The answer, broadly, was yes — the Lagoa Santa ancient genomes showed patterns of genetic similarity to later South American populations that were consistent with population continuity rather than replacement.

This was not a trivial finding.

One plausible explanation for the difference between early and later American skeletal morphology had been that there was an actual population replacement — that a population with one morphological profile was replaced by a population with a different morphological profile, with minimal genetic mixing.

The ancient genome data did not support this strong version of the replacement model.

Instead, the evidence supported a picture of population continuity — with genetic contributions from the early inhabitants of Lagoa Santa persisting into later populations — combined with the changes in morphological characteristics that can occur over time within a genetically continuous population through developmental plasticity, dietary changes, and other non-genetic factors.