<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> Rachel Huang

Rachel Huang

 

Autosomal STR Analysis by DNA Tribes

Native Population Match: Thailand, Thailand, Basque (Alava, Spain), Java (Indonesia), Malay (Singapore), Balearic Islands (Spain), Ashkenazi (Budapest, Hungary), Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Italy, Sicilia (Italy), Germany, Lille (France), Sicily (Italy), Marmara (Turkey), Javanese, Székely (Romania), Switzerland, Extremadura (Spain), Mulao (Guangxi), Kirgiz (Xinjiang).

Global Population Match: Thailand, Malay, Thailand, Basque (Alava, Spain), Java (Indonesia), Malay (Singapore), Moroccan (Belgium), Balearic Islands (Spain), Ashkenazi (Budapest, Hungary), Maracaibo (Venezuela), Caucasian, Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Caracas (Venezuela), Brazil, Italy, Sicilia (Italy), Central Mexico, Germany, Lille (France), Caucasian (New York, USA).

World Region Match: Malay Archipelago, Southeast Asian, Asia Minor, Northwest European, Eastern European, Mongolian, Finno-Ugrian, Chinese, Japanese, Mestizo, North India, India, Arabian, North African, Tibetan, Southern African, West African.

* Repeat means match to a different population sample from the same country.

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Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

 

The Malay Archipelago

 

Southeast Asia

 

 

* Distribution of HLA Gene and Haplotype Frequencies in Taiwan: A comparative study among Min-nan, Hakka, Aborigines and Mainland Chinese by C.K. Shaw, et al.

Abstract: A total of 8,497 blood samples were typed for HLA-A, B, DR and DQ. Of these, 7,137 Min-nan, 714 Hakka, 535 Mainland Chinese (152 from North China, 211 from Middle China, and 172 from South China) and 111 Aborigines were randomly selected from Tzu Chi Taiwan Marrow Donor Registry (TCTMDR). Differences in HLA gene and antigen frequencies have been observed between various ethnic groups of the Chinese population in Taiwan. The phylogenic tree shows Taiwan Aborigines and Javanese cluster together; Min-nan shares a common cluster with Hakka, Southern Hans and Thai; and Northern Hans shares a cluster with Middle Hans. The separation between Northern/Middle and Southern Chinese Hans support the idea that Northern and Southern Chinese have different genetic background. Aborigines appeared to be quite distinct in the distribution of a majority of the class I and class II antigens. High frequency of HLA-A24 (60.4%) and relatively restricted HLA polymorphisms are noted in Aborigines. The HLA haplotypes with high frequency in Aborigines included A24-B60-DRB1*04, A24-B60-DRB1*14, A24-B48-DRB1*04, and A24-B48-DRB1*14, which are different from the other ethnic groups. Although the phylogenic tree separates Aborigines and Han Chinese populations, 4 out of 20 most common HLA-A, -B, and -DR haplotypes presented in both Aborigines and Han Chinese may reflect an ancient common origin or intermixture between early settlers of Han Chinese and Taiwan Aborigines. The results in this study are essentially a summary of the observed gene/haplotype frequencies and differences among various ethnic groups in Taiwan.

 

* The Origin of Minnan & Hakka, the So-Called "Taiwanese" Inferred by HLA Study by M. Lin

Abstract: The Minnan and Hakka people groups, the so-called "Taiwanese", are the descendants of early settlers from the southeast coast of China during the last few centuries. Genetically they showed affinities to southern Asian populations as determined by phylogenetic trees and correspondence analysis calculated from HLA allele frequencies. This corresponds historically with the fact that they are the descendants of the southeast coastal indigenous population (Yueh) of China and should therefore not be considered as descendants of "pure" northern Han Chinese. A33-B58-DRB1*03 (A33-Cw10-B58-DRB1*03-DQB1*02), the most common HLA haplotype among "Taiwanese", with a haplotype frequency of 6.3%, has also been found to be the most common haplotype among Thai-Chinese and Singapore Chinese, two other populations also originating from the southeast coast of China. These observations suggest that this haplotype is the most well conserved ancient haplotype of the Yueh (從組織抗原推論閩南人及客家人，所謂「台灣人」的來源 by 林媽利).

 

 

Taiwanese

Taiwanese people (臺灣人): According to the government, the majority of Taiwan's 23 million population consist of 98% Han Chinese, with a minority Austronesian population of less than 500,000. Migration to Taiwan from southern Asia began approximately 12,000 BC, but large-scale migration to Taiwan did not occur until the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century as a result of political and economic chaos in China. The first large scale migration occurred as a result of the Manchu invasion and conquest of China, overthrowing the Ming dynasty and establishing the Qing dynasty, which was established in 1644 and remained until 1911.

In 1624, the Dutch East India Company, on the suggestion of the Ming Court, established an outpost in Tainan in southern Taiwan. The Dutch soon realized Taiwan's potential as a colony for trading deer hide, venison, rice, and sugar. However, Aborigines were not interested in developing the land and transporting settlers from Europe would be too costly. Due to the resulting labor shortage, the Dutch opted to hire Han farmers from across the Taiwan Strait. Migration of male laborers from Fujian steadily increased into the 18th and 19th century. In time, this migration and the gradual removal of ethnic markers (coupled with the acculturation, intermarriage and assimilation of plains Aborigines with the Han) resulted in the wide spread adoption of Han patterns of behavior making Taiwanese Han the ethnic majority.

The composite category of "Taiwanese people" is often reputed by many Taiwanese to include a significant population of at least four constituent ethnic groups: the Hoklo (Minnan, 70%), the Hakka (15%), Mainlander (13%), and Taiwanese Aborigines (2%)

 

 

Javanese

The Javanese are an ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Java. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of the island. At approximately 85 million people (as of 2004), it is the largest ethnic group on the island, and also in Indonesia.

Like most Indonesian ethnic groups, including the Sundanese of West Java, the Javanese are of Austronesian origins whose ancestors are thought to have originated in Taiwan, and migrated through the Philippines, reaching Java between 1,500BC and 1,000BC.

 

 

Malay

Malays (Malay: Melayu) are an ethnic group of Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations.

The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Early History, has pointed out a total of three theories of the origin of Malay:

  1. The Yunnan theory, Mekong river migration (published 1889)
  2. The New Guinea theory (published 1965)
  3. The Taiwan theory (published 1997)

The ancestor of Malays are believed to be seafarers knowledgeable in oceanography. They moved around from island to island in great distances between New Zealand and Madagascar, and they served as navigation guide, crew and labour to Indian, Arab, Persian and Chinese traders for nearly 2000 years. Over the years they settled at various places and adopted various cultures and religions.

Some historians suggested they were descendants of Austronesian-speakers who migrated from the Philippines and originally came from Taiwan.

Malays in Singapore: When Raffles came to Singapore, there were already hundreds of indigenous Malays living there. They were made up of the nobility that were headed by the Temenggong, the palace officials and his followers as well as the Orang Laut. Subsequently, the numbers increased with the arrivals of other Malays from Malaya and the Malay Archipelago.

In a matter of several months, hundreds of Malays from Malacca came to Singapore, encouraged by the British who wanted to develop Singapore as a centre for trade and administration (Siebel, 1961:27). When Singapore became more developed and there were better economic opportunities, many Malays from Riau, Sumatra, Penang, Malacca and Johore came to Singapore.

 

 

Thai

The Thai (or Tai) are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Tai-Kadai family of languages. The term Thai people may also refer to the population of Thailand in general, and not only to ethnic Thais.

The earliest mention of the Thai, as a nation in south China called NAN-JOA (Nanzhao or Nanman), comes from Chinese records dating back to the sixth century BC. These early Thai emanated out of the Yunnan region and dispersed into the general area of what is today Thailand. These Thai peoples arrived in various waves and displaced the earlier native Mon and Khmer populations as they settled the region with a large group settling in Thailand during the Sung period of China roughly around 960 AD. The related Lao people split off from the early Tai-Kadai peoples and moved into Southeast Asia, mainly Laos, while another kindred people, the Shan, made their way into Myanmar.

Peopling of Thailand: Aside from ethnic groups representing recent expatriate migrations, and the earliest Negrito arrivals, the ethnic groups of Thailand are all believed to be descended from ethnicities associated with clades of Y-DNA Haplogroup O, suggesting an ancient homogeneous ethnicity in China some 35,000 years ago which, over time, spread out and independently evolved into diverse sub-ethnicities, branches of which found their way to Thailand at different points in history, employing different migration routes and modes of transportation, only after being infused with elements of other cultures along the way, via both exposure and inter-breeding. The result is an extremely diverse population of distantly related tribes with a common Asian heritage steeped in ancient tradition.

Gradual Inland Migration of Tai Peoples from China: The Tai migration from the northern mountains into Thailand and Laos was a slow process, with the Tai generally remaining near to the mountainous regions within the region, where they were able to use their specialized agricultural knowledge relating to the use of mountain water resources for rice production. The earliest Tai settlements in Thailand were along the river valleys in along the northern border of the country. Eventually, the Tai settled the central plains of Thailand (which were covered with dense rainforest) and displaced and inter-bred with the pre-existing Austro-Asiatic population. The languages and culture of the Tai eventually came to dominate the regions of both modern-day Laos and Thailand. In more recent times, many of the Tai tribes of Laos also migrated west across the border establishing communities in Thailand. The Laotian Tai ethnic groups, often referred to as the Lao), are largely clustered in the Isan region of Thailand.

Comparative linguistic research seems to indicate that the Tai people were a proto Tai-Kadai speaking culture of southern China, and that they, like the Malay-Polynesians, may have originally been of Austronesian descent. Prior to inhabiting mainland China, the Tai are suspected to have migrated from a homeland on the island of Taiwan where they spoke a dialect of Proto-Austronesian or one of its descendant languages. After the arrival of Sino-Tibetan speaking ethnic groups from mainland China to the island of Taiwan, the Tai would have then migrated into mainland China, perhaps along the Pearl River, where their language greatly changed in character from the other Austonesian languages under influence of Sino-Tibetan and Hmong-Mien language infusion. The coming of the Han Chinese to this region of southern China may have prompted the Tai to migrate in mass once again, this time southward over the mountains of southern China into Southeast Asia via the mountains of Burma and Laos to the north of Thailand. It is believed that the Tai ethnic groups began migrating southward from China and into Southeast Asia during the first millennium A.D. While this theory of the origin of the Tai is currently the leading theory, there is insufficient archaeological evidence to prove or disprove the proposition at this time, and the linguistic evidence alone is not conclusive. However, in further support of the theory, it is believed that the O1 Y-DNA haplogroup is associated with both the Austronesian people and the Tai.

Over the years, the Tai intermarried and absorbed many of the other populations who co-inhabited and/or politically occupied the region, particularly populations of Mon-Khmer, Burmese, and Chinese descent. This fusion of ethnicity has led to considerable genetic diversity in the modern Thai people, and has resulted in a Tai population significantly different in culture, language and physical appearance from the Tai ethnic groups who remained in China.

 

 

* Genetic History of Southeast Asian Populations as Revealed by Ancient and Modern Human Mitochondrial DNA Analysis by P. Lertrit, et al.

Abstract: The 360 base-pair fragment in HVS-1 of the mitochondrial genome were determined from ancient human remains excavated at Noen U-loke and Ban Lum-Khao, two Bronze and Iron Age archaeological sites in Northeastern Thailand, radio-carbon dated to circa 3,500-1,500 years BP and 3,200-2,400 years BP, respectively. These two neighboring populations were parts of early agricultural communities prevailing in northeastern Thailand from the fourth millennium BP onwards. The nucleotide sequences of these ancient samples were compared with the sequences of modern samples from various ethnic populations of East and Southeast Asia, encompassing four major linguistic affiliations (Altaic, Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai, and Austroasiatic), to investigate the genetic relationships and history among them. The two ancient samples were most closely related to each other, and next most closely related to the Chao-Bon, an Austroasiatic-speaking group living near the archaeological sites, suggesting that the genetic continuum may have persisted since prehistoric times in situ among the native, perhaps Austroasiatic-speaking population. Tai-Kadai groups formed close affinities among themselves, with a tendency to be more closely related to other Southeast Asian populations than to populations from further north. The Tai-Kadai groups were relatively distant from all groups that have presumably been in Southeast Asia for longer-that is, the two ancient groups and the Austroasiatic-speaking groups, with the exception of the Khmer group. This finding is compatible with the known history of the Thais: their late arrival in Southeast Asia from southern China after the 10th-11th century AD, followed by a period of subjugation under the Khmers.

