The Australian Barrineans and Their Relationship to Southeast Asian Negritos: An Investigation using Mitochondrial Genomics

The existence of a short-statured Aboriginal population in the Far North Queensland (FNQ) rainforest zone of Australia’s northeast coast and Tasmania has long been an enigma in Australian anthropology. Based on their reduced stature and associated morphological traits such as tightly curled hair, Birdsell and Tindale proposed that these Barrinean peoples were closely related to negrito peoples of Southeast Asia and that their ancestors had been the original Pleistocene settlers of Sahul, eventually displaced by taller invaders. Subsequent craniometric and blood protein studies, however, have suggested an overall homogeneity of indigenous Australians, including Barrineans. To confirm this finding and determine the degree of relatedness between Barrinean people and Southeast Asian negritos, we compared indigenous Australian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in populations from the FNQ rainforest ecozone and Tasmania with sequences from other Australian Aboriginal populations and from Southeast Asian negrito populations (Philippines Batek and Mamanwa, and mainland Southeast Asian Jahai, Mendriq, and Batak). The results confirm that FNQ and Tasmanian mtDNA haplogroups cluster with those of other Australian Aboriginal populations and are only very distantly related to Southeast Asian negrito haplogroups

Giving it a burl: towards the integration of genetics, isotope chemistry, and osteoarchaeology in Cape York, Tropical North Queensland, Australia

In this paper we outline a worked example of the combined use of genetic data and archaeological evidence. The project focuses on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula and has two goals. One is to shed new light on the population history of the region. The other is to develop a methodology to facilitate repatriation of the remains of Aboriginal Australians. After providing some background to the project and outlining its main activities, we summarize our key findings to date. Subsequently, we discuss what the project has taught us about the prehistory of Cape York, the potential for DNA research and isotope chemistry to assist research institutions and Aboriginal communities with the repatriation of unaffiliated remains, and the process of conducting combined genetic and archaeological research.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council; British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund [862-804231,962-805808]; Canada Foundation for Innovation [203808,36801]; Canada Research Chairs Program [228117,231256]; Simon Fraser University

Investigating the origins of eastern Polynesians using genome-wide data from the Leeward Society Isles

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Deep Roots for Aboriginal Australian Y Chromosomes

SummaryAustralia was one of the earliest regions outside Africa to be colonized by fully modern humans, with archaeological evidence for human presence by 47,000 years ago (47 kya) widely accepted [1, 2]. However, the extent of subsequent human entry before the European colonial age is less clear. The dingo reached Australia about 4 kya, indirectly implying human contact, which some have linked to changes in language and stone tool technology to suggest substantial cultural changes at the same time [3]. Genetic data of two kinds have been proposed to support gene flow from the Indian subcontinent to Australia at this time, as well: first, signs of South Asian admixture in Aboriginal Australian genomes have been reported on the basis of genome-wide SNP data [4]; and second, a Y chromosome lineage designated haplogroup C∗, present in both India and Australia, was estimated to have a most recent common ancestor around 5 kya and to have entered Australia from India [5]. Here, we sequence 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes to re-investigate their divergence times from Y chromosomes in other continents, including a comparison of Aboriginal Australian and South Asian haplogroup C chromosomes. We find divergence times dating back to ∼50 kya, thus excluding the Y chromosome as providing evidence for recent gene flow from India into Australia

Giving it a burl: towards the integration of genetics, isotope chemistry, and osteoarchaeology in Cape York, Tropical North Queensland, Australia

In this paper we outline a worked example of the combined use of genetic data and archaeological evidence. The project focuses on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula and has two goals. One is to shed new light on the population history of the region. The other is to develop a methodology to facilitate repatriation of the remains of Aboriginal Australians. After providing some background to the project and outlining its main activities, we summarize our key findings to date. Subsequently, we discuss what the project has taught us about the prehistory of Cape York, the potential for DNA research and isotope chemistry to assist research institutions and Aboriginal communities with the repatriation of unaffiliated remains, and the process of conducting combined genetic and archaeological research

