Scientists rediscover human groups that were thought to have died out decades ago
Catherine Shuttleworth
Sep 27, 2023
A team of researchers have rediscovered a human population that was thought to have been lost decades ago.
When a number of languages died out in southern Africa's Namib Desert, anthropologists feared that the populations that spoke them had gone, too.
However, experts have now discovered that the genetic identity of these groups may have been maintained, even without their native tongue.
"We were able to locate groups which were once thought to have disappeared more than 50 years ago," Dr Jorge Rocha of the University of Porto said in a statement.
One of these groups is the Kwepe, who used to speak Kwadi. The disappearance of the language was thought to mark the end of their separation from neighbouring populations.
Dr Ann-Maria Fehn of the Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos said: "Kwadi was a click language that shared a common ancestor with the Khoe languages spoken by foragers and herders across Southern Africa."
More:
https://www.indy100.com/science-tech/genetic-study-south-africa-human
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