🏝️ Soqotra’s medieval people came from Arabia, not Africa

Ancient genomes from 39 individuals (∼650–1750 CE) show Soqotra’s population was ~86% Hadramawt-like Arabian with ~14% Iranian-related ancestry and only a trace (≤~2%) South Asian signal — and no Holocene sub-Saharan African admixture.

Their deeper ancestry also skews more Natufian-like (Late Pleistocene Levant) and less Neolithic-Levant than mainland Arabians, pointing to peopling from coastal South Arabia and long-term isolation on the island.

Takeaway: Soqotra’s medieval gene pool was overwhelmingly Arabian in origin, with a small Iranian-related thread from Indian Ocean trade — and unusually little African input for the region.

Source: Sirak et al., 2024. Medieval DNA from Soqotra points to Eurasian origins of an isolated population at the crossroads of Africa and Arabia.