Bantu Africa and the Niger-Congo Areas Story

24% of our DNA comes from this region.

The Bantu expansions have remained an enigmatic period in African history. Bantu peoples form one of three major sub-Saharan groups, which include the Khoisan to the south and Afro-Asiatics to the east. The divisions between these groups are primarily based on linguistic affiliations but they are also represented genetically. The genetic data, however, paints a more nuanced and complex picture. Bantu speakers have expanded over a large expanse of territory into sub-Saharan Africa and are found in areas that have been also dominated by Khoisan and Afro-Asiatic peoples.

Archaeological evidence indicates the original Bantu-speaking homeland in West Africa, which is generally centered around the present country of Nigeria, was once home to ancient human ancestors up to to two million years ago. These ancient humans are associated with a tool-culture known as the Acheulian1 that is found in many other surrounding regions as well. Modern humans are thought to have evolved in East Africa,2-4 although much debate remains as to the exact nature of their origins. Some researchers argue for their origins being somewhere closer to South Africa.5 It is thought that the modern humans now living in the Bantu homeland are not direct descendants of ancient human ancestors, but are descendants of the expansion of modern humans out of East Africa some 154,000 to 160,000 years ago. Modern humans were clearly present in West Africa by 14,000 years ago,1 but some researchers have speculated that they may have actually arrived much earlier.

Agriculture developed in the Bantu homeland region between 4,000 and 2,000 years ago.6,7 Archaeological evidence for agricultural settlements appear around Lake Chad circa 1000 B.C.8 These early agricultural societies developed into larger political bodies that are primarily known through archaeological sources as the Nok, which flourished in Nigeria between 1000 B.C. and 200 A.D.9

Bantu expansion out of West Africa was determined -through archaeological evidence- to have occurred as early as 4,000 years ago, which is supported by artifacts linked to early farmers found in the rainforests of Cameroon. It is thought there were two or more waves of expansion, with the later expansion being larger. An expansion closer to 2,000 years ago is associated with the arrival of particular crops including the banana and cereal grains, which enabled population growth and an expansionist search for further agricultural land.10 The evidence for the early use of these agricultural systems in outlying areas shows they were consistent with methods originating in the Niger-Congo region. Iron smelting developed in the 1st millennium B.C.11 and iron smelting furnaces are associated with Bantu-speaking peoples in these these later expansions.12

Some Bantu peoples moved into East Africa, another region with fertile lands for agriculture.13 They also moved further south with Bantu people arriving in South Africa by 300 A.D.14 The large kingdom of the Zulu people, who were defeated by the British in the 19th century, were descendants of these early settlers.15 Many Bantu-speaking areas in the West Africa were involved in the slave trade and many African Americans are descended from Bantu people.16 Much of Bantu Africa became subject to European colonial expansion during the time known as the ‘Scramble for Africa’.17

Mitochondrial DNA studies have found particular changes that distinguish between Khoisan and other sub-Saharan African populations, particularly southern Bantu and Pygmies.18 Bantu speaking West Africans are distinct from the Khoisan and Afro-Asiatic groups.19 Both Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA studies have found evidence for Bantu expansion both in Southwest and in East Africa.20,21 Studies have shown that African Americans are predominantly related to Niger-Kordofanian Bantu language family speakers who live in the region of present-day Nigeria.22 Future tests may be able to distinguish between specific areas of Bantu migration as well as more ancient versus more recent migration events.

Madagascar Story

13% of our DNA comes from Madagascar.

Madagascar has an unusual history within the broader spectrum of humanity. Madagascan people represent a fascinating mixing of features, appearing both Asian and African at the same time. Such an observation is not an illusion, and there are historical and genetic sources that attest to the heterogeneous history of the island’s population.

Human settlers arrived surprisingly late to Madagascar. Archaeological evidence in the form of charcoal remains points to the earliest human activity dating to around 300 B.C.,1-3 although the island remained generally uninhabited until around 200 to 500 A.D.4,5 This was many millennia after the initial migrations that saw human settlement occur in most other parts of the world. Archaeological finds point to a dramatic landscape alteration occuring between 100 and 300 A.D.6-9 Archaeological artifacts link Madagascar to ancient Indian Ocean trade networks.10

The dominant language of Madagascar today is Malagasy, an Austronesian language closely related to languages found in the Barito River area of Southeastern Borneo.11 Malagasy also has a small proportion of vocabulary from Bantu, Malay, South Sulawesian, and Javanese.11,12 There exist two main ethnic groups in Madagascar today that share this common language today: the highlanders and the Côtiers.12,13 The highlanders appear more Asian than the coast-dwelling Côtiers, both in appearance and culture, with the predominant subsistence crop being rice.14

