Increased rate of close-kin unions in the central Andes in the half millennium before European contact

Harald Ringbauer; Matthias Steinrücken; Lars Fehren-Schmitz; David Reich

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.072

Increased rate of close-kin unions in the central Andes in the half millennium before European contact

Curr Biol. 2020 Sep 7;30(17):R980-R981. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.072.

Authors

Harald Ringbauer¹, Matthias Steinrücken², Lars Fehren-Schmitz³, David Reich⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Dept. of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
² Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
³ UCSC Paleogenomics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; UCSC Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁴ Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Dept. of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: reich@genetics.med.harvard.edu.

PMID: 32898493
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.072

Abstract

Analyzing ancient DNA of the central Andes, Ringbauer and colleagues identify a markedly elevated rate of unions of closely related parents after ca. 1000 CE. This change of mating preferences sheds new light on a unique system of social organization based on ancestry ("ayllu") whereby within-group unions were preferred to facilitate sharing of resources.

Publication types

Historical Article
Letter

MeSH terms

DNA, Ancient / analysis*
History, Ancient
History, Medieval
Humans
Inbreeding / history*
Inbreeding / methods*
Reproduction*
South America

Substances

DNA, Ancient