A genetic history of China The history of human movements into and within China has been difficult to determine solely from archaeological investigations or genetic studies of contemporary peoples. Yang et al. sequenced DNA from 26 individuals from 9500 to 300 years ago from locations within China. Analyses of these individuals, along with previously sequenced ancient individuals and present-day genomes representing global populations, show a split between ancient humans in northern and southern China. Neolithic northern Chinese individuals are closest to modern-day East Asians, whereas ancient individuals from southern China are most closely related to modern-day Southeast Asians and show an affinity to modern-day Austronesian populations. These results indicate that there was a southward movement and admixture of peoples during the Neolithic that gave rise to modern-day populations in East Asia. Science this issue p. 282