Genetic continuity after the collapse of the Wari empire: Mitochondrial DNA profiles from Wari and post‐Wari populations in the ancient Andes

Abstract

The Wari empire flourished in the central, highland Peruvian Andes from AD 600-1000, and although the events that led to its demise are unknown, archaeological evidence indicates that Wari control waned at the end of the first millennium. Here, we test the hypothesis that, despite the major shift in social and political organization at the fall of the Wari empire, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) composition of populations from the Ayacucho Basin, the former imperial heartland of the empire, remained essentially unchanged. Results show that mtDNA haplogroup frequencies among the Wari and post-Wari groups differ, but the difference is not statistically significant (chi2 = 5.886, df = 3, P = 0.1172). This is the first study in the Andes to use haplotypic data to evaluate the observed genetic distance between two temporally distinct prehispanic populations (F(ST) = 0.029) against modeled expectations of four possible evolutionary scenarios. None of these simulations allowed the rejection of continuity. In total, at both the haplogroup and haplotype levels these data do not allow us to reject the hypothesis that post-Wari individuals sampled in this study are the maternal descendants of those sampled from the Wari era site of Conchopata. However, genetic homogeneity in the mitochondrial gene pool, as seen in the late prehispanic southern Andes, may also characterize our study region. But, prior to this research, this was unknown. If our new data show mtDNA homogeneity, then this could limit the detection of female migration if, in fact, it occurred. Nonetheless, the novel mtDNA data presented here currently do not support the hypothesis that there was an influx of genetically distinct females into the former Wari heartland after the Wari collapse.

Diachronic Investigations of Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosomal Genetic Markers in Pre-Columbian Andean Highlanders from South Peru

“…Comparative haplogroup frequency and sequence data were obtained from contemporary populations (Ward et al, 1996;Moraga et al, 2000;Williams et al, 2002;Fuselli et al, 2003;Lewis et al, 2005Lewis et al, , 2007bCabana et al, 2006;Melton et al, 2007) and pre-Columbian populations (Shimada et al, 2004;Shinoda et al, 2006;Lewis et al, 2007a;Kemp et al, 2009;Carnese et al, 2010;Fehren-Schmitz et al, 2010). To compare mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, we employed a correspondence analysis using Statistica 8 (StatSoft, Hamburg, Germany).…”

“…For South America the number of palaeogenetic studies is still small. Only recently there has been an increased interest in studies of pre-Columbian Central Andean populations from the coast (Shimada et al, 2004;Moraga et al, 2005;FehrenSchmitz et al, 2009FehrenSchmitz et al, , 2010 and the highlands (Shinoda et al, 2006;Lewis et al, 2007a;Kemp et al, 2009;Carnese et al, 2010).…”

“…With the Late Intermediate Period more locally restricted cultural groups with varying social complexity arose (1000-1400) altering the relation and spatial dominancy between coast and highlands and probably the directions and intensity of human mobility and therewith gene flow. However, recent palaeogenetic investigations on highland populations suggest genetic continuity in the Central Andean highlands at the latest from the MH on (Lewis et al, 2007a;Kemp et al, 2009). Considering the distinctness of the earlier pre-Columbian coastal and highland populations it can be assumed that if there were any significant population biological changes resulting from the cultural interactions of the main cultural domains they would have left their imprint in the direct fringe area of both major cultural zones.…”

Genetic analysis of paleo-colombians from Nemocón, Cundinamarca provides insights on the early peopling of northwestern South America

“…The advantage of these markers is that no molecular cloning is required, but the consensus sequence from overlapping sequences can be determined (Winters, et al 2011). These primers have been successfully implemented on human skeletal remains from different periods including Paleo-Americans (Kemp, et al 2007(Kemp, et al , 2009 At Universidad de los Andes-Bogotá, PCR reactions were adjusted to 25µl, using Bioline ® reagents. An enhancer was not required, and Dimethyl sulfoxide-DMSO (Sigma ® ) was used instead of BSA.…”

“…Tajima Africans ( (Table 1), a success rate of 54.54% (Manríquez, et al 2011). Lower success rates were achieved in a RFLP study ofthe Arroyo Seco 2 site, Argentina (Table 1) [Kemp, et al 2009]. Haplogroups observed in Checua remains, listed from highest to lowest frequency, were: A2 (N = 7), B2 (N = 3), C1 (N = 1) and D4h3a (N = 1) (see Table 2).…”