International researchers have sequenced the oldest human genome from Southern Africa, recovered from the Cunene River basin in Angola. The study, appearing in Cell Research, identifies a previously unrecorded Pleistocene lineage that diverged from other Southern African hunter-gatherer groups nearly 30,000 years ago. This population possessed unique genetic alleles linked to the immune system's regulation of inflammatory responses, specifically adapted to survive pathogens found in the region's fluvial ecosystems.
The findings indicate that Southern Africa was a hub of significant genetic diversity during the Late Pleistocene, with distinct groups occupying specialized ecological niches. This genomic data challenges the 'homogeneity' model of early African foragers and highlights the importance of localized environmental stressors in shaping human ancestry. The study also explores the legacy of this lineage in modern populations, tracing its genetic markers to communities currently living along the Angola-Namibia border.