By 1300 A.D., there was a complex economy involving rice farming, cattle herding, iron smelting, and long-distance trade.5 Europeans came into contact with the people of the island from the 1500s, but did not seriously attempt to colonise the region until much later. French and English trading posts were occasionally set up, but nothing permanent. During this period, Madagascar developed a feudal system of governance.15 While still in contact with Europeans, but not under direct colonial control, Madagascar and its surrounding islands became a famous refuge for pirates and slave traders.16,17 Madagascar became involved with the European slave trade in the 19th century.18 The monarchy eventually collaposed and the island was invaded by the French. Madagascar gained its independence during the era of decolonization in the middle of the 20th century.

Genetic studies have shown a strong link between Madagascan peoples and Austronesian populations in Southeast Asia.  Some mitochondrial DNA haplogroup lineages that link to Polynesian Austronesian groups have been found in Madagascar,19 and this is also true for some Y-chromosome lineages.20 There is also evidence of Bantu genetic admixture which has come from the African continent.21 Future testing may be able to determine more clearly how individuals relate to the original Southeast Asia migrations and also clarify the nature of African admixture into the population.

West Africa Story

12% of our DNA comes from West Africa.

Many African-Americans will easily identify with the peoples of West Africa and many will have ancestry from there, often due to a particularly dark period of human history. West and Central Africa were the main locations that fueled the slave trade, brining substantial numbers of people to the Americas.1 However, prior to this destructive period of colonial history, West Africa was a land of city-states and technological innovation, and had a history of trade with the medieval Mediterranean and Arabic worlds.

Many people know Africa for being the birthplace of humanity and its history stretches deep into the past. There is evidence for early human ancestors in West Africa from as early as two million years ago, including the early human tool culture known as the Acheulean.2 The transition from earlier human species to modern humans within Africa paints a much more complex picture than in the rest of the world, where far fewer migration events are responsible for much of the world’s present population. Studies of mitochondrial DNA have revealed that Africans have the highest level of genetic diversity compared with any other region.3,4 There has been a considerable mosaic of archaic and more modern species within Africa.5 It is thought that modern humans evolved in East Africa6,7 and dispersed across much of the continent, as well as into the rest of the world, either interacting with or completely displacing earlier populations. While it is debatable how much genetic legacy exists from archaic human species in West Africa, it is clear that modern human moved into the area around 14,000 years ago.2

Farming appeared in West Africa between 4,000 and 2,000 years ago, with dates varying widely depending on the region.8,9 Many of these early farming cultures became rapidly identifiable in the archaeological record. The Nok culture in what is now Nigeria flourished between 1000 B.C. and 200 A.D., producing the earliest evidence for figurative sculptures in Sub-Saharan Africa.10 The decline and disappearance of the Nok remains largely unexplained. Iron-smelting techniques became established in Sub-Saharan Africa by the 1st millennia B.C., and large copper- and iron-producing cultures flourished in the 1st millennia A.D.11 A tradition based on stone circles known as the Senegambian megaliths appeared around 2,000 years ago and persisted until sometime around the year 1500. Their function has never been clearly understood in archaeology.12

States on the northern edge of West Africa at the margins of the Sahara, known as the Sahel, began to develop into kingdoms. The most famous of these was the urbanized state that became the Ghana Empire, which existed between 300 A.D. and 1200 A.D.13 The Ghana Empire appeared in the historical records of its Arabic neighbors, with which it traded. The eventual collapse of the Ghana Empire may have been related to incursions by increasingly-powerful neighboring kingdoms. The exact reason for the decline has not been established,14 and the only written history available comes from Arabic sources. Further small kingdoms such as the Sosso, Songhai, and the Mali continued to exist into the following centuries.15

The arrival of Europeans, intent on the capture and enslavement of people, coincided with the need for labor in the Americas.  Many rulers in the region went to war with their neighbors to supply captives to traders.16 Despite the slave trade being outlawed in the early 19th century, the remainder of the 19th century saw Europeans beginning to formally colonize West Africa. The period of European control may have greatly disturbed the societies of West Africa that had developed over thousands of years. However, this region has retained much of its distinctiveness and many rich cultures still thrive in the region.

There are many interesting potential future genetics tests for people who have ancestry from West Africa. Many ancient polities are linked with current ethnic and linguistic groups found in the region today and future testing may be able to determine if an individual has ancestry in any number of these ancient kingdoms. It may also be possible to link ancestry with movement aboard slave ships to the various parts of the Americas.