Southern African ancient genomes estimate modern human divergence to 350,000 to 260,000 years ago

TLDR

The study aims to provide high‑coverage ancient genomes from seven individuals in KwaZulu‑Natal to investigate the role of southern Africa in the evolution of Homo sapiens. The authors sequenced seven ancient genomes from KwaZulu‑Natal and applied both traditional and novel analytical methods to estimate the earliest modern human population divergence. The study found that Stone Age hunter‑gatherers resembled modern San, Iron.

Abstract

Southern Africa is consistently placed as a potential region for the evolution of Homo sapiens We present genome sequences, up to 13x coverage, from seven ancient individuals from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The remains of three Stone Age hunter-gatherers (about 2000 years old) were genetically similar to current-day southern San groups, and those of four Iron Age farmers (300 to 500 years old) were genetically similar to present-day Bantu-language speakers. We estimate that all modern-day Khoe-San groups have been influenced by 9 to 30% genetic admixture from East Africans/Eurasians. Using traditional and new approaches, we estimate the first modern human population divergence time to between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago. This estimate increases the deepest divergence among modern humans, coinciding with anatomical developments of archaic humans into modern humans, as represented in the local fossil record.