Ancient Genomic Insights into Prehistoric Human Populations of the Nenggiri Valley, Malaysia

Ahmad Faiz Shazwan Bin Abdul Malik1, Odongoo Ravdandorj2, Zuliskandar Bin Ramli3, and Takashi Gakuhari4

The historical, religious, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Southeast Asia has been shaped by multiple waves of human migration. Various theories, supported by these multidisciplinary lines of evidence, have been proposed to explain these migrations. The Malay Peninsula played a crucial role in prehistoric human movements. However, ancient DNA studies remain limited, despite the discovery of over 50 burials in the Nenggiri Valley, which are linked to pre-Neolithic (Hoabinhian) and Neolithic farming populations. The main challenge in genetic analysis is the poor preservation of collagen and endogenous DNA. However, we successfully obtained new genomic sequences from human remains at the Gua Cha site. The site’s location, situated between the territories of the Semang (traditionally hunter-gatherers) and the Senoi (traditionally farmers), provides key evidence for prehistoric human admixture. In this presentation we present the results of this study. It provides new genetic insights into ancient population dynamics and the connections between the Gua Cha remains and modern Southeast Asian populations.