Mitochondrial DNA analysis of human remains from the Yuansha site in Xinjiang, China

Gao, Shizhu; Cui, Yinqiu; Yang, Yi-Dai; Duan, Ranhui; Abuduresule, Idelisi; Mair, Victor H.; Zhu, Hong; Zhou, Hui

doi:10.1007/s11427-008-0034-8

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Its highest frequency is in western Eurasia (mainly the Baltic region) with occasional occurrences in eastern Eurasia. This founder haplotype was also observed in two ancient specimens, one from Kazakhstan (1400-1300 BC, Bronze Age; Lalueza-Fox et al 2004), the other from a Xinjiang site in northwestern China (Gao et al 2008). Surprisingly, the S37-haplotype, diVering from the previous one by two additional mutations, was not observed in our database.…”

Section: Y-chromosomal Str and Snp Analysissupporting

confidence: 66%

“…Interestingly, the haplotype of specimen S09 matches that of an ancient specimen from the Yuansha site (Taklamakan desert, Xinjiang Province, northwestern China) and dated back to 2,135 § 50 years (Gao et al 2008), suggesting genetic relationships between Andronovo populations and those of the Xinjiang. The Bronze Age inhabitants of the Xinjiang were intrigued at their "Caucasoid" physical appearance and putative "European" origins (Mallory and Mair 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

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Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people

et al. 2009

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To help unravel some of the early Eurasian steppe migration movements, we determined the Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial haplotypes and haplogroups of 26 ancient human specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area dated from between the middle of the second millennium BC. to the fourth century AD. In order to go further in the search of the geographic origin and physical traits of these south Siberian specimens, we also typed phenotype-informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. Our autosomal, Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal that whereas few specimens seem to be related matrilineally or patrilineally, nearly all subjects belong to haplogroup R1a1-M17 which is thought to mark the eastward migration of the early Indo-Europeans. Our results also confirm that at the Bronze and Iron Ages, south Siberia was a region of overwhelmingly predominant European settlement, suggesting an eastward migration of Kurgan people across the Russo-Kazakh steppe. Finally, our data indicate that at the Bronze and Iron Age timeframe, south Siberians were blue (or green)-eyed, fair-skinned and light-haired people and that they might have played a role in the early development of the Tarim Basin civilization. To the best of our knowledge, no equivalent molecular analysis has been undertaken so far.

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Section: Y-chromosomal Str and Snp Analysissupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people

et al. 2009

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“…Alternatively, they could come from more recent prehistoric migrations of nomadic people bearing Eurasian sequences into Central Asia and the Far East, and their subsequent downwards movement to Iran at the time of the Indo-European diffusion (1,300 BC). Such hypothesis relies on the data from the Yuansha site mummies (Xinjiang Province, North-Western China) which date back 2,135 years [47] , showing genetic (mtDNA H lineages) and morphological traits (long noses, blonde hair) of the European type, as well as on the Tocharian language, an Indo-European relic in modern China. A more direct association can also be inferred between Iranian ethnic groups with an ancient nomadic lifestyle and South-Siberian tribes of the 'Kourgan culture' for T1 lineages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discordant Patterns of mtDNA and Ethno-Linguistic Variation in 14 Iranian Ethnic Groups

Farjadian¹,

Sazzini

Tofanelli

et al. 2011

Hum Hered

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Background/Aims: Present-day Iran has long represented a natural hub for the expansion of human genes and cultures. That being so, the overlapping of prehistoric and more recent demographic events interacting at different time scales with geographical and cultural barriers has yielded a tangled patchwork of anthropological types within this narrow area. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate this ethnic mosaic by depicting a fine-grained picture of the Iranian mitochondrial landscape. Methods: mtDNA variability at both HVS-I and coding regions was surveyed in 718 unrelated individuals belonging to 14 Iranian ethnic groups characterized by different languages, religions and patterns of subsistence. Results: A discordant pattern of high ethno-linguistic and low mtDNA heterogeneity was observed for the whole examined Iranian sample. Geographical factors and cultural/linguistic differences actually represented barriers to matrilineal gene flow only for the Baloch, Lur from Yasouj, Zoroastrian and Jewish groups, for which unusual reduced levels of mtDNA variability and high inter-population distances were found. Conclusion: Deep rooting genealogies and endogamy in a few of the examined ethnic groups might have preserved ancestral lineages that can be representative of Proto-Indo-Iranian or prehistoric mitochondrial profiles which survived relatively recent external contributions to the Iranian gene pool.

