A population history of indigenous Bahamian islanders: Insights from ancient DNA

Objectives The Bahamas is an archipelago in the western Atlantic Ocean that stretches over 1000 km, just north of Cuba and east of the Florida Peninsula. Modern DNA studies show that contemporary Bahamians are genetic descendants of European and African ancestors, unlike Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, where Indigenous descendancy is well documented. For The Bahamas little was known about the genetic ancestry of the Indigenous Lucayans (AD 700-1600) and their relationship to other Indigenous Caribbean populations. In this study, we investigated genetic diversity in Indigenous Lucayans from the Bahamas Archipelago to better understand the phylogeography of their genetic lineages, and to determine their relationship with other Indigenous Caribbean populations. Materials and methods We characterized genetic diversity across two uniparental markers in 31 ancient individuals from burial sites on seven Bahamian islands. Results We observed significant homogeneity in Lucayan paternal lineages, with only two haplogroups (Q-M902 and Q-Z781) found among them. Mitochondrial lineages were more diverse, with individuals belonging to haplogroup A2, B2, C1b, and C1d1. Four were assigned to a previously unidentified C1d lineage. Of the B2 samples, 7 of 11 belonged to the rare South America/Caribbean haplogroup B2e. This haplogroup was the most prevalent in the Northwest Bahamas while C1, particularly C1d, was more prevalent in the Central and Southern Bahamas. Discussion These findings document a complex genetic history with an initial migration from Hispaniola beginning 1300 years ago, and possible gene flow from Cuba to Andros in late Bahamian prehistory.