Native American ancestry map
Native American (Lapa do Santo, 9,600 BP) · Eastern Brazil, about 9,600 years ago
How to read these maps: pale yellow means little or none of the selected ancestry, orange a medium share and deep red the highest values. Each dot is the average of a modern population: hover or tap it to see its numbers. Areas with no samples nearby stay blank.
Native American (Lapa do Santo, 9,600 BP)
Eastern Brazil, about 9,600 years ago
Faded dots are populations the model fits less well: read their values with care. Click the map to zoom with your mouse wheel.
Who were the people of Lapa do Santo?
Lapa do Santo is a rock shelter in the Lagoa Santa region of Minas Gerais, in eastern Brazil, known for some of the oldest human burials in South America. The individuals sampled for this source lived there about 9,600 years ago.
Their genomes, published in 2018, show that these early Brazilians descend from the same founding population as other Indigenous peoples of the Americas, whose ancestors came from Siberia during or after the last Ice Age and spread south remarkably fast. Using an ancient South American genome as the reference avoids the European and African ancestry that many people in the Americas carry today.
On this map the component measures Indigenous American ancestry in general, not descent from Lagoa Santa in particular. It is a large part of the heritage of Indigenous communities across the Americas and of many Mexicans, Peruvians, Bolivians and other Latin Americans.
In our model, Native American ancestry peaks today in Amerindian Bolivia La Paz, at 100.0%, followed by Ashaninka (Peru) (100.0%) and Aymara Bolivia (100.0%). The ten highest values come from Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and Colombia. It reaches at least 5% in 44 of the 1,998 populations on the map, and at least 20% in 40 of them. On the world scale the colours run from 0 to 30.1%, the level reached by the top 2% of populations, so the deepest red marks the real hot spots.
Where Native American ancestry peaks today
| # | Population | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amerindian Bolivia La Paz Bolivia | 100.0% |
| 2 | Ashaninka Peru | 100.0% |
| 3 | Aymara Bolivia Bolivia | 100.0% |
| 4 | Aymara Peru Titicaca Peru | 100.0% |
| 5 | Cashibo Peru | 100.0% |
| 6 | Huambisa Peru | 100.0% |
| 7 | Karitiana Brazil | 100.0% |
| 8 | Piapoco Colombia | 100.0% |
| 9 | Quechua Peru Titicaca Peru | 100.0% |
| 10 | Shipibo Peru | 100.0% |
Averages of modern populations, modelled with 17 reference sources. Tap a name to find it on the map.
The 17 ancestral sources
About these numbers
These maps show model estimates for population averages, not ethnic labels and not the result of any one person. Each source stands in for a wider ancestral population, and ancestries that have no source of their own in this set, such as Oceanian or Khoe-San ancestry, are absorbed by their closest relatives among the 17. Populations the model fits less well are shown with faded dots and count less in the colour surface.
Method: Each population average (Global25 coordinates) is modelled as a mix of 17 ancient and modern reference groups with non-negative least squares, shares adding up to 100%. Fit is the distance between the population and its best mix: the lower the better, above 0.06 the mix explains the population poorly. Top lists leave out the few populations these 17 groups cannot model at all (fit above 0.15). Data generated 1 October 2026, 1,998 populations on the map.
Keep exploring
For the full picture of one population, the Population Genetics Atlas has a page for each of hundreds of modern populations, with its ancient make-up and its closest modern and ancient neighbours.
Curious about your own DNA? The free Report Finder tests which of our reports fits your G25 coordinates, before you order anything.
Frequently asked questions
Why use a 9,600-year-old Brazilian genome for Native American ancestry?
Many people in the Americas today also carry European and African ancestry. An early genome from Lapa do Santo, in Brazil, is free of that later mixing, so it gives a clean reference for the ancestry shared by Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Where is Native American ancestry highest today?
In our model it is highest in Amerindian Bolivia La Paz (100.0%), Ashaninka (Peru) (100.0%) and Aymara Bolivia (100.0%). These are averages of modern populations modelled with 17 reference sources, so individuals within each population can differ.
How are these ancient ancestry maps made?
Each modern population average, taken from published G25 coordinates, is modelled as a mix of the same 17 ancient and modern reference sources with a non-negative least-squares fit, the same family of method our reports use. The map then interpolates the share of the selected source between the sampled places and leaves areas with no nearby samples blank.
Does a high value mean direct descent from these people?
No. Each source stands in for a broader ancestral population, and the 17 sources are fitted together, so closely related sources can trade shares between them. Read a value as how much of this kind of ancestry the model needs to describe a population average, not as a family tree.
Why are some areas of the map blank?
The colour surface is only drawn within a few hundred kilometres of real samples. Oceans and regions without data stay empty instead of showing invented values. Each dot on the map is a real population average.