eprintid: 10063792 rev_number: 89 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/06/37/92 datestamp: 2018-12-11 11:47:12 lastmod: 2021-10-07 22:00:55 status_changed: 2019-01-22 17:10:37 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: van Dorp, L creators_name: Lowes, S creators_name: Weigel, L creators_name: Ansari-Pour, N creators_name: López, S creators_name: Mendoza-Revilla, J creators_name: Robinson, JA creators_name: Henrich, J creators_name: Thomas, MG creators_name: Nunn, N creators_name: Hellenthal, GR title: Genetic legacy of state centralization in the Kuba Kingdom of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C08 divisions: D09 divisions: F99 divisions: C10 keywords: population genetics, demographic inference, anthropology, history note: © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract: Few phenomena have had as profound or long-lasting consequences in human history as the emergence of large-scale centralized states in the place of smaller scale and more local societies. This study examines a fundamental, and yet unexplored, consequence of state formation: its genetic legacy. We studied the genetic impact of state centralization during the formation of the eminent precolonial Kuba Kingdom of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the 17th century. We analyzed genome-wide data from over 690 individuals sampled from 27 different ethnic groups from the Kasai Central Province of the DRC. By comparing genetic patterns in the present-day Kuba, whose ancestors were part of the Kuba Kingdom, with those in neighboring non-Kuba groups, we show that the Kuba today are more genetically diverse and more similar to other groups in the region than expected, consistent with the historical unification of distinct subgroups during state centralization. We also found evidence of genetic mixing dating to the time of the Kingdom at its most prominent. Using this unique dataset, we characterize the genetic history of the Kasai Central Province and describe the historic late wave of migrations into the region that contributed to a Bantu-like ancestry component found across large parts of Africa today. Taken together, we show the power of genetics to evidence events of sociopolitical importance and highlight how DNA can be used to better understand the behaviors of both people and institutions in the past. date: 2019-01-08 date_type: published publisher: National Academy of Sciences official_url: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811211115 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Journal Article verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1607741 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1811211115 language_elements: English lyricists_name: Hellenthal, Garrett lyricists_name: Lopez, Saioa lyricists_name: Thomas, Mark lyricists_name: van Dorp, Lucy lyricists_id: GRHEL40 lyricists_id: SLOPE17 lyricists_id: MTHOM52 lyricists_id: VANDO45 actors_name: Waragoda Vitharana, Nimal actors_id: NWARR44 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences volume: 116 number: 2 pagerange: 593-598 issn: 0027-8424 citation: van Dorp, L; Lowes, S; Weigel, L; Ansari-Pour, N; López, S; Mendoza-Revilla, J; Robinson, JA; ... Hellenthal, GR; + view all <#> van Dorp, L; Lowes, S; Weigel, L; Ansari-Pour, N; López, S; Mendoza-Revilla, J; Robinson, JA; Henrich, J; Thomas, MG; Nunn, N; Hellenthal, GR; - view fewer <#> (2019) Genetic legacy of state centralization in the Kuba Kingdom of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 116 (2) pp. 593-598. 10.1073/pnas.1811211115 <https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811211115>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10063792/1/Hellenthal_The%20Genetic%20Legacy%20of%20State%20Centralization%20in%20the%20Kuba%20Kingdom%20of%20the%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20the%20Congo_VoR.pdf