美国哈佛医学院Mark Lipson等研究人员报道了非洲人口史背景下的古代西非觅食者。2020年1月22日，《自然》在线发表了这一最新研究成果。

研究人员报告了来自四个孩子的全基因组DNA数据，其中两个是大约8000年前被埋葬的，另一个是两个3000年前被埋葬的孩子。它们来自班图语族可能的家园中最早已知考古遗址之一喀麦隆。一个人携带了非常不同的Y染色体单倍体A00，今天几乎只在同一区域发现。但是，所有这四个人的全基因组血统谱与当今中非西部狩猎者和采集者的谱系最为相似，这意味着当今喀麦隆西部的人口以及非洲大陆的班图语使用者基本上不是这四个人所代表的人口。研究人员推断出一种非洲范围内的系统发育树，其特征是广泛的混合和三个突出的辐射，其中一个辐射至少引起了现代人类历史上至少四个主要世系的发展。

研究人员表示，我们对撒哈拉以南非洲古代人口结构的了解仍然很有限，尤其是在粮食生产出现之前。

附：英文原文

Author: Mark Lipson, Isabelle Ribot, Swapan Mallick, Nadin Rohland, Iigo Olalde, Nicole Adamski, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Ann Marie Lawson, Saioa Lpez, Jonas Oppenheimer, Kristin Stewardson, Raymond Nebaane Asombang, Herv Bocherens, Neil Bradman, Brendan J. Culleton, Els Cornelissen, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Pierre de Maret, Forka Leypey Mathew Fomine, Philippe Lavachery, Christophe Mbida Mindzie, Rosine Orban, Elizabeth Sawchuk, Patrick Semal, Mark G. Thomas, Wim Van Neer, Krishna R. Veeramah, Douglas J. Kennett, Nick Patterson, Garrett Hellenthal, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Scott MacEachern, Mary E. Prendergast, David Reich

Issue&Volume: 2020-01-22

Abstract: Our knowledge of ancient human population structure in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly prior to the advent of food production, remains limited. Here we report genome-wide DNA data from four children—two of whom were buried approximately 8,000 years ago and two 3,000 years ago—from Shum Laka (Cameroon), one of the earliest known archaeological sites within the probable homeland of the Bantu language group1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. One individual carried the deeply divergent Y chromosome haplogroup A00, which today is found almost exclusively in the same region12,13. However, the genome-wide ancestry profiles of all four individuals are most similar to those of present-day hunter-gatherers from western Central Africa, which implies that populations in western Cameroon today—as well as speakers of Bantu languages from across the continent—are not descended substantially from the population represented by these four people. We infer an Africa-wide phylogeny that features widespread admixture and three prominent radiations, including one that gave rise to at least four major lineages deep in the history of modern humans.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1929-1

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1929-1