Ancient Genomics Research Reveals the Genetic Evolution and Social Structure of Prehistoric Gansu Populations

Beijing, September 3, China News Service — A latest ancient genome study shows that while prehistoric populations in Gansu accepted wheat agriculture introduced from West Asia, as well as domesticated plants and animals such as cattle and sheep and the related technologies, there was no largescale influx of Western populations. The local population was still mainly composed of components related to northern East Asia. This study, jointly completed by the team of Fu Qiaomei at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with Chinese and foreign scholars, analyzed the genetic history and social structure of 149 ancient human genomes from 11 sites in Gansu, covering a period from about 4,700 to 3,000 years ago. The findings were recently published in the international academic journal Cell. The study also found extensive kinship ties among samples from the Mogou site in Gansu, but internal mating was not concentrated, and burial patterns were not determined solely by kinship or time, showing a complex social organization model different from previously known types in Europe and East Asia.