Ancient DNA documents the population changes of foragers, herders and farmers in central and eastern Africa from the Neolithic to the Iron Age
遠古DNA佐證了，從新石器時代到鐵器時代，中非及東非覓食者、牧人及農人的群體變化。
A new interdisciplinary study published in the journal Science Advances reports on 20 newly sequenced ancient genomes from sub-Saharan Africa, including the first genomes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, and Uganda. The study documents the coexistence, movements, interactions and admixture of diverse human groups during the spread of food production in sub-Saharan Africa.
一項發表於，由美國科學促進會出版之《科學進展》期刊，跨學科的新研究記述了，針對來自撒哈拉沙漠以南之非洲地區，20個新近被排序的遠古基因體，其中包括來自剛果、博茨瓦納及烏干達等，民主共和國的最早基因體。該項研究佐證了，在撒哈拉沙漠以南地區之非洲糧食生產散播期間，不同人類群體的共存、遷徙、互動及混種。
In order to reveal the population interactions that gave rise to Africa’s enormous linguistic, cultural, and economic diversity, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Africa, Europe, and North America sampled key regions in which current models predict a legacy of significant population interactions.
為了揭露，導致非洲龐大之語言、文化及經濟多樣性的群體互動。來自非洲、歐洲及北美洲的跨學科研究人員團隊，在當前諸多模型預測，一處具有深遠意義之群體互動遺產的重要地區，進行了採樣。
The collaborative study between researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), the National Museums of Kenya and other partners was led by archaeogeneticist Ke Wang and archaeologist Steven Goldstein of MPI-SHH. It sheds light on patterns of population change as food production spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
該項德國馬克斯普朗克人類史科學研究所(MPI-SHH)、肯亞國家博物館研究人員之間及其他夥伴們的合作研究，是由MPI-SHH的古遺傳學家Ke Wang及考古學家Steven Goldstein所領導。這闡明了，當糧食生產散佈遍及撒哈拉沙漠以南之非洲地區時，群體變化的模式。
While the spread of food production led to the gradual replacement of local foragers in most parts of the world, foraging lifeways have persisted in several regions of contemporary Africa among populations such as the San in the south, the Hadza in the east and the Mbuti of the central African rainforest. However, the present study shows that, thousands of years ago, the ancestors of these groups once formed an overlapping genetic cline that stretched across much of eastern and southern Africa.
儘管糧食生產的散佈導致了，逐漸取代在此世界大部分地區的當地覓食者。不過，在當代非洲若干地區，諸如南部的San、東部的Hadza及中非雨林之Mbuti的族群中，一直存續覓食的生活方式。不過，目前該項研究顯示，數千年前，此些群體的祖先曾經形成一種，擴展遍及大部分非洲東部及南部重疊的遺傳漸變群。
“Restricted gene flow between regional forager groups in contemporary eastern, southern, and central Africa, whether due to climatic and environmental factors or as a result of encapsulation by food producing groups, has likely contributed substantially to the spatial genetic structure we can see across the continent today,” says Ke Wang.
Ke Wang宣稱：「在當代非洲東部、南部及中部，無論是由於氣候與環境因素，或是遭糧食生產之群體分隔的結果，在地區性覓食者群體之間，受限的基因流通可能曾實質促成，當今人們於該大陸各地，發現之與空間有關的遺傳結構。」
“We are still at a point where we learn a lot from every individual,” Steven Goldstein adds, “the interactions between hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, and farmers were more complex even into recent centuries than we previously understood.”
Steven Goldstein附言：「他們仍然處於，從每一群體學習很多事物的時刻。狩獵-採集者、牧人及農人之間的互動，即使到了最近幾世紀，仍比先前人們瞭解的，更為複雜。」
To better understand these interactions and their impact on subsistence strategies, the researchers focused their investigations on key groups and regions previously identified as significant contributors to changes in food production: eastern and southern forager groups, eastern African Pastoral Neolithic and Iron Age groups, and Iron Age groups related to present-day Bantu speakers.
為了更深入瞭解上述互動及其對生存策略的影響。此些研究人員將他們的調查研究著重於，在糧食生產之諸多變化上，先前被確認為是重要因素的關鍵群體及地區上：也就是，東部及南部覓食者的群體、東部非洲遊牧之新石器時代及鐵器時代的群體，及與當今説班圖語者有關之鐵器時代的群體。
Genomic analysis of the six individuals here reported from Kenya’s Pastoral Neolithic period (between 4,500 and 1,200 years ago) revealed greater ancestral complexity than previously reported individuals from the same region, supporting previous studies that have proposed early herders migrated south along multiple simultaneous but geographically distinct routes.
在此，記述之來自六個群體的基因體分析揭露了，比先前記述之來自相同地區，更顯著的血統複雜性。這支持了，諸多先前已經提出，早期牧人同時沿著多個、卻地理上不同路線南遷的研究。
“In such a scenario,” Dr. Emmanuel Ndiema of the National Museums of Kenya explains, “a single base population in northern Africa may have branched into many as some herding groups moved along the Nile corridor, some through southern Ethiopia, and possibly some through eastern Uganda.”
