They had their own language, their own social organization, and their own relationship to the highland environments of the Eastern Cordillera.

The 2025 study’s inclusion of Guane individuals extended the geographic scope of the genetic analysis beyond the Bogotá Altiplano proper and provided a comparative perspective on how the regional genetic landscape varied across culturally distinct groups.

The genetic analysis of the Guane individuals from Purnia suggested some differences from the Altiplano population, consistent with the idea that the populations of the northern Santander region had a somewhat distinct demographic history from those of the Bogotá savanna.

However, the Guane individuals also showed affinities to the Central American-related ancestry documented in the Herrera and Muisca-period Altiplano individuals, suggesting that the broader regional pattern of Central American ancestry replacement applied across a wider area than just the Bogotá Altiplano.