Ancient genomes from the Himalayas illuminate the genetic history of Tibetans and their Tibeto-Burman speaking neighbors.

Present-day Tibetans have adapted both genetically and culturally to the high altitude environment of the Tibetan Plateau, but fundamental questions about their origins remain unanswered. Recent archaeological and genetic research suggests the presence of an early population on the Plateau within the past 40 thousand years, followed by the arrival of subsequent groups within the past 10 thousand years. Here, we obtain new genome-wide data for 33 ancient individuals from high elevation sites on the southern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau in Nepal, who we show are most closely related to present-day Tibetans. They derive most of their ancestry from groups related to Late Neolithic populations at the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau but also harbor a minor genetic component from a distinct and deep Paleolithic Eurasian ancestry. In contrast to their Tibetan neighbors, present-day non-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman speakers living at mid-elevations along the southern and eastern margins of the Plateau form a genetic cline that reflects a distinct genetic history. Finally, a comparison between ancient and present-day highlanders confirms ongoing positive selection of high altitude adaptive alleles.

Late Archaic-Early Formative period microbotanical evidence for potato at Jiskairumoko in the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru.

The data presented in this paper provide direct microbotanical evidence concerning the early use of potato (Solanum tuberosum) within its botanical locus of origin in the high south-central Andes. The data derive from Jiskairumoko, an early village site in the western Titicaca Basin dating to the Late Archaic to Early Formative periods (∼3,400 cal y BC to 1,600 cal y BC). Because the site reflects the transition to sedentism and food production, these data may relate to potato domestication and early cultivation. Of 141 starch microremains recovered from 14 groundstone tools from Jiskairumoko, 50 are identified as consistent with cultivated or domesticated potato, based on reference to published materials and a study of wild and cultivated potato starch morphology. Along with macro- and microbotanical evidence for chenopod consumption and grinding tool data reflecting intensive use of this technology throughout site occupation, the microbotanical data reported here suggest the intensive exploitation, if not cultivation, of plant resources at Jiskairumoko. Elucidating the details of the trajectory of potato domestication is necessary for an overall understanding of the development of highland Andean agriculture, as this crop is central to the autochthonous agricultural suite. A paucity of direct botanical evidence, however, has hindered research efforts. The results of the modern and archaeological starch analyses presented here underscore the utility of this method in addressing questions related to the timing, mode, and context of potato origins.

Peopling the Tibetan plateau: insights from archaeology.

Recent studies of the genome of modern Tibetans have revealed the existence of genes thought to provide an adaptive advantage for life at high elevation. Extrapolating from this discovery, some researchers now argue that a Tibetan-Han split occurred no more than 2750 yr ago. This date is implausible, and in this paper I review the archaeological data from the Tibetan plateau as one means by which to examine the veracity of this assertion. Following a review of the general state of knowledge of Tibetan prehistory, which is unfortunately only at its beginnings, I first examine the data that speak to the initial peopling of the plateau and assess the evidence that traces of their presence can be seen in modern Tibetans today. Although the data are sparse, both archaeology and genetics suggest that the plateau was occupied in the Late Pleistocene, perhaps as early as 30,000 yr ago, and that these early peoples have left a genetic signature in modern Tibetans. I then turn to the evidence for later migrations and focus on the question of the timing of the establishment of permanent settled villages on the plateau. Three areas of the plateau-northeastern Qinghai, extreme eastern Tibet, and the Yarlung Tsangpo valley-have evidence of permanent settlements dating from ca. 6500, 5900, and 3750 yr ago, respectively. These data are not consonant with the 2750 yr ago date for the split and suggest at a minimum that the plateau has been occupied substantially longer and, further, that multiple migrations at different times and from different places have created a complex mosaic of population history.