Climate change underlies global demographic, genetic, and cultural transitions in pre-Columbian southern Peru

Research reveals that climate change drove significant demographic, genetic, and cultural shifts in pre-Columbian southern Peru. Using mitochondrial DNA from the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage (840 BC–1450 AD), Bayesian serial coalescent simulations demonstrated migrations from coastal valleys to the Andean highlands during increased climate variability around 640 AD, coinciding with the decline of the Nasca culture. A subsequent back-migration occurred post-1200 AD, linked to droughts in the highlands and improved coastal conditions after the collapse of the Wari and Tiwanaku empires, leading to genetic homogenization in the region.

Fehren-Schmitz, L., Haak, W., Mächtle, B., Masch, F., Llamas, B., Tomasto Cagigao, E., Sossna, V., Schittek, K., Isla Cuadrado, J., Eitel, B., & Reindel, M. (2014). Climate change underlies global demographic, genetic, and cultural transitions in pre-Columbian southern Peru. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(26), 9443–9448. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1403466111