A new genomic study published in Cell has analyzed skeletal remains from a rock shelter in the Vindhya Range, dating back to 10,000 BCE. The results show a direct genetic continuity between these Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and several modern tribal communities in Central India, predating the arrival of agriculturalist lineages by thousands of years.
The research provides a definitive map of the indigenous genetic substrate of the Indian subcontinent. It suggests that these early populations possessed a high degree of technological and cultural stability, successfully navigating the transition from the Ice Age to the Holocene without large-scale replacement.