 

Populations Selected for Genetic Comparison

 

Unrooted NJ Tree of 22 Selected Populations Based on Net Genetic Distances

 

PC Map of 22 Selected Populations Based on Net Genetic Distances

 

 

Origin and Migrations of Kradai-speaking Peoples

The Tai-Kadai languages, also known as Daic, Kadai, Kradai, or Kra-Dai, are a language family of highly tonal languages found in southern China and Southeast Asia. They include Thai and Lao, the national languages of Thailand and Laos.

The diversity of the Tai-Kadai languages in southeastern China, especially on Hainan, suggests that this is close to their homeland. The Tai branch moved south into Southeast Asia only in historic times, founding the nations that later became Thailand and Laos in what had been Austroasiatic territory.

The study of over 100 East Asian populations including 30 Kadai-speaking peoples had reached the following conclusions.

  1. The Tai-Kadai-speaking populations show a great deal of genetic similarity although admixture with local populations did occur after its expansion.
  2. A significant proportion of southern Chinese populations carry a signature of Tai-Kadai-speaking populations.
  3. Taiwanese Aborigines are more similar to Tai-Kadai-speaking populations than they are to the other Austronesian populations, that is, the Malayo-Polynesians.
  4. The clustering of subfamilies of Tai-Kadai-speaking populations correlates well with that based on their genetic similarity indicating limited gene flow between them after their separation.

Tai-Kadai-speaking populations originated in the southern part of East Asia and then migrated northwards and eastwards with Kam-Sui probably being the oldest.

External Relationships: The Tai-Kadai languages were formerly considered to be part of the Sino-Tibetan family, but outside of China they are now classified as an independent family. They contain large numbers of words that are similar in Sino-Tibetan languages. However, these are seldom found in all branches of the family, and do not include basic vocabulary, indicating that they are old loan words (Ostapirat 2005).

Several Western scholars have presented suggestive evidence that Tai-Kadai is related to or a branch of the Austronesian language family. There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary. Among proponents, there is yet no agreement as to whether they are a sister group to Austronesian in a family called Austro-Tai, a backmigration from Taiwan to the mainland, or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion.

 

 

* The Prehistory of the Daic (Taikadai) Speaking Peoples and the Hypothesis of an Austronesian Connection by Roger Blench

Map Showing Hypothetical Expansion of Daic Speakers

 

 

Mulao

(photo by paulnoll.com)

The Mulao (仫佬族; own name: Mulam) people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. A large portion of the Mulam in Guangxi live in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County of Hechi, Guangxi. It is believed that the Mulam are the descendants of the ancient Ling and Liao tribes that inhabited the region during the time of the Jin Dynasty. The Mulam speak the Mulam language, a Kradai language.

 

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Native Population Match: Thailand, Thailand, Basque (Alava, Spain), Java (Indonesia), Malay (Singapore), Balearic Islands (Spain), Ashkenazi (Budapest, Hungary), Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Italy, Sicilia (Italy), Germany, Lille (France), Sicily (Italy), Marmara (Turkey), Javanese, Székely (Romania), Switzerland, Extremadura (Spain), Mulao (Guangxi), Kirgiz (Xinjiang).

Global Population Match: Thailand, Malay, Thailand, Basque (Alava, Spain), Java (Indonesia), Malay (Singapore), Moroccan (Belgium), Balearic Islands (Spain), Ashkenazi (Budapest, Hungary), Maracaibo (Venezuela), Caucasian, Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Caracas (Venezuela), Brazil, Italy, Sicilia (Italy), Central Mexico, Germany, Lille (France), Caucasian (New York, USA).

World Region Match: Malay Archipelago, Southeast Asian, Asia Minor, Northwest European, Eastern European, Mongolian, Finno-Ugrian, Chinese, Japanese, Mestizo, North India, India, Arabian, North African, Tibetan, Southern African, West African.

 

 

Spanish Formosa

Spanish Formosa was a Spanish colony established in the north of Taiwan (then known as Formosa) from 1626 to 1642. Designed to protect Spanish and Portuguese trade from interference by the Dutch base in the south of Taiwan, the colony was short-lived due to the unwillingness of colonial authorities in Manila to commit men and materiel to defending it. After seventeen years the last fortress of the Spanish was besieged by Dutch forces, and eventually fell, giving the Dutch control over most of the island.

Background: In the early seventeenth century Catholic Spain was in competition with Protestant Holland for trade and influence in East Asia. With the establishment of a Dutch colony at Tayouan (present-day Anping) in the south of Taiwan, the Dutch gained the ability to effectively threaten Spanish trade in the region. As a counter to this threat, the Spanish decided to establish their own colony in the north of the island.

The Early Years (1626–1629): After landing at Cape Santiago (now Sandiao) in the north-east of Taiwan but finding it unsuitable for defensive purposes, the Spanish continued westwards along the coast until they arrived at Keelung. A deep and well-protected harbour plus a small island in the mouth of the harbour made it the ideal spot to build the first settlement, which they named Santissima Trinidad. Forts were built, both on the island and in the harbour itself.

In 1629 the Spanish set up their second base, centred around Fort San Domingo in Danshui.

First Battle with the Dutch: In 1641 the Spanish had become such an irritant to the Dutch in the south that it was decided to take northern Taiwan from the Spanish by force. In courteous terms, the Dutch Governor Paulus Traudenius informed the Spanish governor of their intentions.

Sir,
I have the honor to communicate to you that I have received the command of a considerable naval and military force with the view of making me master by civil means or otherwise of the fortress Santissima Trinidad in the isle of Ke-lung of which your Excellency is the Governor.
In accordance with the usages of Christian nations to make known their intentions before commencing hostilities, I now summon your Excellency to surrender. If your Excellency is disposed to lend an ear to the terms of capitulation which we offer and make delivery to me of the fortress of Santissima Trinidad and other citadels, your Excellency and your troops will be treated in good faith according to the usages and customs of war, but if your Excellency feigns to be deaf to this command there will be no other remedy than recourse to arms. I hope that your Excellency will give careful consideration to the contents of this letter and avoid the useless effusion of blood, and I trust that without delay and in a few words you will make known to me your intentions.
May God protect your Excellency many years,
The Friend of your Excellency,
PAULUS TRAUDENIUS

The Spanish governor was not inclined to give in so easily, and replied in kind.

Sir; I have duly received your communication of August 26th, and in response I have the honor to point out to you that as becomes a good Christian who recalls the oath he has made before his king, I cannot and will not surrender the forts demanded by your Excellency, as I and my garrison have determined to defend them. I am accustomed to find myself before great armies, and I have engaged in numerous battles in Flanders as well as other countries, and so I beg of you not to take the trouble of writing me further letters of like tenor. May each one defend himself as best he can. We are Spanish Christians and God in whom we trust is our protector.
May the Lord have mercy on you.
Written in our principal fortress San Salvador the 6th of September 1641.
GONSALO PORTILIS

Subsequently the Dutch launched an assault on the northern regions, but the Spanish positions were well-defended and the attacking troops were not able to breach the walls of the fortresses. They returned, thwarted, to the Dutch base at Fort Zeelandia.

* Video: Formosa española

* The "Justification" of the Spanish Intrusion in Taiwan in 1626 by Jose Eugenio Borao

 

 

Spain: Basque (Pais Vasco), Balearic Islands (Islas Baleares), Extremadura

Autonomous Communities of Spain: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Euskladi Pais Vasco (Basque), Navarra, La Rioja, Aragón, Catalunya (Catalonia), Illes Balears (Balearic Islands), Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Andalucia, Murcia, Islas Canarias, Ceuta, Melilla

 

 

Extremadura

Extremadura: This region was conquered by the Kingdom of Castile, but repopulated by many Leonese people, and their dialect (castúo) is thought to be a variety of the Leonese language. In the South they speak something related to the Andalusian dialect or accent of Spanish. There are some parts where Portuguese is also spoken near Olivenza, over which the Portuguese Republic holds a claim.

Extremadura was the source of many of the most famous Spanish conquerors ("conquistadores") and settlers in America. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Alvarado, Pedro de Valdivia, Francisco de Orellana, Pedro Gomez Duran y Chaves and Vasco Nunez de Balboa were all born in Extremadura and many towns and cities in America carry a name from their homeland: Mérida is the name of the administrative capital of Extremadura, and also of important cities in Mexico and Venezuela; Medellín is now a little town in Extremadura, but also the name of the second largest city in Colombia; Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and its name is due to a transcription mistake of Alburquerque, another town in Extremadura. Pedro de Valdivia founded numerous cities in Chile with names from small villages in Extremadura, such as Valdivia and La Serena. The capital Santiago de Chile was founded as "Santiago de Nueva Extremadura" (Santiago of New Extremadura).

* Video: Extremadura Ismael Sánchez "Con los cinco Sentidos", Extremqadura-Tierra de Conquistadores

 

 

Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands (Catalan and official: Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

The four largest islands are (from largest to smallest): Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, of which the capital city is Palma. The co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Spanish and Catalan (i.e. Mallorquí, Menorquí and Eivissenc, as Catalan is known by its speakers in this territory).

* Video: Illes Balears - Rafa Nadal - Spot 2010, Illes Balears - Islas Baleares - Balearic Islands

 

 

Basque

The Basques (Basque: Euskaldunak) are the native people of the Basque Country (Euskal Herria).

The name Basque derives from the ancient tribe of the Vascones, described by Ancient Greek historian Strabo as living south of the western Pyrenees and north of the Ebro River, in modern day Navarre and northern Aragon. This tribal name, of unknown etymology, was extended in late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages to cover all Basque-speaking people on either side of the Pyrenees.

The Basques as an ethnic group primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country, a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-eastern Spain and south-western France.

Genetics: Although they are genetically distinctive in some ways, the Basques are still very typically west European in terms of their mt-DNA and Y-DNA sequences, and in terms of some other genetic loci. These same sequences are widespread throughout the western half of Europe, especially along the western fringe of the continent. The Sami people of northern Scandinavia show an especially high abundance of a mt-DNA type found at 11% among Basques. Somewhat higher among neighbouring Cantabrians, the isolated Pasiegos have a mt-DNA V haplogroup of wider microsatellite variation than Sami. Autosomal genetic studies confirm that Basques have a very close relationship with other Europeans, especially with Spaniards - who have a common genetic identity of over 70% with Basques.

It is thought that the Basque Country and neighbouring regions served as a refuge for palaeolithic humans during the last major glaciation when environments further north were too cold and dry for continuous habitation. When climate warmed into the present interglacial, populations would have rapidly spread north along the west European coast. Genetically, in terms of Y-chromosomes and mt-DNA, inhabitants of Britain and Ireland are closely related to the Basques, reflecting their common origin in this refugial area. Basques, along with Irish, show the highest frequency of the Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup R1b in Western Europe; some 90% to 95% of males residing in the Basque country and Navarre have this haplogroup. The rest is mainly I and a minimal presence of E3b.The Y-chromosome and mtDNA relationship between Basques and people of Ireland and Wales is of equal ratios as to neighbouring areas of Spain, where similar "ethnically Spanish" people now live in close proximity to the Basques, although this genetic relationship is also very strong among Basques and other Spaniards. In fact, as Stephen Oppenheimer has stated in "The Origins of the British" (2006), although Basques have been more isolated than other Iberians, they are a population representative of south western Europe. As to the genetic relationship among Basques, Iberians and Britons, he also states (pages 375 and 378):

By far the majority of male gene types in the British Isles derive from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal), ranging from a low of 59% in Fakenham, Norfolk to highs of 96% in Llangefni, north Wales and 93% Castlerea, Ireland.

In fact, according to a European-wide study, the main components in the European genomes appear to derive from ancestors whose features were similar to those of modern Basques and Near Easterners, with average values greater than 35% for both these parental populations, regardless of whether or not molecular information is taken into account. The lowest degree of both Basque and Near Eastern admixture is found in Finland, whereas the highest values are, respectively, 70% ("Basque") in Spain and more than 60% ("Near Eastern") in the Balkans.

Before the development of modern genetics based on DNA sequencing, Basques were noted as having the highest global apportion of the Rh- blood type (35% phenotypically, 60% genetically). Additionally, the Basque population has virtually no B blood type, nor the related AB type. These differences are thought to reflect their long history of isolation, as well as times during which the Basque population contracted, allowing genetic drift to dramatically influence genetic makeup. The history of isolation reflected in gene frequencies has presumably also been key to the retention of the distinctive Basque language. In fact, in accordance with other genetic studies, a recent genetic piece of research from 2007 claims: "The Spanish and Basque groups are the furthest away from other continental groups (with more diversity within the same genetic groups) which is consistent with the suggestions that the Iberian peninsula holds the most ancient West European genetic ancestry."

