Ancient DNA from Uruguay Gives a Glimpse of South America's 'Lost' Indigenous People

Genetic sequencing carried out from the DNA of ancient Uruguay people revealed a glimpse of South America's missing history. According to the new study, the findings suggest that the population of these indigenous groups was more abundant than we first thought.

The 'lost' people from the southern regions were well-populated by functioning communities before the raids orchestrated by the European empires demolished the heritage of the population.

The study was made possible through the collaboration of scholars from Atlanta's Emory University and the Uruguay's University of the Republic.

Diverse Migration in Ancient South America

Emory's anthropology specialist and co-author of the study John Lindo explained in the institute's press release that their team presents a larger perspective of the missing indigenous people of Uruguay that was not included in history books and ancestry exhibits of South America.

The findings show a snapshot of the unknown multi-regional diversity of the south that contrasts the popular belief of a single Native American race throughout the western continent, Lindo continued.

The investigation was carried out through the DNA samples extracted from a man that was estimated to live 8,000 years ago and a separate ancient woman that dates back 1,500 years ago. Both of the remains are theorized to have lived among the missing indigenous population of the Americas prior to the arrival of the famous colonizer Christopher Columbus back in 1492.

The genome samples were collected from an archaeological site located in Uruguay's eastern region with the help of the University of the Republic's biological anthropology expert and the study's co-author Gonzalo Figueiro.

The genetic sequencing revealed that the people's codes had surprising links to the ancient remains in the country of Brazil and Panama, but was not related to the modern DNAs of Amazonians, Science Alert reports.

Missing Indigenous People of the South

The scattered connection between these populations supports the numerous archaeological theories in which there were separate and massive migrations across the south. These theories also discuss the mystery of how the Amazonian populations today were produced through the mass movements, as well as the unknown origins of the groups on the eastern coasts of America.

Lindo said that the genome information their team discovered is a potentially larger piece that completes the previous theories on South America and proves that these speculations might actually be true.

If the theory is correct, the study would contradict the separate guess in which a single migration simply scattered from the Andes, Lindos added.

One of the ancient settlements that resulted from these migrations and prevailed for approximately 10,000 years was modern-day Uruguay, located near Brazil's Atlantic coast. The existence of indigenous people living in these regions was much earlier when compared to their initial contact with the Europeans in 1500.

At around 1800, the ancient settlers of the Americas were closely pulverized by separate accounts of massacres, and these campaigns resulted in the disappearance of many ethnic groups missing up to this date.

The study was published in the journal PNAS Nexus, titled "The genomic prehistory of the indigenous peoples of Uruguay."

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