I Manmofona Na Taotao (First Peoples). Following the trail of Austronesian peoples that have Proto-Malayo-Polynesian linguistic characteristics and current CHamoru DNA studies, the first wave of settlers in Remote Oceania settled in the Mariana Islands sometime between 5,000 and 3,500 years ago from Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), likely from Wallacea (Sulawesi and the Moluccas).
As a result of time, space and isolation, the CHamoru mitochondrial DNA is unique and within the haplotypes E2a and E1a2 (Pre-Latte period). CHamoru people with B4a1a1a that also contains a specific and unique mutation are believed to have come from a separate and second wave of migration to the islands, which parallels the Latte period.
Interestingly as well, other variations of B4a1a1a: 1) are found in Carolinians from Saipan; and, 2) is of the Polynesian Motif and within the timeframe of settlers in Polynesia.
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Sources:
- Geographic map is from Wikimedia Commons. Animation is mine.
- Vilar, M. et al. 2012. The Origins and Genetic Distinctiveness of the Chamorros of the Marianas Islands: An mtDNA Perspective.
