The most recent publication on the Botocudo remains reports
full genome sequences from two of the skulls from the museum
collection (Bot 15 and Bot 17) that indicate full Polynesian ancestry
and thus reject the possible Madagascar connection (Malaspinas
et al., 2014). The samples were radiocarbon dated to sometime
between 1452e1510 AD and 1579e1620 AD for Bot 15 and between
1419 and 1477 AD for Bot 17. These dates indicate that the skulls
were unlikely to represent the remains of living individuals picked
up in Polynesia during periods of Pacific slave trade, because that
was not fully established until after 1760 AD. They could, however,
have been skeletal remains that were picked up in Polynesia by
some early European voyager and which were subsequently