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“…Thus, it is known that by 2800 years ago, Proto-European and Eastern Mediterranean peoples had already migrated [7][8][9] through the valleys into the Pamirs into the Tarim Basin from Central Asia. However, scope for depicting their way of life and mode of adaptation to the desert oasis environment is constrained by a lack of historical (documentary and literary) and archaeological information [10,11].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The Sino-French Expedition Team (1994) believes this site was built in Western Han (206 BCE-25 CE) or even earlier [15]. The anthropologists thought that the inhabitants were Mediterranean peoples [7], an interpretation reinforced by the DNA analysis of human (Mitochondrial) remains [8]. About 40 km southeast of the Yuansha Site are the city ruins of the Karadun Site, also located on an ancient delta (Figures 1 and 2).…”

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confidence: 99%

Hydrological changes and settlement migrations in the Keriya River delta in central Tarim Basin ca. 2.7–1.6 ka BP: Inferred from 14C and OSL chronology

Zhang

Wang

Yimit

et al. 2011

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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Over one hundred artifacts, including shards, chopped wood, bronze and iron ware debris as well as footprints, have been discovered during archaeological investigations at and around the central Taklamakan Desert Yuansha Site (38°52′N, 81°35′E). Dating ( 14 C and OSL) and landform study show that the present-day dry Keriya River once sustained an oasis human settlement in 2.6 ka BP, historically falling into the Spring and Autumn Period (716-475 BCE) of Chinese history. The chronology and archaeological interpretations also show that some 400 years later, the local Keriya River channel had shifted 40 km southeast to sustain a Western Han (206 BCE-25 CE) Wumi settlement at the Karadun site. In the meantime, river-channel migration had allowed reoccupation of a site west of Yuansha City around 1.9 ka BP (abandoned again by 1.6 ka BP). The remains' chronology shows that this site was affiliated to Wumi culture and Eastern Han (24-220 CE) dynasty rule. Palaeoclimatic records indicate that the migrations of the river and oasis settlers between 2.7 and 1.6 ka BP were coeval with Central Asian climate changes. Yuansha City was built just after the end of 2.8 ka BP glacier advances in western China, suggesting that release of more water during the subsequent glacier recession may have facilitated oasis development such that Iron Age European peoples could settle in the Tarim Basin. As shown from analysis of archeological remains, not only at Yuansha but also in other ancient cities in the Tarim such as Loulan and Jingjue (Niya), conditions around 1.6 ka BP were dry enough to cause oasis decline. Thus, the results reported here enhance our knowledge about environmental changes and their effects on human activities and cultural evolution in western China and will stimulate further interdisciplinary studies of landscape and oasis history in the Tarim Basin. Taklamakan, Keriya, river, Yuansha, settlement migrate, 2.8 ka BP, 14 C, OSL Citation: Zhang F, Wang T, Yimit H, et al. Hydrological changes and settlement migrations in the Keriya River delta in central Tarim Basin ca. 2.7-1.6 ka BP:

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Mitochondrial DNA analysis of human remains from the Yuansha site in Xinjiang, China

Cited by 17 publications

References 20 publications

Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people

Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people

Discordant Patterns of mtDNA and Ethno-Linguistic Variation in 14 Iranian Ethnic Groups

Hydrological changes and settlement migrations in the Keriya River delta in central Tarim Basin ca. 2.7–1.6 ka BP: Inferred from 14C and OSL chronology

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