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Creators/Authors contains: "Springs, LC"

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  1. Paleogenomic data are commonly used to test archaeological questions, but paleogenomics best informs ancient population histories when applied using a biocultural approach that contextualizes genomic analyses within a socio-historic framework. In this study, we focus on hunter-gatherer populations from southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Fuego-Patagonia) who have inhabited the region for more than 10,500 years. These groups practiced subsistence strategies that relied on either marine or terrestrial resources, or a mix of both. Some prior studies suggest that Marine and Terrestrial groups descended from the same ancestral group, while others indicate they had distinct ancestries. Here, we examined genome-wide data from 40 newly sequenced and 30 previously reported ancient Fuegian-Patagonians spanning 6,800 years, as well as sociocultural evidence from archaeological, ethnohistorical, and linguistic sources. Previous analyses of the newly sequenced individuals suggested that Marine and Terrestrial groups had distinct ancestries that diverged ~14,000 years ago. To further elucidate the genetic relationships among Terrestrial, Marine, and Mixed Economy groups, we examined population substructure using PCA, ADMIXTURE, tests of genetic distances, and f-statistics. We found that some Marine and Mixed Economy individuals from the Middle Holocene shared ancestry with Late Holocene Terrestrial groups, while Terrestrial and Marine groups from the Late Holocene showed distinct ancestries and limited admixture until Historic times. We contextualized these paleogenomic results with evidence from sociocultural sources, adding further nuance and justiܪcation to our conclusions. This study highlights the complexities of local population histories and demonstrates the importance of including sociocultural data in paleogenomic studies. 
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