9,000 years of genetic continuity at Oakhurst rockshelter, South Africa

Southern Africa has one of the longest records of fossil hominins and harbors the largest human genetic diversity in the world. Yet, despite its relevance for human origins and spread around the globe, the formation and processes of its gene pool in the past are still largely unknown. Here we present a time transect of genome-wide sequences from nine individuals recovered from a single site in South Africa, Oakhurst Rockshelter. Spanning the whole Holocene, the ancient DNA of these individuals allows us to reconstruct the demographic trajectories of the indigenous San population and their ancestors during the last 10,000 years. We show that, in contrast to most regions around the world, the population history of southernmost Africa was not characterized by multiple waves of migration, replacement and admixture, but by long lasting genetic continuity from the early Holocene to the end of the Later Stone Age. While the advent of pastoralism and farming substantially transformed the gene pool in most parts of southern Africa after 1,300 BP, we show using allele-frequency- and identity-by-descent segment-based methods that the ‡Khomani San and Karretjiemense from South Africa still show direct signs of relatedness to the Oakhurst hunter gatherers, a pattern obscured by recent, extensive non-Southern African admixture. Yet, some southern San in South Africa still preserve this ancient, Pleistocene-derived genetic signature, extending the period of genetic continuity until today.