found that these individuals did not share ancestry with the Anzick-1 genome from Clovis culture or with ancient people from California’s Channel Islands.

One sample, called Colombia_Checua_6000BP, was found to represent a completely unique branch of human lineage that likely came from the early migration waves into South America.

Andrea Casas Vargas, a researcher from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and one of the study’s authors, told CNN that the team was “very surprised” by the results. “We did not expect to find a lineage that had not been reported before,” she said.

Kim-Louise Krettek, the lead author and a PhD student at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution in Germany, said that this area of Colombia is a key location for understanding how the Americas were first settled. It was once a land bridge and cultural meeting point for Mesoamerica, the Andes, and the Amazon.

This is also the first time complete genomes have been sequenced from ancient human remains in Colombia, making the study even more significant. Vargas said the findings raise many questions, like where this mysterious population came from, and what happened to them.

Andrea Casas Vargas stated, “Maybe they disappeared because of climate changes or were replaced by other groups”. She added further, “We hope future research can help us find out.”