News Anthropology

Ancient DNA shows the peopling of Southeast Asian islands was surprisingly complex

A 7,300-year-old skeleton had deep East Asian roots and a Denisovan heritage

skull bones from an ancient Indonesian woman

DNA from an Indonesian woman’s 7,300-year-old partial skeleton, which includes the skull parts shown here, may help to rewrite the story of ancient human migrations to certain Southeast Asian islands and their interbreeding with mysterious Denisovans.

University of Hasanuddin

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

A young woman who lived on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as early as around 7,300 years ago had a surprisingly ancient East Asian pedigree, mixed with a dash of Denisovan ancestry, a new study finds.