About 3,000 years ago, human populations from western Eurasia migrated back into eastern Africa, specifically Ethiopia. The migrants then traveled farther south and passed their genes on to the hunter-gatherers of southern Africa around 900 to 1,800 years ago, a new study shows.
Southern African hunter-gatherers and farmers are among the most diverse in terms of culture, language and genetics. But scientists were unsure of the history that led to this diversity. The results, which appear February 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, help scientists better understand the history of these southern African populations.
