Phylogeographic analysis of the Bantu language expansion supports a rainforest route

Southern Africa has been shaped by the large-scale expansion of Bantu populations fueled by agriculture: Currently, 240 million people speak one of the more than 500 Bantu languages. However, the timing and geographic routes undergone by the Bantu populations remain largely unknown. We use cutting-edge phylogeographic techniques to show that Bantu populations migrated through the Central African tropical rainforest around 4,400 y ago. This adds to the growing evidence that agricultural expansions can successfully overcome ecological challenges as they unfold.