An ancient and previously unknown population has been identified in the highlands of Colombia, revealing a genetic lineage unlike any other in the Americas.
The study, published this week in Science Advances, analyzed ancient DNA from 21 individuals who lived in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense region near Bogotá. These individuals lived between 6,000 and 500 years ago, spanning several major cultural periods in South American history.
Researchers found that one group, dating back 6,000 years, carried a genetic signature unlike any known ancient or modern populations in the Americas. This early group does not show close genetic ties to Native American populations in North America or to those in Central and South America.
Instead, the DNA reveals a previously unknown lineage that likely branched off during the earliest settlement of the continent.
The discovery challenges earlier models of human migration, which suggested that early populations in Colombia descended from groups that gradually moved south from North America. But the ancient people found in this study appear to have followed a different path.
Scientists say this group may have arrived during the initial human expansion into South America but remained isolated for thousands of years.
Roughly 4,000 years ago, this ancient lineage disappeared. Their genetic profile was replaced by a new population, likely linked to migrations from Lower Central America.
Researchers believe this change coincides with the arrival of pottery and farming techniques, marking a major cultural and genetic shift in the region.
The incoming group carried ancestry associated with people who spoke Chibchan languages, still spoken today in parts of Central and South America. The study shows that this ancestry remained stable in the region for over 1,500 years, through the Herrera and Muisca periods, and up to the time of Spanish colonization.
A recent study titled “From North Asia to South America: Tracing the longest human dispersal,” published in Science, offers a comprehensive genetic investigation into one of the most remarkable migrations in human prehistory—the peopling of America. This research sheds new light… pic.twitter.com/kEtKslWWrq
— Archaeo – Histories (@archeohistories) May 29, 2025
This area served as “the gateway to the South American continent,” said Andrea Casas-Vargas, a researcher at the National University of Colombia and one of the study’s authors.
DNA evidence also links the Muisca people, who lived in the region during the last 1,000 years, to these earlier Chibchan-speaking groups.
The findings suggest that Chibchan languages may have been spoken on the Altiplano centuries before the Muisca civilization rose to prominence.
While the study offers new clarity on Colombia’s ancient populations, researchers say more work is needed. Genetic data from nearby regions such as western Venezuela and Ecuador could help determine whether similar shifts occurred elsewhere in the northern Andes.
The discovery highlights how ancient DNA continues to reshape the understanding of human history in the Americas, especially at the crucial crossroads where two continents meet.