* Videos: The Basque Country ( Euskal Herria ), Bilbao. Do You Know Any City

Basques in Asia: There is a little known, but thriving Basque population based in Asia, especially in the Philippines. The Philippines having been a Spanish colonial asset for over 300 years, was populated by the conquistadors, merchants, clergy, sailors and entreupeneurs that were mostly of Basque origin. These families of Basque lineage over time entrenched themselves and slowly integrated into the Philippine social landscape, developing themselves into some of the most prominent families in the country. This is evident to this day in the market dominance of Basque-originating families such as the Aboitiz shipping magnates, the Zobel de Ayala family and political clans like the Zubiris and the Ozámiz. A majority of names of Iberian (mostly Castilian and Catalan) origin in the Philippines, however, come not from actual peninsular ancestors but from the Catálogo alfabético de apellidos, a list of surnames imposed on the former Spanish province’s native inhabitants by then Captain-General Narciso Clavería. As a result of this, most Basque surnames in the Philippines are a veritable indicator of actual Iberian Peninsular ancestry, while common Castilian and Catalan family names in the Philippines could very well be traced to the catalog used by the colonial administrators in issuing out family names to natives of the Philippines who did not yet use surnames.

Some of the first Christian missionaries in Asia were of Basque descent such as the Jesuit Francis Xavier who died on Sancian Island off the Chinese Coast.

* Videos: Spanish Sailor F.Magellan vs Lapu-Lapu, Spanish Philippines: Colonial Era, Filipinos of Spanish Descent

 

Álava

Álava (Basque: Araba and officially Álava-Araba) is a province of northern Spain in the southern part of the Basque Autonomous Community. The province numbers a population of 301,926 inhabitants (2006 official estimate) in an area of 2,963 km². The vast majority of the population clusters in the capital city of Álava Vitoria-Gasteiz (Vitoria is the Spanish name, Gasteiz the Basque name), which also serves as the capital of the autonomous community.

* Video: Vitoria-Gasteiz

 

 

Basque Language

Basque (Euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in north-eastern Spain and south-western France.

Geographically surrounded by Indo-European languages, Basque is classified as a language isolate, the last remaining pre-Indo-European language in Western Europe. Consequently its prehistory may not be reconstructible by means of the comparative method except by applying it to language internal dialectal differences. Little is known of its origins but it is likely that an early form of the Basque language was present in Western Europe before the arrival of the Indo-European languages to the area.

The impossibility of linking Basque with its Indo-European neighbours in Europe has inspired many scholars to search for its possible relatives elsewhere. Besides many pseudoscientific comparisons, the appearance of long-range linguistics gave rise to several attempts to connect Basque with geographically very distant language families. All hypotheses on the origin of Basque are controversial, and the suggested evidence is not generally accepted by most linguists.

The Dené-Caucasian language family is a proposed language superfamily containing at least the Caucasian (blanket term for two language phyla spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey), Yeniseian, Burushaski, Sino-Tibetan, and Na-Dené languages. The relationship among these languages and the existence of a Dene-Caucasian family is disputed or rejected by most historical linguists, but due to its recentness, with most research beginning in the 1990s, there has yet been little discussion between supporters and skeptics.

 

 

* Intergenic DNA Sequences from the Human X Chromosome Reveal High Rates of Global Gene Flow by Murray P Cox, et al.

Geographic Representation of Population Migration Rates Nm

 

 

Swiss Mercenaries

Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment. Their service as mercenaries was at its apogee during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them the most sought-after mercenary troops in the world.

Another prime employer of Swiss mercenaries from the later 16th century on was Spain. After the Protestant Reformation, Switzerland was split along religious lines between Protestant and Catholic cantons. Swiss mercenaries from the Catholic cantons were thereafter increasingly likely to be hired for service in the armies of the Spanish Habsburg superpower in the later sixteenth century. The first regularly embodied Swiss regiment in the Spanish army was that of Walter Roll of Uri (a Catholic canton) in 1574, for service in the Spanish Netherlands, and by the middle of the seventeenth century there were a dozen Swiss regiments fighting for the Spanish army. From the latter part of the seventeenth century these could be found serving in Spain itself or in its possessions.

 

 

Jewish People in the Philippines

The history of the Jewish Community in Manila begins with the Spanish Inquisition of the 16th century, when many Jews of Spain, who were forcibly converted to Christianity, observed their Jewish life in secret and found themselves tried, convicted, and expelled for heretical behavior. Known as Marranos or "New Christians," these Crypto-Jews accompanied Spanish adventurers who settled in many Far Eastern ports, Manila included.

Two "New Christian" brothers, Jorge and Domingo Rodríguez, arrived in the Spanish Philippines in the 1590s. By 1593 both were tried and convicted at an auto da fe in Mexico City because the Inquisition did not have an independent tribunal in the Philippines. The Inquisition imprisoned the Rodríguez brothers and subsequently tried and convicted at least eight other "New Christians" from the Philippines. Such was the precarious status of Jewish settlers in the Philippines. Jewish presence during the subsequent centuries of Spanish colonization remained small and unorganized. Spanish Christianized laws would not have permitted the presence of an organized Jewish community.

Ashkenazi Jews (Standard Hebrew: sing. אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, pl. אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים) are descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland, "Ashkenaz" being the Medieval Hebrew name for Germany.

Many later migrated, largely eastward, forming communities in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Eastern Europe and elsewhere between the 10th and 19th centuries.

* Gene Test Shows Spain’s Jewish and Muslim Mix by Nicholas Wade

 

 

Dutch Formosa

Dutch Formosa refers to the period of colonial Dutch government on Formosa (now known as Taiwan), lasting from 1624 to 1662. In the context of the Age of Discovery the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Taiwan to trade with China and Japan, and also to interdict Portuguese and Spanish trade and colonial activities in East Asia.

The time of Dutch rule saw economic development in Taiwan, including both large-scale hunting of deer and the cultivation of rice and sugar by imported labour from Fujian in China. The government also attempted to convert the aboriginal inhabitants to Christianity and suppress some cultural activities they found disagreeable (such as forced abortion and habitual nakedness), in other words, to "civilise" the inhabitants of the island.

However, they were not universally welcomed and uprisings by both aborigines and recent Han Chinese arrivals were crushed brutally by the Dutch military on more than one occasion. The colonial period was brought to an end by the invasion of Koxinga's army after just 37 years.

History

Early years (1624–1625): On deciding to set up in Taiwan and in common with standard practice at the time, the Dutch built a defensive fort to act as a base of operations. This was built on the sandy peninsula of Tayouan (now part of mainland Taiwan, in the current-day district of Anping). The site chosen was accessible from the sea and had good sightlines for defensive purposes, but lacked fresh water, which had to be shipped from the mainland.

Growing control, pacification of the aborigines (1626–1636): The first order of business was to punish villages that had violently opposed the Dutch and unite the aborigines in allegiance with the VOC. The first punitive expedition was against the villages of Bakloan and Mattau, north of Saccam near Tayowan. The Mattau campaign had been easier than expected and the tribe submitted after having their village razed by fire. The campaign also served as a threat to other villages from Tirosen (Chiayi) to Longkiau (Hengchun).

Pax Hollandica and the ousting of the Spanish (1636–1642): Following the pacification campaigns of 1635–6, more and more villages came to the Dutch to swear allegiance, sometimes out of fear of Dutch military action, and sometimes for the benefits which Dutch protection could bring (food and security). These villages stretched from Longkiau in the south (125 km from the Dutch base at Fort Zeelandia to Favorlang in central Taiwan, 90 km to the north of Fort Zeelandia. The relative calm of this period has been called the Pax Hollandica (Dutch Peace) by some commentators (a reference to the Pax Romana).

One area not under their control was the north of the island, which from 1626 had been under Spanish sway, with their two settlements at Tamsuy and Keelung. The fortification at Keelung was abandoned because the Spanish lacked the resources to maintain it, but Fort Santo Domingo in Tamsuy was seen as a major obstacle to Dutch ambitions on the island and the region in general.

In 1642, the Dutch sent an expedition of soldiers and aboriginal warriors in ships to Tamsuy, managing to dislodge the small Spanish contingent from their fortress and drive them from Taiwan. Following this victory, the Dutch set about bringing the northern villages under their banner in a similar way to the pacification campaign carried out in the previous decade in the south.

Growing Chinese presence and the Guo Huaiyi Rebellion (1643–1659): The Dutch began to encourage large-scale Chinese immigration to the island, mainly from Fujian. Most of the immigrants were young single males who were discouraged from staying on the island often referred to by Han as "The Gate of Hell" for its reputation in taking the lives of sailors and explorers. After one uprising by Han Chinese in 1640, the Guo Huaiyi Rebellion in 1652 saw an organised insurrection against the Dutch, fuelled by anger over punitive taxes and corrupt officials. The Dutch again put down the revolt hard, with fully 25% of those participating in the rebellion being killed over a period of a couple of weeks.

Siege of Zeelandia and the end of Dutch government on Formosa (1660–1662): In 1661, a naval fleet of 1000 warships, led by the Ming loyalist Koxinga, landed at Lu'ermen to attack Taiwan in order to destroy and oust the Dutch from Zeelandia. Following a nine month siege, Koxinga captured the Dutch Fort Zeelandia and defeated the Dutch. Koxinga then forced the Dutch Government to sign a peace treaty at Zeelandia on 1 February 1662, and leave Taiwan. From then on, Taiwan became Koxinga's base for the Kingdom of Tungning.

Coda: The Dutch retake Keelung (1664–1668): After being ousted from Taiwan the Dutch allied with the new Qing Dynasty in China against the Zheng regime in Taiwan. Following some skirmishes the Dutch retook the northern fortress at Keelung in 1664. Zheng Jing sent troops to dislodge the Dutch, but they were unsuccessful. The Dutch held out at Keelung until 1668, when aborigine resistance (likely incited by Zheng Jing) and the lack of progress in retaking any other parts of the island persuaded them to give up their last stronghold and retreat from Taiwan altogether.

Demographics

Prior to the arrival of the Dutch colonists, Taiwan was almost exclusively populated by Taiwanese aborigines; Austronesian peoples who lived in a hunter-gatherer society while also practicing swidden agriculture. It is difficult to arrive at an estimate of the numbers of these native Formosans when the Dutch arrived, as there was no island-wide authority in a position to count the population, while the aborigines themselves did not keep written records. Even at the extent of greatest Dutch control in the 1650s there were still large regions of the island outside the pale of Dutch authority, meaning that any statistics given necessarily relate only to the area of Dutch suzerainty.

The population of Dutch Formosa was composed of three main groups; the aborigines, the Dutch contingent, and the Chinese. There were also a number of Spanish people resident in the north of the island between 1626 and 1642 in the area around Keelung and Danshui. At times there were also a handful of Japanese trader-pirates known as Wakō operating out of coastal areas outside Dutch control.

The Aborigines: The native Formosan peoples had been in Taiwan for many thousands of years before the Dutch arrived. Estimates of the total numbers of aborigines in Taiwan are difficult to come by, but one commentator suggests that there were 150,000 over the entire island during the Dutch era. They lived in villages with populations ranging from a couple of hundred up to around 2,000 people for the biggest towns, with different groups speaking different Formosan languages which were not mutually intelligible.

The Dutch: The Dutch contingent was initially composed mostly of soldiers, with some slaves and other workers from the other Dutch colonies, particularly the area around Batavia (current day Jakarta). The number of soldiers stationed on the island waxed and waned according to the military needs of the colony, from a low of 180 troops in the early days to a high of 1,800 shortly before Koxinga's invasion. There were also a number of other personnel, from traders and merchants to missionaries and schoolteachers, plus the Dutch brought with them slaves from their other colonies, who mainly served as personal slaves for important Dutch people.

 

 

Dutch People

The Dutch people are the dominant ethnic group of the Netherlands. They share a common culture, speaking the Dutch language and being of Dutch descent.

As with all ethnic groups the ethnogenesis of the Dutch (and their predecessors) has been a lengthy and complex process. Though the majority of the defining characteristics (such as language, religion, architecture or cuisine) of the Dutch ethnic group have accumulated over the ages, it is difficult (if not impossible) to clearly pinpoint the exact emergence of the Dutch people.

Following the end of the migration period in the West around 500 AD, with large federations (such as the Franks, Vandals, Alamanni and Saxons) settling the decaying Roman Empire, great changes occur among the Germanic peoples; who inhabited much of Northwestern Europe at the time.

Prior to this, the Germanic tribes formed tribal societies with no apparent form of autocracy (chiefs only being elected in times of war), beliefs based Germanic paganism and speaking a dialect still closely resembling Common Germanic. Yet following their incursions into (and eventual overthrow of) the Roman Empire, a series of monumental changes took place within these Germanic societies. Among the most important of these are their conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity, the new emerging of a political system; centered on kings and, continuing process of emerging unintelligibility of their various dialects.

