Quechua DNA
Genetic origins and closest populations · Peru and Bolivia · Americas
Quechua is the most widely spoken Indigenous language family of the Americas, with millions of speakers in the Andes of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. It was the administrative language of the Inca empire, whose capital was Cuzco. In our model, the Quechua average is 93.6% Native American (Paleo-American) and 6.4% Anatolian Neolithic farmer, a European-related share that fits long colonial and modern contact and is absent from the Aymara average (100.0% Native American). The closest modern averages are Bolivian samples from Pando (0.0193) and Indo-Mestizo samples from Cochabamba and La Paz, then, further away, the Maya and another Quechua sample from Peru (0.0317), a reminder that Quechua speakers are a large and varied population. Unexpectedly, the closest ancient groups are not Andean: early Holocene people from Sumidouro in Brazil (0.0261) and Lapa do Santo, and the Clovis-era Anzick burial from Montana (0.0427), all close to the shared root of South American ancestry.
- Ancient components in our model: Native American (Paleo-American) 93.6%, Anatolian Neolithic farmers 6.4%
- Closest modern population in our data: Bolivian (Pando), distance 0.0193
- Closest ancient group in our data: Brazil Sumidouro 10100BP, distance 0.0261
This page sums up what the DNA of the Quechua sample tells us about deep origins. It is built from the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of individuals sampled in Peru and Bolivia, and it is one of 335 populations in our atlas. An average describes the group as a whole, not any single person in it.
Ancient make-up of the Quechua average
Modelled as a mix of deep ancestral reference populations, the Quechua average comes out as 93.6% Native American (Paleo-American) and 6.4% Anatolian Neolithic farmers. The Native American (Paleo-American) component reflects the ancestry of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. With well over half of the total, this single source dominates the profile.
The model fits well (fit distance 0.022), so these proportions are a reasonable summary. This population was modelled with a global set of reference populations (ancient genomes, plus modern stand-ins where no suitable ancient genome exists), because West Eurasian sources alone cannot describe it.
Raíces – Latin American Bloodline
Closest modern populations to Quechua
Ranking every modern population by genetic distance puts Bolivian (Pando) first for Quechua, at 0.019, then Bolivian Indo-Mestizo (Cochabamba) and Maya. By the tenth closest (Yanesha (High Selva)) the distance grows to 0.033, a common pattern for a population that shares ancestry with its neighbours while keeping a profile of its own.
| # | Population | Distance | Closeness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bolivian (Pando) | 0.0193 | Very close |
| 2 | Bolivian Indo-Mestizo (Cochabamba) | 0.0199 | Very close |
| 3 | Maya | 0.0293 | Close |
| 4 | Bolivian Indo-Mestizo (La Paz) | 0.0293 | Close |
| 5 | Amerindian (Mexico) | 0.0298 | Close |
| 6 | Quechua (Peru) | 0.0317 | Close |
| 7 | Maya (other sample set) | 0.0323 | Close |
| 8 | Mixtec | 0.0328 | Close |
| 9 | Cachi | 0.0331 | Close |
| 10 | Yanesha (High Selva) | 0.0333 | Close |
Distances are Euclidean distances between averaged G25 coordinates. On our scale, below 0.025 is very close, below 0.050 close, below 0.080 moderate, and beyond that distant.
Closest ancient populations to Quechua
Among ancient genomes, the closest match to the modern Quechua average is Brazil Sumidouro 10100BP (c. 8150 BC), at 0.026, followed by Brazil Lapa Do Santo 9900BP and Mexico Postclassic-Postconquest Las Palmas Culture Pericues. That is a close match: much of the modern profile was already present then, while later movements of people added further layers. A close ancient match is not proof of direct descent: it means those individuals carried a similar overall mix of ancestry.
| # | Ancient sample or group | Period | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil Sumidouro 10100BP | c. 8150 BC | 0.0261 |
| 2 | Brazil Lapa Do Santo 9900BP | c. 7950 BC | 0.0377 |
| 3 | Mexico Postclassic-Postconquest Las Palmas Culture Pericues | Postclassic Mesoamerica, c. 900-1520 AD | 0.0392 |
| 4 | USA Montana Anzick Clovis | Clovis culture, c. 10,700 BC | 0.0427 |
| 5 | USA California San Francisco Bay Precolonial Period-Late Modern | Late Modern, c. 1800-1950 AD | 0.0439 |
| 6 | Brazil Pre-Pottery Jabuticabeira 2500BP | c. 550 BC | 0.0449 |
| 7 | Brazil Lapa Do Santo 9600BP | c. 7650 BC | 0.0461 |
| 8 | Brazil Capelinha 10400BP | c. 8450 BC | 0.0461 |
| 9 | USA Santa Rosa Island 4900BP | c. 2950 BC | 0.0475 |
| 10 | USA San Nicolas Late Precolonial | Pre-colonial | 0.0477 |
Ancient DNA from Peru and Bolivia
Our ancient DNA database holds 605 individuals excavated in present-day Peru and Bolivia, dated from about 7,055 BC to 1566 AD. The most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups among them are Q1b (83), Q1a (3) and Q (2), and the most frequent mtDNA haplogroups are B2 (159), C1 (129) and D1 (92). These are people who lived on the same land in the past, not necessarily ancestors of today's Quechua population.