Antiquity and diversity of aboriginal Australian Y-chromosomes

Objective: Understanding the origins of Aboriginal Australians is crucial in reconstructing the evolution and spread of Homo sapiens as evidence suggests they represent the descendants of the earliest group to leave Africa. This study analyzed a large sample of Y‐chromosomes to answer questions relating to the migration routes of their ancestors, the age of Y‐haplogroups, date of colonization, as well as the extent of male‐specific variation. Methods: Knowledge of Y‐chromosome variation among Aboriginal Australians is extremely limited. This study examined Y‐SNP and Y‐STR variation among 657 self‐declared Aboriginal males from locations across the continent. 17 Y‐STR loci and 47 Y‐SNPs spanning the Y‐chromosome phylogeny were typed in total. Results: The proportion of non‐indigenous Y‐chromosomes of assumed Eurasian origin was high, at 56%. Y lineages of indigenous Sahul origin belonged to haplogroups C‐M130*(xM8,M38,M217,M347) (1%), C‐M347 (19%), K‐M526*(xM147,P308,P79,P261,P256,M231,M175,M45,P202) (12%), S‐P308 (12%), and M‐M186 (0.9%). Haplogroups C‐M347, K‐M526*, and S‐P308 are Aboriginal Australian‐specific. Dating of C‐M347, K‐M526*, and S‐P308 indicates that all are at least 40,000 years old, confirming their long‐term presence in Australia. Haplogroup C‐M347 comprised at least three sub‐haplogroups: C‐DYS390.1del, C‐M210, and the unresolved paragroup C‐M347*(xDYS390.1del,M210). Conclusions: There was some geographic structure to the Y‐haplogroup variation, but most haplogroups were present throughout Australia. The age of the Australian‐specific Y‐haplogroups suggests New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians have been isolated for over 30,000 years, supporting findings based on mitochondrial DNA data. Our data support the hypothesis of more than one route (via New Guinea) for males entering Sahul some 50,000 years ago and give no support for colonization events during the Holocene, from either India or elsewhere. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:367–381, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.No Full Tex

Deep Roots for Aboriginal Australian Y Chromosomes

Australia was one of the earliest regions outside Africa to be colonized by fully modern humans, with archaeological evidence for human presence by 47,000 years ago (47 kya) widely accepted [1, 2]. However, the extent of subsequent human entry before the European colonial age is less clear. The dingo reached Australia about 4 kya, indirectly implying human contact, which some have linked to changes in language and stone tool technology to suggest substantial cultural changes at the same time [3]. Genetic data of two kinds have been proposed to support gene flow from the Indian subcontinent to Australia at this time, as well: first, signs of South Asian admixture in Aboriginal Australian genomes have been reported on the basis of genome-wide SNP data [4]; and second, a Y chromosome lineage designated haplogroup C-, present in both India and Australia, was estimated to have a most recent common ancestor around 5 kya and to have entered Australia from India [5]. Here, we sequence 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes to re-investigate their divergence times from Y chromosomes in other continents, including a comparison of Aboriginal Australian and South Asian haplogroup C chromosomes. We find divergence times dating back to ∼50 kya, thus excluding the Y chromosome as providing evidence for recent gene flow from India into Australia

Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial genome variation – an increased understanding of population antiquity and diversity

Aboriginal Australians represent one of the oldest continuous cultures outside Africa, with evidence indicating that their ancestors arrived in the ancient landmass of Sahul (present-day New Guinea and Australia) ~55 thousand years ago. Genetic studies, though limited, have demonstrated both the uniqueness and antiquity of Aboriginal Australian genomes. We have further resolved known Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups and discovered novel indigenous lineages by sequencing the mitogenomes of 127 contemporary Aboriginal Australians. In particular, the more common haplogroups observed in our dataset included M42a, M42c, S, P5 and P12, followed by rarer haplogroups M15, M16, N13, O, P3, P6 and P8. We propose some major phylogenetic rearrangements, such as in haplogroup P where we delinked P4a and P4b and redefined them as P4 (New Guinean) and P11 (Australian), respectively. Haplogroup P2b was identified as a novel clade potentially restricted to Torres Strait Islanders. Nearly all Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups detected appear to be ancient, with no evidence of later introgression during the Holocene. Our findings greatly increase knowledge about the geographic distribution and phylogenetic structure of mitochondrial lineages that have survived in contemporary descendants of Australia’s first settlers