A comprehensive study in Science Advances has provided the first high-resolution paleogenomic map of the Horn of Africa during the transition to the Bronze Age. By analyzing the remains of 4,000-year-old individuals associated with early Cushitic-speaking pastoralists, researchers identified a distinct genetic signature that resulted from the admixture of local hunter-gatherers and migrants from the Levant and the Nile Valley.
The research demonstrates that the spread of pastoralism in East Africa was not a simple replacement of populations but a complex process of genetic integration. These early herders carried specific alleles for lactose persistence and resistance to local tropical diseases, which were critical for the survival of their livestock-based economies in the varied terrains of Ethiopia and Kenya.