Most frequent Y-DNA haplogroups
| Haplogroup | Individuals | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Q1b | 83 | I0038 I0238 SMP5 |
| Q1a | 3 | skeleton_9 skeleton_2 skeleton_6 |
| Q | 2 | I0979 IO1 |
| F | 1 | I2543 |
| P1 | 1 | I1396 |
Ancient DNA studies on Peru and Bolivia
- Ancient DNA reveals a family ossuary and long-distance migration on the Pacific coast before the Inca Empire (2026)
- Rapid adaptive increase of amylase gene copy number in Indigenous Andeans (2026)
- Unraveling the genetic landscape and admixture dynamics of urban populations across Peru (2026)
- Human population history on the North Coast of peru from Y chromosomes and mitogenomes (2025)
- The peruvian genome project: expanding the global pool of genome diversity from South America (2025)
- Family relations of Moche elite burials on the North Coast of Peru (~500 CE): Analyses of the Señora de Cao and relatives (2024)
- The multifaceted genomic history of Ashaninka from Amazonian Peru (2023)
- Insights into the genetic histories and lifeways of Machu Picchu's occupants (2023)
Browse them in our ancient DNA database: 561 from Peru, 44 from Bolivia.
Compare yourself with Quechua
Paste your G25 coordinates (scaled, one line, with or without a name in front) and we compute your genetic distance to the Quechua average and to its closest neighbours, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
| # | Population | Your distance | Closeness |
|---|
This list only covers Quechua and its neighbours. To find out which of our reports actually fits your DNA, run the free Report Finder: it runs the same fit test that every report uses before an order.
No G25 coordinates yet? Get a free simulated G25 from your raw DNA file, or order G25 coordinates.
About these numbers
A word of caution: these figures describe the average of the Quechua individuals who were sampled, not every person who identifies as Quechua. Individuals vary around that average, and identity is about history, language and family, not about a genetic score. Read this page as a map of deep ancestry, not as a definition.
Method: averaged G25 coordinates, Euclidean distances to other modern and ancient averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations (data generated 2026-10-01). Read the full method.
Go deeper than the average
This page describes the Quechua average. Your own DNA has its own story: Raíces – Latin American Bloodline (15€) models your genome against the ancient sources and modern communities of the region, era by era, in a personal PDF report.
A report built only for Latinos: pick your country and we model your DNA against its indigenous peoples plus every Old-World source of Latin American history, on an interactive map.
More populations from Americas
Frequently asked questions
What is the ancient genetic make-up of Quechua?
Modelled with deep ancestral reference populations, the Quechua average is about 93.6% Native American (Paleo-American) and 6.4% Anatolian Neolithic farmers. These proportions are model estimates for a group average, not exact values for any one person.
Which populations are genetically closest to Quechua?
In the G25 data, the closest modern populations to the Quechua average are Bolivian (Pando), Bolivian Indo-Mestizo (Cochabamba) and Maya. The closest ancient matches are Brazil Sumidouro 10100BP, Brazil Lapa Do Santo 9900BP and Mexico Postclassic-Postconquest Las Palmas Culture Pericues.
Can a DNA test tell me if I am Quechua?
No DNA test can confirm an ethnicity or a nationality. What DNA can show is how similar your genome is to the sampled Quechua average and to its neighbours. If you have G25 coordinates, paste them in the comparison box on this page to check that for free.
Which ExploreYourDNA report suits Quechua ancestry?
Raíces – Latin American Bloodline is the report built for this heritage, and its reference panel fits the Quechua average closely. Your own DNA may differ from the average, so the free Report Finder checks every report against your file before you buy.
Where does the data on this page come from?
From the averaged Global25 (G25) coordinates of the sampled individuals: genetic distances to other modern and ancient population averages, and a non-negative least-squares model against deep ancestral reference populations. The full method is described at https://www.exploreyourdna.com/populations#method.