Historia biológica de Yanga, ¿primer palenque libre de América?

Résumé

The American populations are the result of crossings between Amerindians, Europeans and Africans groups, resulting in the mestizo tri-hybrid model. The African contribution requires special attention because has not been taken into account in mestizo studies until recently. The population of Yanga (State of Veracruz, Mexico) was founded in 1618 by freed African -cimarrones- constituting the first free palenque from North America and possibly from the American continent. This study confirms that the presence of African genetic traces is discrete, lower than expected given the historical importance of this population as a collector of slaves and as reference of the identity of African descent. This unexpected result is justified by dilution phenomena, selective migration and social pressure favouring certain types of crossings. On the other hand, a north-south gradient in the African contribution has been detected in Mexico, directly related to the European and inverse to the Amerindian.