Why 100% of Colombia's First Hunters Disappeared

Описание: In 2025, geneticists extracted DNA from the Checua archaeological site in Colombia's Altiplano and discovered something shocking: these 6,000-year-old hunter-gatherers left zero living descendants. Complete genetic discontinuity. 100% population replacement.

Kim-Louise Krettek and Cosimo Posth from University of Tübingen sequenced ancient genomes from Checua site in Nemocón, Colombia. The Checua people hunted white-tailed deer, raised Cavia porcellus guinea pigs, and buried their dead with bone flutes dating to 7,800 years before present.

Their mitochondrial DNA showed haplogroups B2d, A2, C1, and D1. Y-chromosome analysis revealed Q1b1a lineage. But here's what stunned researchers: elevated runs of homozygosity indicated a small, isolated population living on the edge of survival.

Andrea Casas-Vargas from Universidad Nacional de Colombia confirmed what the DNA revealed - around 2,000 years ago, Central American migrants with Herrera period ceramics and Chibchan language completely replaced the Checua lineage. Not a single Checua gene survived in later Muisca culture populations.

Ana María Groot excavated Checua site from 1991-1992, discovering 1,750 lithic tools, 2,820 stone flakes, and deliberate burials spanning 8,200 to 5,100 BP. The hill overlooked salt deposits at Nemocón, Zipaquirá, and Tausa that later became the economic foundation for ceramic salt-extraction using gachas vessels.

This Science Advances study (May 30, 2025) represents Colombia's first ancient human genomes. The research team consulted with Guardia Indígena Muisca about cultural identity implications.

What caused an entire population to vanish without leaving genetic descendants? The petrous bone and dental pulp analysis revealed a population vulnerable to disease, climate change, and demographic collapse. Identity by descent patterns showed their effective population size was significantly smaller than later Colombian populations.

The Checua people existed. Then they disappeared. Completely. This is their story.

#Archaeology #AncientDNA #Checua #Colombia #FirstAmericans #GeneticDiscontinuity #PopulationReplacement #HunterGatherers #Altiplano #Paleogenetics #Nemocon #MitochondrialDNA #AncientGenomes #MuiscaCulture #ChibchanLanguage #PreColombian #SouthAmerica #ArchaeologyDiscovery #Documentary #ScienceHistory