NEW YORK – By analyzing ancient DNA from sites across several Canary Islands, members of an international research team have untangled ancestry patterns in the North African ancestors of indigenous populations found some 500 to 1,800 years ago, while digging into the population genetic effects of population isolation and migrations in the region. Though past archaeological, linguistic, and genetic studies have linked Canary Island's indigenous populations to North African origins, more precise details on these populations and the colonization events that brought them to the islands remain murky, Fregel and Serrano explained. In addition, they explained, the ancestry patterns present in indigenous individuals on the islands can provide a peek at ancestral populations from North Africa, where ancient DNA preservation has been adversely affected by hot, humid climate conditions. They noted that a "window into the past of North Africa can be accessed through the study of the indigenous people from the Canary Islands, being a population of North African origin that was most probably isolated from the mainland before the arrival of the Islamic invasions." While ancient European ancestry tended to be higher in individuals from the Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura islands closest to the continent, the El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Tenerife islands further to the west had enhanced levels of North African ancestry.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 15, 2023 17:10 UTC