June
05
/ 2025
Where the hot and sweltering tropical valleys and bleached coastlines of Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago meet, archaeologists and geneticists have excavated, and resurrected, ancient human genomes from coastal New Guinea and surrounding islands. Sequencing them for the first time, they’ve offered much-needed insight into the origins, interactions, and migrations that once drove the vast seascape of Near Oceania. Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, this new study reveals that the region’s genetic diversity is far older and more intricate than previously understood. It is a story of ancient isolation, delayed cultural mingling, and the unmatched seafaring capabilities of the world’s earliest ocean explorers. Lapita Shadows and Papuan Roots: A Genetic Mosaic Close to Oceania has traditionally been
