Gene Study Reveals Unknown Human Migration Into South America as Late as 720 AD

A groundbreaking genomic study, published in the prestigious journal *Nature*, has rewritten a chapter of human history, revealing a significant and previously unknown migration into South America as late as 1,300 years ago. This discovery, made by an international team including scientists from the University of Sao Paulo and Spain's Spanish National Research Council, pushes back against established timelines and suggests a far more intricate tapestry of human settlement in the Americas than previously understood. The migrants carried genetic markers remarkably similar to Indigenous groups from Australia and the Pacific Islands, a finding that challenges conventional models. While the precise origin remains elusive, the study points to an ancient 'ghost population' that contributed to the genetic makeup of modern South Americans. This research, conducted during China's Tang dynasty, underscores the vast, interconnected movements of peoples across the globe in antiquity. For us in South America, this study is particularly resonant, offering new perspectives on our own deep heritage and the complex journeys that shaped our continent's first inhabitants. It highlights how much we still have to learn about the ancient world and the diverse origins of its peoples.

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These new settlers carried genes remarkably similar to Indigenous populations in what is now Australia and the Pacific Islands, according to the study published online by the journal Nature on April 22.