The selection of sites spanning from the Preceramic through the Muisca period ensured that the major cultural transitions on the plateau were represented in the genetic record.

What the time series revealed was not gradual change but apparent discontinuity: a sharp break in the genetic record between the Preceramic and Herrera periods, with no detectable genetic continuity between the two populations.

Whether future research will fill in this gap — identifying individuals from the intervening 4,000 years who show intermediate genetic profiles — remains to be seen.

Finding and successfully extracting DNA from individuals who lived on the Altiplano between 6,000 and 2,000 years before present would be enormously valuable for understanding the timing and mechanism of the transition.

What The Study Does Not Say