As the general situation described above is applicable to most if not all modern European ethnic groups with origins among the Germanic tribes; such as the Frisians, Germans, English and the North-Germanic peoples; this paragraph will detail the specific process for the Dutch.

In the Low Countries, this phase began when the Franks, themselves a union of multiple smaller tribes (many of them, such as the Batavi, Chauci, Chamavi and Chattuarii who were already living in the Low Countries prior to the forming of the Frankish confederation), began to incur the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire. Eventually, in 358 AD, the Salian Franks, one of the three main subdivisions among the Frankish alliance settled the area's Southern lands as a foederati; Roman allies in charge of border defense.

As mentioned before, at this time no Dutch identity existed, but its first outlines emerged. Linguistically the Frankish language gradually evolved into Old Dutch, which was first attested in the 6th century, whereas religiously the Franks (beginning with the upper class) converted to Christianity from around 500 to 700 AD. On a political level, the Frankish warlords abandoned tribalism (thus beginning the process of de-identification as 'Frank' among the Franks) and founded a number of kingdoms, eventually culminating in the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne.

It should however be noted that the population make up of the Frankish Empire, or even early Frankish Kingdoms such as Neustria and Austrasia, was not dominated by Franks. Though the Frankish leaders indeed controlled most of Western Europe, the Franks themselves were confined to the Northwestern part (i.e the Low Countries and Northern France) of the Empire. Eventually, the Franks in Northern France were assimilated by the general Gallo-Roman population, and took over their dialects (which became French), whereas the Franks in the Low Countries retained their language, which would evolve into Dutch. The current Dutch-French language border has (with the exception of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais in France) remain virtually identical ever since, and could be seen as marking the furthest pale of gallicization among the Franks.

 

 

French Flanders

Nord-Pas de Calais

French Flanders (French: La Flandre française; Dutch: Frans-Vlaanderen) is a part of the historical, originally Dutch-speaking region Flanders in present-day France. The region today lies in the modern-day région of Nord-Pas de Calais, the departement of Nord, and roughly corresponds to the arrondissements of Lille, Douai, and Dunkirk on the Belgian border.

French Flanders is mostly flat marshlands in the coal-rich area just south of the North Sea. French Flanders consists of two regions:

  1. French Westhoek to the northwest, lying between the Lys River and the North Sea, roughly the same area as the Arrondissement of Dunkirk
  2. Lille Flanders (French: La Flandre Lilloise; Dutch: Rijsels-Vlaanderen), the French parts of Romance Flanders (historically also Walloon Flanders) to the southeast, south of the Lys and now the arrondissements of Lille and Douai

The region was originally part of the feudal County of Flanders, then part of the Spanish Netherlands, in present-day Belgium. It was separated from the county in 1659 due to the Peace of the Pyrenees, which ended the French-Spanish conflict in the Thirty Years War, and other parts of the region were added in successive treaties in 1668 and 1678. The region was ceded to the Kingdom of France, and became part of the province of Flanders and Hainaut. The bulk became part of French the modern administrative Department of Nord, although some western parts of the region which separated in 1237 and became County of Artois before the cession to the French are now part of Pas-de-Calais.

The Flemish people, the Flemings or the Flemish (de Vlamingen) are the over six million people of Flanders, the northern region of the country Belgium — and the majority of all Belgians.

Modern day Flanders however, does not correspond closely to the former County of Flanders, which included parts of present-day France and the Netherlands and did not include the central and eastern parts of present-day Flanders, which were part of other Holy Roman fiefs, chiefly the Duchy of Brabant and the County of Loon.

The Flemish once were, and sometimes still are, regarded as "Dutch". It is, however, inaccurate to view the Flemish as a Dutch offshoot. A more accurate view would be to consider the modern Dutch and Flemish as having been a single people which subsequently (due to all kinds of factors) split, with the Dutch 'keeping' the groups name in the international sphere. When this exact split occurred is open to debate (as is, in some circles, the split itself). Some claim it began when the Dutch Republic signed the Treaty of Münster, thus creating essentially the first political division between the Dutch, while others say it wasn't until the start of the Flemish movement at the beginning of the 20th century. As a result of this the Flemish people are generally not regarded as identical nowadays, and most Dutch people see them as a separate ethnic group. At the same time however, the Dutch and Flemish see themselves as the most similar people, and some institutions see "Fleming" as an alternative term for "Dutch".

The situation in Belgium itself was/is very vague. Until 1980, for example, the Flemish community was called the Nederlandse Cultuurgemeenschap (Dutch for "Dutch cultural community") and there are people who deny the existence of the Flemish as an ethnic group, and refer to them as Dutch-speaking Belgians instead.

* Videos: France - Lille March 2009, Flemish Painting

 

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Native Population Match: Thailand, Thailand, Basque (Alava, Spain), Java (Indonesia), Malay (Singapore), Balearic Islands (Spain), Ashkenazi (Budapest, Hungary), Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Italy, Sicilia (Italy), Germany, Lille (France), Sicily (Italy), Marmara (Turkey), Javanese, Székely (Romania), Switzerland, Extremadura (Spain), Mulao (Guangxi), Kirgiz (Xinjiang).

Global Population Match: Thailand, Malay, Thailand, Basque (Alava, Spain), Java (Indonesia), Malay (Singapore), Moroccan (Belgium), Balearic Islands (Spain), Ashkenazi (Budapest, Hungary), Maracaibo (Venezuela), Caucasian, Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Caracas (Venezuela), Brazil, Italy, Sicilia (Italy), Central Mexico, Germany, Lille (France), Caucasian (New York, USA).

World Region Match: Malay Archipelago, Southeast Asian, Asia Minor, Northwest European, Eastern European, Mongolian, Finno-Ugrian, Chinese, Japanese, Mestizo, North India, India, Arabian, North African, Tibetan, Southern African, West African.

 

 

Anatolia (also Asia Minor) is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising about two-thirds of the modern Republic of Turkey. Anatolia has been home to many civilizations throughout history, such as the Hittites, Phrygians, and Lydians, and Achaemenid, Greek, Armenian, Roman, Byzantine, Anatolian Seljuk and Ottoman states.

The vast majority of the people residing in Anatolia are Turks. Kurds, who constitute a major community in southeastern Anatolia, are the largest ethnic minority. Azerbaijanis, Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Bosnians, Circassians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Lazs and a number of other ethnic groups also live in Anatolia in smaller numbers.

 

The Marmara Region is the smallest but most densely populated of the seven geographical regions of Turkey. Its name derives from the Sea of Marmara, which itself is named for the island of Marmara, derived from the Greek μάρμαρον (marmaron) and that from μάρμαρος (marmaros), "crystalline rock", "shining stone", perhaps from the verb μαρμαίρω (marmairō), "to flash, sparkle, gleam".

* Video: Marmara Region Turkey, Istanbul

 

The Eastern Anatolia Region is one of seven non-administrative subdivisions of Turkey and encompasses its eastern provinces. Much of the Armenian Highland is located within this region. It has the highest average altitude, largest area, and lowest population density of all regions of Turkey.

The Armenian Highland is a plateau of Transcaucasia, connecting the Lesser Caucasus with the Taurus Mountains. The Armenian Plateau has been called the "epicenter of the Iron Age", since it appears to be the location of the first appearance of Iron Age metallurgy in the late 2nd millennium BC.

The apricot, a native to China, spread to Europe through the Armenia Highlands. It came to be known throughout the ancient world as the Armenian fruit, and its botanical name Prunus armeniaca, derives from the Latin vernacular for apricot, Armeniacum.

In 1984, it was suggested by Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov that the Proto-Indo-European homeland is located in the Armenian Highland.

Videos: Turkey Eastern Anatolia

 

 

Turkish People

The Turkish people also known as the "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey.

Ethnogenesis and Genetic Links: It is difficult to understand the complex cultural and demographic dynamics of the Turkic speaking groups that have shaped the Anatolian landscape for the last millennium. During the Bronze Age the population of Anatolia expanded, reaching an estimated level of 12 million during the late Byzantine Empire period. Such a large pre-existing Anatolian population would have reduced the impact by the subsequent arrival of Turkic speaking groups from Seljuk Persia, whose ethno-linguistic roots could be traced back to the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea basin in Central Asia. The Seljuk Turks were the main Turkic people who moved into Anatolia, starting from the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Around 1,000,000 Turkic migrants settled in Anatolia during the 12th and 13th centuries.

The question of to what extent a gene flow from Central Asia, via Persia, to Anatolia has contributed to the current gene pool of the Turkish people, and the role of the 11th century invasion by Seljuk Turks, has been the subject of several studies. It is concluded that aboriginal Anatolian groups may have given rise to the present-day Turkish population. DNA analysis research studies suggest that the Anatolians do not significantly differ from other Mediterraneans, indicating that while the Seljuk Turks carried out a permanent territorial conquest with strong cultural, linguistic and religious significance, it is barely genetically detectable.

Another significant flow into the present-day Turkish gene pool occurred during the Ottoman period, when large groups of non-Turks were culturally Turkicized through the Devshirme (Devşirme) system; including many of the leading Ottoman Grand Viziers such as Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and members of the Köprülü family. The famous Janissary (Yeniçeri) corps were entirely formed of non-Muslim children recruited at a very young age and raised with Turkish culture. Many Ottoman sultans (as well as other members of the Ottoman society) preferred to marry women from the European provinces of the empire, such as the famous sultanas Hürrem, Kösem, Nurbanu, Safiye and numerous others; and to a lesser extent with women from the Ottoman provinces in the Near East and North Africa. The naval battles between the Ottoman Empire and other European powers around the Mediterranean Sea also played an important role in large population exchanges (see, for instance, Uluç Ali Reis and Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha.)

 

 

* HLA Alleles and Haplotypes in the Turkish Population: Relatedness to Kurds, Armenians and other Mediterraneans by A. Arnaiz-Villena, et al.

Abstract: Turkish and Kurdish HLA profiles are studied for the first time. The comparative study of their allele frequencies, characteristic haplotypes, genetic distances with other Mediterraneans is complemented by neighbor-joining dendrograms and correspondence analyses. Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Iranians, Jews, Lebanese and other (Eastern and Western) Mediterranean groups seem to share a common ancestry: the older "Mediterranean" substratum. No sign of the postulated Indo-European (Aryan) invasion (1200 B.C.) is detected by our genetic analysis. It is concluded that this invasion, if occurred, had a relatively few invaders in comparison to the already settled populations, i.e. Anatolian Hittite and Hurrian groups (older than 2000 B.C.). These may have given rise to present-day Kurdish, Armenian and Turkish populations.

 

 

Mediterranean Sea

Twenty-one modern states have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. They are:

Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia, Corfu, Naxos and Andros in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Cres, Krk, Brač, Hvar, Pag, Korčula and Malta in the central Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean.

 

 

The Székely

Territory of Kingdom of Hungary by the end of the 15th century

The Székely or Szekler people (Hungarian: Székely, Romanian: Secui, German: Szekler, Latin: Siculi) are an ethnic subgroup of the Hungarian nation. Their origin has been much debated, it is, however, now generally accepted that they are either Hungarians, or the descendants of a Magyarized Turkic peoples, transplanted there to guard the frontier, their name meaning simply “frontier guards”. Their organization was of the Turkic type, and they are probably of Turkic (possibly Avar) stock. By the 11th century they had adopted the Hungarian language.

In the middle ages, the Székely, along with the Saxons, played a key role in the defense of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Turks. in their role as guards of the eastern border. Today they live mostly in Székely Land of Transylvania, which roughly correponds to the current counties of Harghita, Covasna and Mureş in Romania, with a significant population also living in Tolna, Hungary. Based on official 2002 Romanian census numbers, approximately 1,434,000 ethnic Hungarians live in Romania, mostly in Transylvania. Of these, about 665,000 live in the counties of Harghita, Covasna and parts of Mureş, with a Székely majority (65%). The Székely therefore account for a significant part (45%) of the Hungarians in Romania. When given the choice on the Romanian census between ethnically identifying as "Székely" or "Hungarian," the overwhelming majority of Székely choose the latter. Note that they were not allowed to choose both of them. On the last Romanian census (2002), only 150 persons declared their ethnicity as "Székely".

With the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, Transylvania (including Székely Land) became part of Romania, and the Székely population was a target of Romanianization efforts. In post-Cold War Romania, where the Székely form roughly a third of the ethnic Hungarian population, members of the group have been among the most vocal of Hungarians seeking an autonomous Hungarian region in Transylvania.

Controversy About Origins: There are various ideas about Szeklers' ancestry:

* Videos: Szeklers of Transylvania: History & Controversy, Szekler Dances from Transylvania, Proud to be a Magyar (Hungarian), Beauty Budapest - Hungary

 

 

* Probable Ancestors of Hungarian Ethnic Groups: An Admixture Analysis by C. R. Guglielmino, et al.

