Scientists Compared Ancient Cambodian DNA To India — One Result Shocked Everyone

For centuries, historians knew that ancient Cambodia was deeply influenced by India through religion, language, trade and political ideas. Ancient DNA has now shown that the connection was not only cultural. Researchers analyzed a Protohistoric individual from the Vat Komnou cemetery at Angkor Borei, dating to roughly the 1st–3rd centuries CE, during the early Funan period. The genome could be modeled as a mixture of East Asian-related and South Asian ancestry, with the South Asian component estimated at roughly 40–50%. The closest plausible modern proxies came from southern India. IN THIS DOCUMENTARY YOU’LL DISCOVER:- How early Indian ancestry reached ancient Cambodia Why the Funan period matters What made this individual genetically unusual Why southern Indian populations produced the strongest models How trade and migration may have moved people across the Bay of Bengal Why one ancient genome cannot represent every Cambodian The finding suggests South Asian gene flow reached Cambodia about a millennium earlier than estimates based only on present-day populations. What surprised you more—the amount of South Asian ancestry or how early it appeared? Like, Subscribe and turn on Notifications for more ancient-DNA and human-origins documentaries. #cambodian #dnatest #ancientdna #indianancestry #angkorborei #southasia #southeastasia #populationgenetics #humanorigins #dnadiscovery