The Herrera ceramic complex — the Formative-period pottery tradition that appears on the Altiplano around 2,800 to 1,200 years before present — has long been debated by archaeologists.

There were two competing hypotheses: either the Herrera ceramic tradition developed in situ from the local hunter-gatherer population through independent innovation, or it was introduced from outside the region by incoming populations.

The genetic evidence from the 2025 study provides strong support for the second hypothesis.

The people associated with the Herrera ceramic complex on the Bogotá Altiplano were not genetically continuous with the Preceramic hunter-gatherers.

Their ancestry profile looks Central American, not like a local continuation of the Checua population.