Hungarians and Their Ancestors

Székely, Palóc, Csángó, Jász, Lapps, Uralics, Iranians, Finns, Turkic people, Poles, Slavs, Italians, Germans

 

 

* Y-Chromosome Analysis of Ancient Hungarian and Two Modern Hungarian-Speaking Populations from the Carpathian Basin by B Csányi, et al.

Abstract: The Hungarian population belongs linguistically to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic family. The Tat C allele is an interesting marker in the Finno-Ugric context, distributed in all the Finno-Ugric-speaking populations, except for Hungarians. This question arises whether the ancestral Hungarians, who settled in the Carpathian Basin, harbored this polymorphism or not. 100 men from modern Hungary, 97 Szeklers (a Hungarian-speaking population from Transylvania), and 4 archaeologically Hungarian bone samples from the 10(th) century were studied for this polymorphism. Among the modern individuals, only one Szekler carries the Tat C allele, whereas out of the four skeletal remains, two possess the allele. The latter finding, even allowing for the low sample number, appears to indicate a Siberian lineage of the invading Hungarians, which later has largely disappeared. The two modern Hungarian-speaking populations, based on 22 Y-chromosomal binary markers, share similar components described for other Europeans, except for the presence of the haplogroup P*(xM173) in Szekler samples, which may reflect a Central Asian connection, and high frequency of haplogroup J in both Szeklers and Hungarians. MDS analysis based on haplogroup frequency values, confirms that modern Hungarian and Szekler populations are genetically closely related, and similar to populations from Central Europe and the Balkans.

 

 

* Analysis of Paternal Genetic Relationship of Ancient Hungarian, Modern Hungarian and Modern Szekler Populations by Kovácsné Bernadett Csányi

Excerpt: In case of the ancient sample T2/41 out of four Y-chromosomal DNA fragments, containing the four basal markers (M96, M89, M9 and M45), the two shorter fragments (106 bp (marker M45) and 121 bp (marker M9) long specific PCR products) were successfully amplified. In case of these markers the ancestral C allele was typed. The ancestral state at marker M9 indicates that this sample could not carry the derived Tat C allele in accordance with Y-chromosome phylogeny (YCC 2002, Jobling & Tyler-Smith 2003). This finding confirms the result of the PCR-RFLP analysis of this sample.

The markers used allowed the classification of the modern samples into the E, F*, G, I, J, K*, N3, P* and R1 haplogroups. The modern Hungarian and Szekler populations share similar components described for other Europeans, except for P-M45*(xM173) in Szekler samples. The presence of central-Asian haplogroup P-M45*(xM173) in Szeklers is unusual for a European population, since it is almost absent in continental Europe and presumably reflects some Asian contribution.

In the present study, haplogroup J was unexpectedly common in the Hungarian speaking populations (Hungarians: 16%, Szeklers: 21.6%). The elevated frequency of haplogroup J may reflect Anatolian and southern Balkan contributions to the gene pools of Hungarians and Szeklers, however in the Szekler samples it might be partially attributed to genetic drift, since they lived in relative isolation for a long time. On the other hand, the elevated frequency of J in both groups could also be due to a range of historical events. One is the expansion of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century AD; refugees from the Balkan area fled to Hungarian territory. Historical data and the comparative analyses of maternal lineages of ancient Hungarian population suggest that the earlier migrations of the Magyars may also have contributed to the presence of this lineage in the Carpathian Basin.

 

 

Kyrgyz

The Kyrgyz (also spelled Kirgiz, Kirghiz) are a Turkic ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan.

Origins: The early Kyrgyz people, known as Yenisei Kyrgyz or Xiajiasi (黠戛斯), first appear in written records in the Chinese annals of the Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (compiled 109 BC to 91 BC), as Gekun or Jiankun (鬲昆 or 隔昆). The Middle Age Chinese composition "Tanghuiyao" of the 8-10th century transcribed the name "Kyrgyz" Tsze-gu (Kirgut), and their tamga was depicted as identical to the tamga of present day Kyrgyz tribes Azyk, Bugu, Cherik, Sary Bagysh and few others. According to recent historical findings, Kyrgyz history dates back to 201 BC. The Yenisei Kyrgyz lived in the upper Yenisey River valley, central Siberia. Yenisei Kyrgyzes in the Late Antique times were a part of the Tiele tribes. Later, in the Early Middle Age, Yenisei Kyrgyzes were under the rule of Göktürk Kaganate and Uigur Kaganate. In 840 a revolt led by Yenisei Kyrgyzes brought down the Uigur Kaganate, and brought the Yenisei Kyrgyzes to a dominating position in the former Turkic Kaganate. With the rise to power, the center of the Kyrgyz Kaganate moved to Jeti-su, and brought about a spread south of the Kyrgyz people, to reach Tian Shan mountains and Eastern Turkestan, bringing them immediately to the borders of China and Tibet. By the 16th century the carriers of the ethnonym "Kirgiz" lived in South Siberia, Eastern Turkestan, Tian Shan, Pamir-Alay, Middle Asia, Urals (among Bashkorts), in Kazakhstan. In the Tian Shan and Eastern Turkestan area, the term "Kyrgyz" retained its unifying political designation, and became a general ethnonym for the Yenisei Kirgizes and aboriginal Turkic tribes that presently constitute the Kyrgyz population. Though it is obviously impossible to directly identify the Yenisei and Tien Shan Kyrgyzes, a trace of their ethnogenetical connections is apparent in archaeology, history, language and ethnography. Majority of modern researchers came to a conclusion that the ancestors of the southern Kyrgyz tribes had their origin in the most ancient tribal unions of Sakas and Usuns, Dinlins and Huns. Approximately 300,000 Yenisei Kyrgyzes survived in the Tuva depression until present.

V.V. Bartold cites Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD that describe the Kyrgyz as having red, sometimes blond hair, blue or green eyes, and white skin. These features were markedly different from those of modern Kyrgyz, which led Ibn al-Muqaffa to suggest in the 8th century AD that the Kyrgyz were related to the Slavs.

The descent of the Kyrgyz from the autochthonous Siberian population is confirmed by recent genetic studies. Remarkably, 63% of modern Kyrgyz men share Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) with Tajiks (64%), Ukrainians (54%), Poles and Hungarians (~60%), and even Icelanders (25%). Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA) is often believed to be a marker of the Proto-Indo-European language speakers.

Because of the processes of migration, conquest, intermarriage, and assimilation, many of the Kyrgyz peoples that now inhabit Central and Southwest Asia are of mixed origins, often stemming from fragments of many different tribes, though they speak closely related languages.

The Kyrgyz in China: The Kyrgyz form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There are more than 145,000 Kyrgyz in China. They are known in China as Kēěrkèzī zú (柯爾克孜族).

They are found mainly in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in the southwestern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with a smaller remainder found in the neighboring Wushi (Uqturpan), Aksu, Shache (Yarkand), Yingisar, Taxkorgan and Pishan (Guma), and in Tekes, Zhaosu (Monggolkure), Emin (Dorbiljin), Bole (Bortala), Jinghev (Jing) and Gonliu in northern Xinjiang. Several hundred Kyrgyz whose forefathers emigrated to Northeast China more than 200 years ago now live in Wujiazi Village in Fuyu County, Heilongjiang Province.

Videos: Kirghiz, Beauty of Kyrgyz Culture, Kyrgyzstan & Kyrgyz People

 

 

* Admixture, Migrations, and Dispersals in Central Asia: Evidence from maternal DNA lineages by David Comas, et al.

Frequencies of East Asian, West Eurasian, and Indian Lineages (shown in white, pale gray, and dark gray, respectively)

Crimean Tatars, Iranian, Turkmen, Karakalpak, Kharemian Uzbek, Uzbek, Bukharan Arabs, Tajik, Kazak, Kyrgyz, Dungan, Uigur

 

 

Yenisei Kirghiz

Map of Asia (200 BC): Yenesel Kyrgyz

The Yenisei Kirghiz or Xiajiasi (黠戛斯) were an ancient people that dwelled at the headwaters of the Yenisei River and Minusinsk Depression between the 3rd century BC to 9th century AD. From the 6th century onwards, they were subjugated by various peoples including the Gokturks, Xueyantuo, Chinese and Uyghurs.

The Yenisei Kirghiz can be correlated to the Tashtyk culture, which flourished in the Minusinsk Depression from the first to the fourth century AD. Settlements and hill-forts have been unearthed throughout the Yenisei region, particularly the Sayan canyon area. Their most imposing monuments were immense barrows-crypt structures, which have yielded large quantities of clay and metal vessels and ornaments. In addition, numerous rock carvings have been found. During the excavation of the Oglakhty cemetery south of Minusinsk, Leonid Kyzlasov discovered a number of mummies with richly decorated plaster death masks, and there were also well-preserved fur hats, silk clothes, and footwear (now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg).

Some of the graves contained leather models of human bodies with their heads wrapped in tissue and brightly painted. Inside the models there were small leather bags probably symbolising the stomach and containing burned human bones. Scaled-down replicas of swords, arrows and quivers were placed nearby.

Judging by the death masks, the Tashtyk tribes were mainly Europoids, possibly of mixed Turkic, Iranian and Tocharian origin.

The Xiajiasi first appeared as Gekun or Jiankun in Han period records. Unlike the Dingling, the Gekun remained in the far north in post-Han times and were still in approximately the same region in the 9th century when they participated in the overthrow of the Uyghur Empire.

There is a discussion of the change of name in the Tang Huiyao (961 AD) article on Jiegu which very likely comes from the Xu Huiyao of Yang Shaofu and others completed in 852, the passage begins:

Now there are those who change the designation to Hegesi. This is also an old name among the the northern barbarians... The change to Xiajiasi is probably because barbarian sounds are sometimes quick and sometimes slow so that the transcription of the words are not the same. When it is sometimes pronounced Xiajiasi, it is just that the word is quick. When I enquired from the translation clerk, he said that xiajia had the meaning of "yellow head and red face" and that this was what the Uyghurs called them'.'

This passage follows after immediately on a quotation from a lost Records of Western Regions by Gai Jiayun, who was Protector General of Anxi, the point of which is to record a legend that dark haired people among the Kirghiz were descendants of Chinese general Li Ling, who was captured by the Xiongnu. Since the Turks were being described as people of small stature in the Tangshu. The description of the Kirghiz as tall, blue-eyed blonds early excited the interest of scholars, who assumed that they could not have originally been Turkic in language. We find even Ligeti cited the opinions of various scholars who had proposed to see them as Germanic, Slav, Yenisei Ostiaks, while he himself, following Castrén and Schott, favoured a Samoyed origin on the basis of an etymology for a supposed Kirghiz word qaša or qaš for "iron". As stated by Pullyblank:

As far as I can see the only basis for the assumption that the Kirghiz were not originally Turkic in language is the fact that they are described as blonds, hardly an acceptable argument in the light of present day ideas about the independence of language and race. As Ligeti himself admitted, other evidence about the Kirghiz language in Tang (618 AD – 907 AD) sources shows clearly that at that time they were Turkic speaking and there is no earlier evidence at all about their language. Even the word qaša or qaš may, I think, be Turkic. The Tongdian says: "Whenever the sky rains iron, they gather it and use it. They call it jiasha (LMC kiaa-şaa). They make knives and swords with it that are very sharp." The Tang Huiyao is the same except that it leaves out the foreign word jiasha. "Raining iron" must surely refer to meteorites. The editor who copied the passage into the Xin Tangshu unfortunately misunderstood it and changed it to, "Whenever it rains, their custom is always to get iron," which is rather nonsensical. Ligeti unfortunately used only the Xin Tangshu passage without referring to the Tongdian. His restoration of qaša or qaš seems quite acceptable but I doubt that word simply meant "iron". It seems rather to refer specifically to "meteorite" or "meteoric iron".

 

 

Map of the Yenisey River

 

 

Tashtyk Culture

A funerary mask from Tashtyk; see more Tashtyk death masks at the State Hermitage Museum

Tashtyk culture was an archaeological culture that flourished in the Yenisei valley (Minusinsk Depression, environs of modern Krasnoyarsk, eastern part of Kemerovo Oblast) from the first to the fourth century AD, equivalent to the Yenisei Kirghiz. It was preceded by Tagar culture.

Tashtyk settlements and hill-forts have been unearthed throughout the Yenisei region, particularly the Sayan canyon area. Their most imposing monuments were immense barrows-crypt structures; these have yielded large quantities of clay and metal vessels and ornaments. In addition, numerous petrographic carvings have been found.

