Palau ancient DNA
The first people reached Remote Oceania before 3000 years ago (BP), arriving roughly simultaneously in the southwest Pacific, the Marianas Archipelago, and Palau. However, no genome-wide ancient DNA data have been available from Palau, a gap we address by reporting 21 individuals from four archaeological sites between 2900 and 500 BP. All had approximately 60% ancestry related to East Asians and 40% to Papuans, mirroring the genetic makeup of present-day Palauans, the longest stretch of population continuity anywhere in Remote Oceania. The lengths of contiguous Papuan ancestry segments in the oldest individuals show that major admixture between Papuans and East Asians in the ancestors of all sampled Palauans began prior to first settlement. This differs from the pattern in the southwest Pacific, where the earliest inhabitants were almost entirely East Asian in origin and admixture was hundreds of years later.