BetweenAndes andAmazon: The genetic profile of theArawak‐speakingYanesha

Abstract

The Yanesha are a Peruvian population who inhabit an environment transitional between the Andes and Amazonia. They present cultural traits characteristic of both regions, including in the language they speak: Yanesha belongs to the Arawak language family (which very likely originated in the Amazon/Orinoco lowlands), but has been strongly influenced by Quechua, the most widespread language family of the Andes. Given their location and cultural make-up, the Yanesha make for an ideal case study for investigating language and population dynamics across the Andes-Amazonia divide.In this study, we analyze data from high and mid-altitude Yanesha villages, both Y chromosome (17 STRs and 16 SNPs diagnostic for assigning haplogroups) and mtDNA data (control region sequences and 3 SNPs and one INDEL diagnostic for assigning haplogroups). We uncover sex-biased genetic trends that probably arose in different stages: first, a male-biased gene flow from Andean regions, genetically consistent with highland Quechua-speakers and probably dating back to Inca expansion; and second, traces of European contact consistent with Y chromosome lineages from Italy and Tyrol, in line with historically documented migrations. Most research in the history, archaeology and linguistics of South America has long been characterized by perceptions of a sharp divide between the Andes and Amazonia; our results serve as a clear case-study confirming demographic flows across that 'divide'. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:600-609,

East of the Andes: The genetic profile of the Peruvian Amazon populations

“…The Ashaninka and Yanesha (both affiliated with the Arawak linguistic group) fall closer to the variability of the Andean Quechua and Aymara, if we look at their male contributions. Previous studies have highlighted a genetic signature of Andeans in the Arawak peoples of the Peruvian Amazon (Barbieri et al, ; Sandoval el al., ), and high‐frequency Y microsatellite haplotypes can signal past episodes of high reproductive success of one or more men and their patrilineal descendants (Xue et al, ). Accordingly, we performed a cluster analysis using the software Cluster Generator designed by Balaresque et al () to investigate whether population expansions of Y lineages across the entire South American continent also involved populations from the Amazon rainforest.…”

“…At present, few molecular studies have been conducted on the Peruvian Amazon tribes. Recently, however, Barbieri et al () highlighted some ancient demographic flows across the Andes/Amazon divide using the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome data of the Peruvian Amazon people called the Yanesha. Similarly, other scholars have shown (using noncoding unlinked autosomal loci) that the genetic diversity of some inhabitants of the Peruvian Amazon stems from a subset of the Central‐Andean Quechuas (Scliar et al, ).…”

The genomic landscape of western South America: Andes, Amazonia and Pacific Coast

“…In South America, genetic studies robustly recovered a substantial differentiation between the Andes and Amazonia, which has been framed within a model of large communities connected by gene-flow in the Andes vs. small, isolated communities in Amazonia [13][14][15] . This model builds on evidence for major complex societies in the Andes (culminating with the well-known but short-lived Inca empire) which fostered population movements and connections, counterbalanced by the traditional view of the Amazon basin as the homeland of small, isolated tribes.…”

MtDNA and Y‐chromosomal diversity in the Chachapoya, a population from the northeast Peruvian Andes‐Amazon divide

“…In this study, we have explored the demographic history of a region between two major ecosystems, the Andes and the Amazonian rainforest, by assessing the Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity in the presentday Chachapoya in the northeastern Peruvian cloud forest. To date, very few of these "transitional area" populations have been studied (Barbieri et al, 2014;Corella et al, 2007Corella et al, , 2008Scliar et al, 2014), with these tending to show a complex genetic makeup (Tarazona-Santos et al, 2001). This is the first large scale study of the extant Chachapoya.…”

“…To date, very few of these "transitional area" populations have been studied (Barbieri et al, 2014;Corella et al, 2007Corella et al, , 2008Scliar et al, 2014), with these tending to show a complex genetic makeup (Tarazona-Santos et al, 2001). To date, very few of these "transitional area" populations have been studied (Barbieri et al, 2014;Corella et al, 2007Corella et al, , 2008Scliar et al, 2014), with these tending to show a complex genetic makeup (Tarazona-Santos et al, 2001).…”