During his excavations of the Oglahty cemetery south of Minusinsk, Leonid Kyzlasov discovered a number of mummies with richly decorated plaster funerary masks. There were also intact fur hats, silk clothes, and footware (now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg).

Some of the graves contained leather models of human bodies with their heads wrapped in tissue and brightly painted. Inside the models there were small leather bags probably symbolising the stomach and containing burned human bones. Scaled-down replicas of swords, arrows and quivers were placed nearby.

Judging by the funerary masks, the Tashtyk tribes were Europoids, probably of mixed Turkic, Iranian, and Tocharian origin. With the help of the plaster masks in graves of the Tashtyk culture, we are able to trace back to the times of Yenisei Kirghiz.

 

 

Turkic People

The Turkic peoples (or simply Turks) are Asian peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, Mongolia, southern Siberia and northwestern China. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. The term Turkic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people including existing societies such as the Azerbaijani, Kazakhs, Tatar, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbeks, and as well as past civilizations such as the Huns, Bulgars, Kumans, Avars, Seljuks, Khazars, Ottomans, Mamluks, Timurids, and possibly the Xiongnu.

Demographics: The distribution of people of Turkic cultural background ranges from Siberia, across Central Asia, to Eastern Europe. Presently, the largest groups of Turkic people live throughout Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, in addition to Turkey. Additionally, Turkic people are found within Crimea, East Turkistan region of western China (Xinjiang), northern Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Israel, Russia, Afghanistan, Cyprus, and the Balkans: Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, and former Yugoslavia. A small number of Turkic people also live in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. There is also a small number in eastern Poland and southeastern part of Finland.

Sometimes the above list is grouped into six branches: the Oghuz Turks, Kipchak, Karluk, Siberian, Chuvash, and Sakha/Yakut branches. The Oghuz have been termed Western Turks, while the remaining five, in such a classificatory scheme, are called Eastern Turks.

The Turkic people display a great variety of ethnic types. They possess physical features ranging from Caucasoid to Northern Mongoloid. Mongoloid and Caucasoid facial structure is common among many Turkic groups, such as Chuvash people, Tatars, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Hazara, and Bashkirs. There has been much debate about the racial nature of the original Turkic-speaking ancestors, with some in the past presuming a "Ural-Altaic race" with Caucasoid features at one end of the spectrum and Mongoloid features at the other.

Origins: It is generally believed that the first Turkic people lived in a region extending from Central Asia to Siberia. The earliest clearly Turkic peoples appeared on the peripheries of the late Xiongnu confederation. If not their ethnic descendants, they at least had strong ties to the Xiongnu. Turkic tribes, such as Khazars and Pechenegs, probably lived as nomads for many years before establishing the Göktürk Empire in the 6th century. The first mention of Turks was in a Chinese text that mentioned trade of Turk tribes with the Sogdians along the Silk Road. The first recorded use of "Turk" as a political name is a sixth-century reference to the word pronounced in Modern Chinese as Tujue. The Ashina clan migrated from Li-jien (modern Zhelai Zhai) to the Juan Juan seeking inclusion in their confederacy and protection from China. The tribe were famed metal smiths and was granted land near a mountain quarry which looked like a helmet, from which they were said to have gotten their name 突厥 (tūjué). A century later, their power had increased such that they conquered the Juan Juan and established the Gök Empire.

It has often been suggested that the Xiongnu, mentioned in Han Dynasty records, were Proto-Turkic speakers. Although little is known for certain about the Xiongnu language(s), it seems likely that at least some Xiongnu tribes spoke an Altaic (Turkic) language. Some scholars see a possible connection with the Iranic-speaking Sakas, while others believe they were probably a confederation of various ethnic and linguistic groups. On the other hand, genetics research from 2003 confirms the studies indicating that the Turkic people originated from the same area and so are related with the Xiongnu.

The Hun hordes of Attila, who invaded and conquered much of Europe in the 5th century, might have been Turkic and descendants of the Xionghu. The issue is controversial because their ethnic and linguistic background is uncertain. Some scholars argue that the Huns were one of the earlier Turkic tribes, while others argue that they were of Mongolic origin. linguistic studies by Otto Maenchen-Helfen's support a Turkic origin.

Turkic peoples and related groups migrated west from Turkestan and what is now Mongolia towards Eastern Europe, Iranian plateau and Anatolia and modern Turkey in many waves. The date of the initial expansion remains unknown. After many battles, they established their own state and later created the Ottoman Empire. The main migration occurred in medieval times, when they spread across most of Asia and into Europe and the Middle East. They also participated in the Crusades.

Later Turkic peoples include the Avars, Karluks (mainly eighth century), Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Oghuz (or Ğuz) Turks, and Turkmens. As these peoples were founding states in the area between Mongolia and Transoxiana, they came into contact with Muslims, and most gradually adopted Islam. However, there were also (and still are) small groups of Turkic people belonging to other religions, including Christians, Jews (Khazars), Buddhists, and Zoroastrians.

Videos: Turan: An epic of identity, Nomad: The Warrior

The Turkic Speaking Peoples: 2,000 years of art and culture from Inner Asia to the Balkans by Ergun Cagatay (Editor), Dogan Kuban (Editor)

 

 

 

The Turks in World History by Carter Vaughn Findley

 

 

 

 

 

* Ethnic and Geographic Differentiation of Helicobacter pylori within Iran by Saeid Latifi-Navid, et al.

Abstract: The bacterium Helicobacter pylori colonizes the human stomach, with individual infections persisting for decades. The spread of the bacterium has been shown to reflect both ancient and recent human migrations. We have sequenced housekeeping genes from H. pylori isolated from 147 Iranians with well-characterized geographical and ethnic origins sampled throughout Iran and compared them with sequences from strains from other locations. H. pylori from Iran are similar to others isolated from Western Eurasia and can be placed in the previously described HpEurope population. Despite the location of Iran at the crossroads of Eurasia, we found no evidence that the region been a major source of ancestry for strains across the continent. On a smaller scale, we found genetic affinities between the H. pylori isolated from particular Iranian populations and strains from Turks, Uzbeks, Palestinians and Israelis, reflecting documented historical contacts over the past two thousand years.

 

Neighbor-joining Tree Based on Pairwise FST Values Generated from hpEurope Population

(German, Kyrgyz, Russian, Finnish, Estonian, British)

 

* Genetic Analysis on Tuoba Xianbei Remains Excavated from Qilang Mountain Cemetery in Qahar Right Wing Middle Banner of Inner Mongolia by Yu Changchun, et al.

Unrooted Neighbor-joining Tree of Tuoba Xianbei Group and 13 Populations Compared

 

* Genetic Relationship of Chinese Ethnic Populations Revealed by mtDNA Sequence Diversity by Yong-Gang Yao, et al.

Unrooted NJ Tree

 

* Trading Genes Along the Silk Road: mtDNA sequences and the origin of central Asian populations by D. Comas, et al.

Neighbor-joining Tree of Several European and Asian Ppopulations

 

* Different Matrilineal Contributions to Genetic Structure of Ethnic Groups in the Silk Road Region in China by Yong-Gang Yao, et al.

Principal Component (PC) Map of the Populations in the Silk Road Region Based on the Basal Haplogroup Frequency Matrix

 

* Study on Sequence Polymorohisms of Mitochondrial DNA D —loop Region in Mordern Lopnur People by Tajiguli Abulikemu, et al.

 

* Genetic Relationships of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China Revealed by Microsatellite Markers by Hongbin Lin, et al.

Principal Component Analysis with Normalized Allele Frequencies for the Full-loci Dataset

 

* Extreme mtDNA Homogeneity in Continental Asian Populations by Hiroki Oota, et al.

 

 

* The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity by R. Spencer Wells, et al.

Neighbor-joining tree of 61 Eurasian populations, based on Y-chromosome biallelic haplotype frequencies

Cluster I: Greek, Yagnobi, Armenian, Turkmen, Czeck/Slovak, Orkney, British, Basque
Cluster II: Iranian, Turkish, Kazbegi, Azeri
Cluster III: Tuvinian, Nenets
Cluster IV: Kazak, Mongolia, Cambodian, Dungan, Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
Cluster V: Macedonian, Russian/North, Russian/Tashkent, Ukrainian, Kyrgyz, Tajik/Khojant, Ishkashim
Cluster VI: Bartangi, Hunza, Sinte Roman
Cluster VII: Arab/Bukhara, Tajik/Samarkand, Shugnan, Tajik/Dushanbe, Yadhava, Sourashtran, Kallar
Cluster VIII: Uzbek, Tatar, Karakalpak, Uighur

 

 

Map of Krasnoyarsk

* Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the History of South Siberian Kurgan People by C. Keyser, et al.

Abstract: 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.

 

 

Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD describe the Kyrgyz as red-haired with fair complexion and green (blue) eyes

 

Blue eyes contain low amounts of melanin within the iris stroma. The type of melanin present is eumelanin. The inheritance pattern followed by blue eyes is considered similar to that of a recessive trait, however it is a polygenic trait (meaning that it is controlled by the interactions of several genes, not just one). Eiberg and colleagues showed in a study published in Human Genetics that a mutation in the 86th intron of the HERC2 gene, which is hypothesized to interact with the OCA2 gene promoter, reduced expression of OCA2 with subsequent reduction in melanin production. The authors concluded that the mutation may have arisen in a single individual around the Black Sea region 6,000-10,000 years ago, perhaps suggesting that all people with true blue eyes are more closely related. However, blue eyes with brown spots around the pupil are not related to this mutation. Blue eyes are most common in Poland, Ireland, Netherlands, Iceland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Finland, France, Estonia, and the United Kingdom They are also present in Southern Europe, Spain, Italy and the Balkans, the Middle East (especially in Israel and Lebanon), India and are also found in Afghanistan.

Red hair: Estimates on the original occurrence of the currently active gene for red hair vary from 20,000 to 100,000 years ago.

Several accounts by Greek writers detail redheaded people. A fragment by the Greek poet Xenophanes describes the Thracians as blue-eyed and red haired. The Greek historian Herodotus described the "Budini", probably Udmurts and Permyak Finns located on the Volga in what is modern-day Russia, as being predominantly redheaded. The Greek historian Dio Cassius described Boudica, the famous Celtic Queen of the Iceni, to: "be tall and terrifying in appearance ... a great mass of red hair ... over her shoulders". The Roman Tacitus commented on the "red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia (Scotland)", which he linked with some red haired Gaulish tribes of Germanic and Belgic relation. Red hair has also been found in Asia, notably among the Tocharians who occupied the northwesternmost province of what is modern-day China, Xinjiang. The 2nd millennium BC caucasian Tarim mummies in China were found with red and blonde hair and most likely were of European origin.

Blond or fair-haired: Lighter hair colors occur naturally in Europeans, and less frequently in other ethnicities. In certain European populations, the occurrence of blonde hair is very frequent. The hair color gene MC1R has at least seven variants in Europe and the continent has an unusually wide range of hair and eye shades. Based on recent genetic information carried out at three Japanese universities, the date of the genetic mutation that resulted in blonde hair in Europe has been isolated to about 11,000 years ago during the last ice age. Before then, Europeans mostly had darker hair and eyes, which is predominant in the rest of the world.

Blond hair is at the highest frequency among the indigenous peoples of Northern Europe. Blond and light hair constitute the majority in the populations of Fennoscandia, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, much of Germany, and Belarus as well as the Baltic states, most parts of Great Britain, eastern Europe and Russia. Ireland, France, Italy, Czech, Slovakia, Ukraine and other Slavic countries from Balkan such as Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Albania also have a significant portion of blonde-haired people.

In Central, Western Asia (Western Middle East) and South Asia there is a very low frequency of natural blonds found among some ethnic populations. In Afghanistan blonds are also found in the Pashtuns and Nuristani people (up to one third of the Nuristani). Blonds are also found in Turkey (especially in northern (Caucasus) and western (European) parts of the country), northern and western parts Iran (amongst the Lurs, Kurds, Gilakis, Persians, and Azeris). The Levant (Israel (especially among the Ashkenazim, who are of European origin), western Syria, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon) have a low frequency of blonds as well. Blond hair is also common among some Berbers of North Africa, especially in the Rif

 

 

Majority of modern researchers came to a conclusion that the ancestors of the southern Kyrgyz tribes had their origin in the most ancient tribal unions of Sakas and Usuns, Dinlins and Huns

 

The Sakas were a population of Iranian nomadic tribesmen residing in and migrating over the plains of Eurasia from Eastern Europe to Xinjiang Province, China, from the Old Persian Period (c. 600 BC to 300 BC). to the Middle Persian Period (224-654 AD) when they were displaced by or integrated with Turkic language speakers during the Turkic migration. In the Achaemenid Empire much of their range was made a satrapy, Saka, named after them. They also resided in other provinces of ancient Iran.