肯亞國家博物館的Emmanuel Ndiema博士解釋：「在這樣的腳本中，於北非的一個單一基準群體可能曾分支成，諸多如同沿著尼羅河走廊遷徙的一些牧人群體。有些穿過依索比亞南部，可能有些穿過烏干達東部。」
Along the way, migrating pastoralists would have encountered different populations and formed varying inter-community relationships, ultimately resulting in varying integration of diverse ancestries. These different patterns of interaction may be one important reason why archaeologists observe stark differences in material culture, settlement strategies and burial traditions between Pastoral Neolithic populations whose ancestries are in fact closely related.
沿著上述路徑，遷徙的牧人可能曾邂逅不同群體，且形成了不同社區間的關係，最終導致了諸多不同血統的融合。此些不同互動模式或許是，為何考古學家們在血統上，其實是密切相關之新石器時代遊牧群體間，於物質文化、安頓策略及埋葬的傳統習俗上，被觀察到明顯差異的一項重要原因。
Some of the most exciting findings come from the site of Kakapel Rockshelter in western Kenya, where the National Museums of Kenya and the MPI-SHH have teamed up to investigate early farming in the region.
一些最令人振奮的發現，來自肯亞西部的卡卡佩爾·洛克希爾特遺址。這是肯亞國家博物館與馬克斯普朗克人類史科學研究所曾組隊，在此地區，進行調查研究早期的農耕。
At Kakapel, two individuals dated to roughly 300 and 900 years ago show significant increases in ancestry related to people speaking Nilotic languages today, such as the Dinka from South Sudan, compared to previously published genomes from the Central Rift Valley. This suggests that genetic turnover must have been region-specific and could have involved multiple divergent migrations.
在卡卡佩爾，兩支大約300及900年前的個體群，在與當今說尼羅河流域居民語言之種族，諸如來自南蘇丹等相關血統上，相較於先前所公佈，來自依索比亞中部裂谷的基因體，展現了顯著的增強。這暗示，遺傳的轉移諒必曾經是特定地區的，且可能曾涉及多個不同的遷徙。
Genomic analysis revealed that the 900-year-old individual had close affinity with Dinka populations, but also showed influence from West-Eurasian or North-African groups, suggesting that the population that this individual represents formed between Pastoral Neolithic-related herders and incoming Nilotic (Nile Valley) agropastoralists – not from a major migration of groups with western African ancestries.
基因體分析揭露了，900年前的個體群與尼羅河流域，南蘇丹Dinka族群有密切類緣關係。不過，也展現了來自歐亞西部或北非群體的影響。這暗示了，該群體是代表，在與新石器時代有關之遊牧牧人與剛開始之尼羅河流域農牧者之間形成的個體群，而不是來自具有西非血統之諸群體的大遷徙。
Similar evidence is detected from Botswana, where analysis detected the first archaeogenetic support for the hypotheses that herders from eastern Africa spread to southern Africa before the arrival of Bantu-speaking farmers. Despite raising questions about the uniformity of the Bantu Expansion, the current study documents the arrival of people with Bantu-related ancestry in Botswana during the first millennium CE and their subsequent admixture with eastern African pastoralist and southern African forager populations.
博茨瓦納共和國發現了相同證據。在此的分析發現了，於說班圖語之農人到來前，牧人從東非散佈到南非之假設的古遺傳學支撐物。儘管引發了諸多有關班圖人擴張之均勻性的問題，不過該項當前的研究佐證了，在公元前第一個千年期間，於博茨瓦納共和國具有與班圖人有關之血統種族的到來，及其後來與東非牧人及南非覓食者群體的混種。
“We identified Bantu-related ancestry in Uganda, western Congo, Tanzania and Kenya, which is consistent with the well-documented genetic homogenization caused by the Bantu expansion,” says Stephan Schiffels of the MPI-SHH, “but we also see highly variable patterns of Bantu admixture with regional forager and pastoralist populations in southern Africa.”
馬克斯普朗克人類史科學研究所的Stephan Schiffels宣稱：「他們在烏干達、剛果西部、坦桑尼亞及肯亞確認了，與班圖人有關的血統。這與班圖人擴張所引起、經充分佐證的遺傳同質化相一致。不過，他們也發現了，班圖人與南非地區覓食者及牧人混種的高度富變化模式。」
“While supraregional studies can help reveal population interactions on a continental scale,” says Schiffels, “we want to emphasize the importance of regionally focused studies to better understand local patterns of cultural and population changes in the future.”
Schiffels宣稱：「儘管上述區域研究能有助於揭露，大陸規模的群體互動。不過他們想強調，著重區域性研究來深入瞭解，未來文化與群體變化之局部模式的重要性。」
原文網址：https://www.shh.mpg.de/1725386/african-genomes
翻譯：許東榮
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