Population Turnover in Remote Oceania Shortly After Initial Settlement
Lipson M, Skoglund P, Spriggs M, Valentin F, Bedford S, Shing R, Buckley H, Phillip I, Ward GK, Mallick S, Rohland N, Broomandkhoshbacht N, Cheronet O, Ferry M, Harper TK, Michel M, Oppenheimer J, Sirak K, Stewardson K, Auckland K, Hill AV, Maitland K, Oppenheimer SJ, Parks T, Robson K, Williams TN, Kennett DJ, Mentzer AJ, Pinhasi R, Reich D.
Abstract
45 Ancient DNA analysis of three individuals dated to ~3000 years before present (BP) from Vanuatu 46 and one ~2600 BP individual from Tonga has revealed that the first inhabitants of Remote Oceania 47 (“First Remote Oceanians”) were almost entirely of East Asian ancestry, and thus their ancestors 48 passed New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands with minimal admixture 49 with the Papuan groups they encountered [1]. However, all present-day populations in Near and 50 Remote Oceania harbor 25-100% Papuan ancestry, implying that there must have been at least one 51 later stream of migration eastward from Near Oceania. We generated genome-wide data for 14 52 ancient individuals from Efate and Epi Islands in Vanuatu ranging from 3,000-150 BP, along with 53 185 present-day Vanuatu individuals from 18 islands. We show that people of almost entirely 54 Papuan ancestry had arrived in Vanuatu by 2400 BP, an event that coincided with the end of the 55 Lapita cultural period, changes in skeletal morphology, and the cessation of long-distance trade 56 between Near and Remote Oceania [2]. First Remote Oceanian ancestry subsequently increased via 57 admixture but remains at 10-20% in most islands. Through a fine-grained comparison of ancestry 58 profiles in Vanuatu and Polynesia with diverse groups in Near Oceania, we find that Papuan 59 ancestry in Vanuatu is consistent with deriving from the Bismarck Archipelago instead of the 60 geographically closer Solomon Islands. Papuan ancestry in Polynesia also shows connections to the 61 ancestry profiles present in the Bismarck Archipelago but is more similar to Tolai from New Britain 62 and Tutuba from Vanuatu than to the ancient Vanuatu individuals and the great majority of present- 63 day Vanuatu populations. This suggests a third eastward stream of migration from Near to Remote 64 Oceania bringing a different type of Papuan ancestry. 65 66 Keywords: Near Oceania, Remote Oceania, Pacific Islanders, Lapita, Migration, Ancient DNA 67 68
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