The ancient Greeks called the Sakas the Scythians but recognized that in the language of the Persian Empire they were called more nearly Sakai. To them the name Sakai in addition to meaning all the Scyths meant explicitly also the ones of Central Asia and the Far East. These latter lived in what is now Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of India, parts of Iran, the Altay Mountains, Siberia in Russia, and Xinjiang Province of China in the centuries before 300 AD, the start of the Middle Persian period. Hence the Romans recognized both Sacae and Scythae.

The Scythians were recognized in ancient languages at either end of their range. They were known to the Chinese as the Sai (塞). On the west they were among the first Iranians to enter the Middle East. The Assyrians of the time of Esarhaddon record campaigning against a people they called in the Akkadian the Ashkuza or Ishhuza. Hugo Winckler was the first to associate them with the Scyths and the identification remains without serious question. They were closely associated with the Gimirrai, who were the Cimmerians known to the ancient Greeks. These Scythians were mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of Urartu, which later became Armenia. The district of Shacusen, Uti Province, reflects their name. In ancient Hebrew texts, the Ashkuz (Ashkenaz) are even considered to be a direct offshoot from the Gimirri (Gomer). The Scythians also extended into the Ukraine south of Kiev and into Thrace and Macedon.

There is no proof that in the Old Iranian period the Scythians spoke anything other than Old Iranian, despite the fact that they were assigned regional names. The linguistic picture is quite different in the Middle Iranian period, however. The only remnants of the Saka language come from Xinjiang, China, but the language there is widely divergent from the rest of Iranian and accordingly is called eastern or northeastern Iranian. It also is divided into two divergent dialects.

By the time of the Middle Iranian period, the Scyths had either dissimilated into peoples of other names, such as the Sarmatians, Alans and Roxolani, or had been displaced by or assimilated to the Huns.

The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads, with a Turkic core of aristocracy. Some of these Eurasian tribes moved into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries, most famously under Attila the Hun. Huns remaining in Asia are recorded by neighboring peoples to the south, east, and west as having occupied Central Asia roughly from the 4th century to the 6th century, with some surviving in the Caucasus until the early 8th century.

The modern research shows that each of the large confederations of steppe warriors (such as the Scythians, Xiongnu, Huns, Avars, Khazars, Cumans, Mongols, etc.) were not ethnically homogeneous, but rather unions of multiple ethnicities such as Turkic, Yeniseian, Tungusic, Ugric, Iranic, Mongolic and many other peoples.

 

 

Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin (塔里木盆地) is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of more than 400,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi). It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The Taklamakan Desert dominates much of the basin. The area is sparsely settled by the Uyghurs, other Turkic peoples and Tajiks.

History: Surrounded by mountains, the Tarim Basin may be one of the last places in Asia to be inhabited, its aridity requiring that technology for water transport and storage be developed before people could live there. The Silk Road, a series of caravan routes through Asia, splits into two paths, the North Silk Road, passing along the northern edge, and another, along the southern edge, of the Taklamakan Desert. A middle path was deserted in the sixth century. The southern path includes the oases of Yarkand, Niya, Pishan, Marin and Khotan. The key oases along the northern route are Aksu, Korla, Turpan, Gaochang and Loulan. Other key towns include Kashgar in the southwest, Kuqa in the north, and Dunhuang in the east.

The Tocharian languages were once spoken in the Tarim Basin. They were the easternmost of the Indo-European languages, and may be related to the "Yuezhi" (月氏).

The Han Chinese wrested control of the Tarim Basin from the Xiongnu at the end of the first century under the leadership of Gen. Ban Chao (32–102 AD).

The powerful Kushans expanded back into the Tarim Basin in the 1st–2nd centuries AD, where they established a kingdom in Kashgar and competed for control of the area with nomads and Chinese forces. They introduced the Brahmi script, the Indian Prakrit language for administration, and Buddhism, playing a central role in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to Eastern Asia.

Lop Nur, a marshy, saline depression at the east end of the Tarim Basin, is the site of the bronze-age Xiaohe Tomb complex from which more than 30 well-preserved mummies have been excavated.

Archaeology: Recent research with help of GIS database have provided a fine-grained analysis of the ancient oasis of Niya on the Silk Road. This research led to significant findings; remains of hamlets with wattle and daub structures as well as farm land, orchards, vineyards, irrigation pools and bridges. The oasis at Niya preserves the ancient landscape. Here also have been found hundreds of 3rd and 4th century wooden accounting tablets at several settlements across the oasis. These texts are in the Kharosthi script native to today's Pakistan and Afghanistan. The texts are legal documents such as tax lists, and contracts containing detailed information pertaining to the administration of daily affairs.

Additional excavations have unearthed tombs with mummies, tools, ceramic works, painted pottery and other artistic artifacts. Such diversity was encouraged by the cultural contacts resulting from this area's position on the Silk Road. Early Buddhist sculptures and murals excavated at Miran show artistic similarities to the traditions of Central Asia and North India and stylistic aspects of paintings found there suggest that Miran had a direct connection with the West, specifically Rome and its provinces.

Videos: Indo-European Mummies in Central Asia and China

 

 

* Early Eurasian Migration Traces in the Tarim Basin Revealed by mtDNA Polymorphisms by Cui Y, et al.

Abstract: The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms of 58 samples from the Daheyan village located in the central Taklamakan Desert of the Tarim Basin were determined in this study. Among the 58 samples, 29 haplotypes belonging to 18 different haplogroups were analyzed. Almost all the mtDNAs belong to a subset of either the defined Western or Eastern Eurasian pool. Extensive Eastern Eurasian lineages exist in the Daheyan population in which Northern-prevalent haplogroups present higher frequencies. In the limited existing Western Eurasian lineages, two sub-haplogroups, U3 and X2, that are rare in Central Asia were found in this study, which may be indicative of the remnants of an early immigrant population from the Near East and Caucasus regions preserved only in the Tarim Basin. The presence of U3 in modern and archeological samples in the Tarim Basin suggests that the immigration took place earlier than 2,000 years ago and points to human continuity in this area, with at least one Western lineage originating from the Near East and Caucasus regions.

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Ancient Sampula Population in Xinjiang by Chengzhi Xie, et al.

Abstract: The archaeological site of Sampula cemetery was located about 14 km to the southwest of the Luo County in Xinjiang Khotan, China, belonging to the ancient Yutian kingdom. 14C analysis showed that this cemetery was used from 217 B.C. to 283 A. D. Ancient DNA was analysed by 364 bp of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region 1 (mtDNA HVR-1), and by six restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) sites of mtDNA coding region. We successfully extracted and sequenced intact stretches of maternally inherited mtDNA from 13 out of 16 ancient Sampula samples. The analysis of mtDNA haplogroup distribution showed that the ancient Sampula was a complex population with both European and Asian Characteristics. Median joining network of U3 sub-haplogroup and multi-dimensional scaling analysis all showed that the ancient Sampula had maternal relationship with Ossetian and Iranian

 

* Ancient Xinjiang Niya People Are the Scythians or Not ——The evidence from mitochondrial DNA study by
Chengzhi Xie, et al.

Excerpt: The Niya lineage was compared with the U3 lineages from modern Eurasian populations and ancient Xinjiang samples, and the result indicates that the Niya sample is possibly of an Iranian origin. It seems that the Niya population was the Scythians who settled in ancient Xinjiang.

 

* Prehistorical East–West Admixture of Maternal Lineages in a 2,500-Year-Old Population in Xinjiang by Fan Zhang, et al.

Abstract: As an area of contact between Asia and Europe, Central Asia witnessed a scenario of complex cultural developments, extensive migratory movements, and biological admixture between West and East Eurasians. However, the detanglement of this complexity of diversity requires an understanding of prehistoric contacts of the people from the West and the East on the Eurasia continent. We demonstrated the presence of genetic admixture of West and East in a population of 35 inhabitants excavated in Gavaerk in southern Xinjiang and dated 2,800–2,100 years before present by analyzing their mitochondrial DNA variations. This result indicates that the initial contact of the East and the West Eurasians occurred further east than Central Asia as early as 2,500 years ago.

 

Plots of Shared Haplotypes of Four GAV Specimens.

A dot represents a Contemporary Sample that has the same haplotype with the specific GAV specimen (a) specimen 4B (hg C, 16223-16298-16309-16327); (b) 4E (hg M13a, 16145-16148-16188-16189-16223); (c) 3G and 27 (hg H, 16311); (d) 7D (hg K, 16224-16311).

 

* Evidence that a West-East Admixed Population Lived in the Tarim Basin as Early as the Early Bronze Age by Li C, et al.

BACKGROUND: The Tarim Basin, located on the ancient Silk Road, played a very important role in the history of human migration and cultural communications between the West and the East. However, both the exact period at which the relevant events occurred and the origins of the people in the area remain very obscure. In this paper, we present data from the analyses of both Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from human remains excavated from the Xiaohe cemetery, the oldest archeological site with human remains discovered in the Tarim Basin thus far. RESULTS: Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that the Xiaohe people carried both the East Eurasian haplogroup (C) and the West Eurasian haplogroups (H and K), whereas Y chromosomal DNA analysis revealed only the West Eurasian haplogroup R1a1a in the male individuals. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that the Xiaohe people were an admixture from populations originating from both the West and the East, implying that the Tarim Basin had been occupied by an admixed population since the early Bronze Age. To our knowledge, this is the earliest genetic evidence of an admixed population settled in the Tarim Basin.

 

 

* Phylogeographic Differentiation of Mitochondrial DNA in Han Chinese by Yong-Gang Yao, et al

PC Map of the mtDNA Data of 13 Regional Han Samples

(Taiwan-2 clusters with Xinjiang, Shanghai)

 

 

Ancient DNA from Linzi (Yixi), Shandong Peninsula

 

* Molecular Genetic Analysis of Remains of a 2,000-year-old Human Population in China-and Its Relevance for the Origin of the Modern Japanese Population by H. Oota, et al. (1999)

Abstract: We extracted DNA from the human remains excavated from the Yixi site (approximately 2,000 years before the present) in the Shandong peninsula of China and, through PCR amplification, determined nucleotide sequences of their mitochondrial D-loop regions. Nucleotide diversity of the ancient Yixi people was similar to those of modern populations. Modern humans in Asia and the circum-Pacific region are divided into six radiation groups, on the basis of the phylogenetic network constructed by means of 414 mtDNA types from 1, 298 individuals. We compared the ancient Yixi people with the modern Asian and the circum-Pacific populations, using two indices: frequency distribution of the radiation groups and genetic distances among populations. Both revealed that the closest genetic relatedness is between the ancient Yixi people and the modern Taiwan Han Chinese. The Yixi people show closer genetic affinity with Mongolians, mainland Japanese, and Koreans than with Ainu and Ryukyu Japanese and less genetic resemblance with Jomon people and Yayoi people, their predecessors and contemporaries, respectively, in ancient Japan."

 

 

* Genetic Structure of a 2,500-Year-Old Human Population in China and Its Spatiotemporal Changes by Li Wang, et al. (2000)

Abstract: To examine temporal changes in population genetic structure, we compared the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of three populations that lived in the same location, Linzi, China, in different periods: 2,500 years ago (the Spring–Autumn era), 2,000 years ago (the Han era), and the present day. Two indices were used to compare the genetic differences: the frequency distributions of the radiating haplotype groups and the genetic distances among the populations. The results indicate that the genetic backgrounds of the three populations are distinct from each other. Inconsistent with the geographical distribution, the 2,500-year-old Linzi population showed greater genetic similarity to present-day European populations than to present-day east Asian populations. The 2,000-year-old Linzi population had features that were intermediate between the present-day European/2,500-year-old Linzi populations and the present-day east Asian populations.

Result: The smallest genetic distance for the present-day Linzi population was that from the Mongols, followed by those from mainland Japanese and Koreans. Surprisingly, the three smallest genetic distances for the 2,000-year-old Linzi population were from the present-day central Asian populations: the Kirghiz (Sary-Tash), followed by the Kazakh and the Uighurs. Even more surprisingly, the three smallest genetic distances for the 2,500-year-old Linzi population were from the Turkish, Icelander, and Finnish, rather than from the east Asian populations.

