preprint · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
A large-scale genomic study analysed modern and ancient DNA to map the four-thousand-year expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples across Africa. By genotyping 1,740 individuals from 143 populations across 14 countries alongside whole-genome sequences from 12 Late Iron Age individuals, the study reveals that migrating Bantu speakers absorbed substantial gene flow from local communities. Genetic diversity declines as distance increases from western Africa, identifying present-day Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as critical historical crossroads. Integrating genetic, linguistic, and geographical data confirms a serial founder migration model. The resulting genomic resource provides a comprehensive modern reference dataset for ancient DNA research, while informing wider investigations across the humanities, evolutionary biology, and health-related studies concerning human genetic variation in African and African-descendant groups.
Understanding the deep demographic history of Africa provides vital context for global human diversity. Mapping the complex movements and interactions of Bantu-speaking populations refines historical and anthropological knowledge, while also creating an extensive reference dataset. This comprehensive genomic catalogue addresses longstanding underrepresentation in genetics, helping researchers better interpret both ancient archaeological remains and modern patterns of human health and diversity.
The work represents early-stage foundational research with potential utility for the medical and biomedical research sectors. By establishing an extensive reference dataset of African genetic variation, the findings can inform downstream healthcare applications, such as medical genetics and precision medicine programmes focused on African and African-descendant populations. It also serves academic and forensic researchers conducting ancient DNA comparisons, though practical clinical translation remains in its preliminary stages.
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Abstract With the largest genomic dataset to date of Bantu-speaking populations, including newly generated data of modern-day and ancient DNA from previously unsampled regions in Africa, we shed fresh light on the expansion of peoples speaking Bantu languages that started ∼4000 years ago in western Africa. We have genotyped 1,740 participants, including 1,487 Bantu speakers from 143 populations across 14 African countries, and generated whole-genome sequences from 12 Late Iron Age individuals. Our results show that Bantu speakers received significant gene-flow from local groups in regions they expanded into. We show for the first time that genetic diversity amongst Bantu-speaking populations declines with distance from western Africa, with current-day Zambia and the DRC as possible crossroads of interaction. Using spatially explicit methods and correlating genetic, linguistic and geographical data, we provide cross-disciplinary support for a serial founder migration model. Finally, we discuss the utility of our dataset as an exhaustive modern-day African comparative dataset for ancient DNA studies. These new findings and data will be important to a wide range of disciplines from science and humanities as well as to the medical sector studying human genetic variation and health in African and African-descendant populations. One-sentence summary A comprehensive genetic analysis of the expansion of people speaking Bantu languages reveals a complex history of serial founder events, variable levels of contact with local groups, and spread-over-spread events.
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DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.03.535432
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