biostudies-literatureKennett DJU.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical SciencesHoward Hughes Medical InstituteNHGRI NIH HHSPaul G. Allen Family FoundationNIGMS NIH HHS1530https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8940966biostudies-literatureUnknown13(1)The genetic prehistory of human populations in Central America is largely unexplored leaving an important gap in our knowledge of the global expansion of humans. We report genome-wide ancient DNA data for a transect of twenty individuals from two Belize rock-shelters dating between 9,600-3,700 calibrated radiocarbon years before present (cal. BP). The oldest individuals (9,600-7,300 cal. BP) descend from an Early Holocene Native American lineage with only distant relatedness to present-day Mesoamericans, including Mayan-speaking populations. After ~5,600 cal. BP a previously unknown human dispersal from the south made a major demographic impact on the region, contributing more than 50% of the ancestry of all later individuals. This new ancestry derived from a source related to present-day Nature communicationsSouth-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region.PMC8940966n/aR01 GM100233R01 HG012287GM100233Lipson MRobinson MMoes EMora-Marin DEdgar HHJLynch PRyan TMHarper TKHill ECRay EERohland NPrufer KMReich DGutierrez SMTrask WRKate EJRamos JCulleton BJAwe JJMorris JO'Donnell LGeorge RJKennett DJfalseSouth-to-north migration preceded the advent of intensive farming in the Maya region.The genetic prehistory of human populations in Central America is largely unexplored leaving an important gap in our knowledge of the global expansion of humans. We report genome-wide ancient DNA data for a transect of twenty individuals from two Belize rock-shelters dating between 9,600-3,700 calibrated radiocarbon years before present (cal. BP). The oldest individuals (9,600-7,300 cal. BP) descend from an Early Holocene Native American lineage with only distant relatedness to present-day Mesoamericans, including Mayan-speaking populations. After ~5,600 cal. BP a previously unknown human dispersal from the south made a major demographic impact on the region, contributing more than 50% of the ancestry of all later individuals. This new ancestry derived from a source related to present-day 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Mar2026-03-27T16:40:59.93Z2025-04-04T23:16:44.234ZS-EPMC89409663531831910.1038/s41467-022-29158-y