 

* Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of China: A caveat about inferences drawn from ancient DNA by Yong-Gang Yao, et al. (2003)

Abstract: The decipherment of the meager information provided by short fragments of ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is notoriously difficult but is regarded as a most promising way toward reconstructing the past from the genetic perspective. By haplogroup-specific hypervariable segment (HVS) motif search and matching or near-matching with available modern data sets, most of the ancient mtDNAs can be tentatively assigned to haplogroups, which are often subcontinent specific. Further typing for mtDNA haplogroup-diagnostic coding region polymorphisms, however, is indispensable for establishing the geographic/genetic affinities of ancient samples with less ambiguity. In the present study, we sequenced a fragment (982 bp) of the mtDNA control region in 76 Han individuals from Taian, Shandong, China, and we combined these data with previously reported samples from Zibo and Qingdao, Shandong. The reanalysis of two previously published ancient mtDNA population data sets from Linzi (same province) then indicates that the ancient populations had features in common with the modern populations from south China rather than any specific affinity to the European mtDNA pool. Our results highlight that ancient mtDNA data obtained under different sampling schemes and subject to potential contamination can easily create the impression of drastic spatiotemporal changes in the genetic structure of a regional population during the past few thousand years if inappropriate methods of data analysis are employed.

 

* Reanalysis of Eurasian Population History: Ancient DNA Evidence of Population Affinities by C.C. Bennett, F.A. Kaestle (2006)

Abstract: Mitochondrial hypervariable region I genetic data from ancient populations at two sites in Asia-Linzi in Shandong (northern China) and Egyin Gol in Mongolia-were reanalyzed to detect population affinities. Data from 51 modern populations were used to generate distance measures (F^sub ST^'s) to the two ancient populations. The tests first analyzed relationships at the regional level and then compiled the top regional matches for an overall comparison to the two probe populations. The reanalysis showed that the Egyin Gol and Linzi populations have clear distinctions in genetic affinity. The Egyin Gol population as a whole appears to bear close affinities with modern populations of northern East Asia. The Linzi population seems to have some genetic affinities with the West, as suggested by the original analysis, although the original attribution of "European-like" seems to be misleading. We suggest that the Linzi individuals are potentially related to early Iranians, who are thought to have been widespread in parts of Central Eurasia and the steppe regions in the first millennium B.C., although some significant admixture between a number of populations of varying origin cannot be ruled out. We also examine the effect of sequence length on this type of genetic data analysis and discuss the results of previous studies on the Linzi sample.

Results:

Table 4 contains the comparisons of the Linzi and Egyin Gol samples to East and Central Asia .... The top half of the Linzi list is dominated by Southeast Asians, southern Chinese, and Central Asians. The lower half is dominated by northern Asians (save for the lowland Kirghiz and Akha). It is not clear how and why both Southeast Asians (and southern Chinese) and Central Asians are similar to the Linzi population, although this is only a relative comparison within the region. However, there is some debate over the nature of ancient East Asian genetic history, so possibly there are issues here that have yet to be illuminated ....

Table 5 is the total comparison of modern populations to Linzi and Egyin Gol from a composite of the top matches from each region, .... As for the Linzi individuals, they seem to be most highly related to Near Easterners (Turks, Iranians, and Iraqis), Armenians, and Eastern Europeans (Slavs, Hungarians), although others, such as Catalans and Iraqis, are mixed in. The Icelanders are twelfth on this list. The high placement of the Vietnamese may be an anomaly, error, or some element of ancient genetic history that is not clear ....

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Yayoi Period Human Skeletal Remains from the Doigahama Site by Kazunari Igawa, et al.

Excerpt: The 2500-year-old Linzi population (group I: 15%, group II: 6%, group III: 3%, group IV: 65%, group V: 3%, group VI: 9%) resembled the 2000–2300-year-old Doigahama Yayoi population with respect to the high frequency for group IV. It was suggested that there were phylogenetically similar populations in China and Japan during the ancient period, from 2500 to 2000 years ago.

On the other hand, the low frequencies of group IV in the modern East-Asian populations were reported by Wang et al. In addition, their study indicated that the 2500-year-old Linzi populations showed less genetic resemblance to modern East-Asian populations. These findings suggest that more than one ancient population, which had different phylogenetic characteristics from modern East-Asian populations, existed in the past in East Asia. This is informative for estimating the phylogenetic relationships among ancient East-Asian populations. The resemblance between the ancient populations in China and Japan might support the notion that ancient China is the place from which the Doigahama Yayoi population immigrated. The amount of genetic data is still not sufficient enough to discuss the phylogenetic relationships among the ancient East-Asian populations. Further genetic studies are required to shed light on the phylogenetic relationships among the ancient East-Asian populations.

 

Geographicl Distribution of HVI Sequence Types Observed in Doigahama Yayoi Specimens

Individual Number Sharing Populations (number of individuals)
1, 124, 1601 Vietnam (1)
1301, 1405, 1406, 1903, 88A Thai (15), China Nei Mongol (11), China Xinjiang (11), China Hainan (10), China Yunnan (8), Vietnam (7), China Guizhou (6), Russia Buryat (6), Japan Okinawa (4), China Shandong (3), China Shanghai (2), Indonesia (1), China Bouyei (1), China Dai (1), Taiwan Yami (1) and other China (2)
914, 1604 China Guangxi (4), China Nei Mongol (4), China Guizhou (2), China Xinjiang (2), Taiwan Chinese (1), China Hubei (1), and other China (1)
1904 China Xinjiang (1)
1305 China Yunnan (7), China Shandong (4), Japan mainland (3), China Hainan (3), Thai (3), China Liaoning (2), China Guangxi (2), Russia Nivhi (2), South Korea (1), Taiwan Chinese (1), Indonesia (1) and other China (4)
913 Not found in East-Asian Population

 

 

Linzi (臨淄) was the capital of Qi from 859 BC to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period in China. The ruins of the city lie in modern day Linzi District, Shandong, China. The city was one of the largest and richest during the Spring and Autumn Period. It was conquered by Qin in 221 BC. The ruins of the ancient city were excavated in 1926 by Japanese archaeologists and in 1964 by Chinese archaeologists.

The ruins of the city are surrounded by over 100 tumulus, some as far as 10 km away. Many of the tombs around Linzi had been looted in antiquity. Over 600 horses were sacrificed in two rows, found in a tomb pit, near what is considered the tomb of Duke Jing of Qi. The sacrificial horse pit is now the site of a museum, the Museum of the State of Qi.

Qi State: Qi (齊國) was a powerful state during the Spring and Autumn Period and Period of the Warring States. Its capital was Linzi, which is part of the present city of Zibo in Shandong Province.

Qi was founded around 1046 B.C. as one of the many states of the Zhou Dynasty. The first ruler appointed for Qi is Jiang Shang, the most powerful official during that time. The Jiang family (姜) ruled Qi for several centuries before it was replaced by the Tian family (田) in 384 BC (田氏代齊). In 221 BC, Qi was the last state of pre-Imperial China to be conquered by the State of Qin, the final obstacle which allowed the Qin Dynasty to consolidate the first centralized and imperial empire over China.

Lord Huan of Qi (齊桓公, died 643 BC) was the best-known ruler of the state of Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period. His personal name was Jiāng Xiǎobái (姜小白) . Lord Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong (管仲, given name Yíwú, 夷吾), the famous thinker and economist, as his prime minister, and adopted Guan's thoughts and policies to administer his country, reform the economic system and develop relations with other states, After scores of years, Qi became the strongest state for its economic and military strength, and was named as the "state with one thousand chariots" and the "head of the five strongest states". The culture and education undertakings were rather developed in Qi. Both poetry and music were of high level. Linzi District remained its capital for as long as 638 years, and was the biggest city in the orient.

The Silk Road, prosperous through the Han (漢朝; 206 BC–220 AD) and Tang Dynasties (唐朝; 618 AD–907 AD) is the famous passageway in China's history for economic and cultural exchange between East and West. As a result of textual research, Shandong area, with Zibo as its center, was the major place of silk supply at that time, and was one of the origins of the "Silk Road".

臨淄，古稱營丘，秦漢時作臨菑。相傳上古時期的伏羲、顓頊曾在這裡活動。此後為爽鳩氏、蒲姑氏等部族的聚居地。公元前約1046年，周朝建立後，周武王把首席功臣姜尚（姜太公）分封於此，建立了侯國齊國，定都營丘。六世齊胡公遷薄姑。七世齊獻公遷回營丘，因其地臨淄水，遂改名為臨淄，此後臨淄之名一直延用至今。

齊國是有周一代東方第一大國，春秋戰國時為「五霸」之首、「七雄」之一，因此臨淄作為其都城，歷史上極為繁榮。目前臨淄齊國故城的城址尚存，分民眾生活的大城和國君居住的小城，兩城相連，周長21公里，面積15平方公里，共有十三座城門。城內幹道縱橫交錯，排成「井」字形，並有完善的供水、排水系統。城外還有埋葬齊國六位君主的田齊王陵等多處先秦墓葬。

東周時的臨淄人物阜盛，齊相國管仲著《管子》。孔子曾來此聞韶樂，孟子也曾為齊王擔任客卿。莊子曾被齊湣王聘為相。戰國時臨淄設稷下學宮，以招徠諸子百家來此講學辯論、著書立說，荀子即為稷下的祭酒之一。遊學於此的還有騶衍、宋鈃、尹文、彭蒙、田駢、慎到等，號為稷下學派。當時的臨淄鄰近渤海，因而兼具魚鹽之利，經濟繁榮、貿易發達，各種冶鐵、煉銅、鑄錢、制陶、紡織的作坊遍布城市內外。

臨淄作為齊國的都城，共延續了八百餘年歷史，直到被秦國所滅。秦置臨淄縣，屬齊郡。兩漢時，臨淄為五都之一。漢高祖劉邦封韓信為齊王，都臨淄。韓信死後，高祖將長子劉肥封於臨淄，建齊國，轄七十餘城。文帝時將齊國一分為七。據史載，當時的臨淄約有十萬戶人家，依然是東部地區最大的城市。及至晉代，臨淄多遭兵禍，政權更迭頻繁，其中南燕曾短暫地建都於此。此後臨淄在青州的地位被益都所取代。南北朝後的歷代，臨淄先後屬齊郡、青州、益都府、益都路、青州府等管轄。元末原城址被廢棄，而在東南部另築新城，即今臨淄城區。

戰國時，齊國臨淄即為東方工商業中心之一。在漢代，齊郡號為“冠帶衣履天下”。臨淄與陳留襄邑（今河南睢縣一帶）為全國兩大官辦紡織業中心。西漢時，少府在臨淄設立了三服官，以生産刺繡、紈素（魏晉以後謂之絹）、縑、綾為主。刺繡在漢代是非常昂貴的織品，價格在錦之上，大約是一般繒帛的二十餘倍。“齊細繡文，上價匹二萬，中萬，下五千也”。時人稱：“齊郡世刺繡，恆女無不能；襄邑俗織錦，鈍女無不巧。”齊郡出產的紈素亦知名于世，其上品為冰紈，極爲潔白細密，《文選》所收古詩《怨歌行》有“新裂齊紈素，皎潔如霜雪”之句。東漢章帝時，曾下令齊國服官“省冰紈方空彀吹綸絮”。新疆曾出土漢代齊郡出產的絹疋，標明了產地、規格，作為商品銷往西域或外國。漢元帝時，諫大夫貢禹上書說：“故時齊三服官輸物不過十笥，方今齊三服官作工各數千人，一歲費數巨萬”，足見其規模之大。

* Videos: 臨淄中國古車博物館, 山東淄博「東周殉馬坑」

 

 

Kurgan

Sarmatian Kurgan 4th c. BC, Fillipovka, S.Urals, Russian Federation.

Kurgan is the Russian word (of Turkic origin) for a tumulus, a type of burial mound or barrow, heaped over a burial chamber, often of wood. The distribution of such tumuli in Eastern Europe corresponds closely to the area of the Pit Grave or Kurgan culture in South-Eastern Europe.

Kurgans were built in the Eneolithic, Bronze, Iron, Antiquity and Middle Age, with old traditions still smoldering in Southern Siberia and Central Asia. Kurgan Cultures are divided, archeologically, into different sub-cultures, such as Timber Grave, Pit Grave, Scythian, Sarmatian, Hunnish and Kuman-Kipchak.

Archaeology: Kurgan barrows were characteristic of Bronze Age peoples, from the Altay Mountains to the Caucasus, Romania, and Bulgaria. Burial mounds are complex structures with internal chambers. Within the burial chamber at the heart of the kurgan, elite individuals were buried with grave goods and sacrificial offerings, sometimes including horses and chariots. Kurgans were used in the Russian Steppes but spread into eastern, central, and northern Europe in the third millennium BC.

The monuments of these cultures coincide with Scythian-Saka-Siberian monuments. Scythian-Saka-Siberian monuments have common features, and sometimes common genetic roots. Also associated with these spectacular burial mounds are the Pazyryk, an ancient people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia on the Ukok Plateau, near the borders with China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The archaeological site on the Ukok Plateau associated with the Pazyryk culture is included in the Golden Mountains of Altai UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Scythian-Saka-Siberian classification includes monuments from the 8th c. BC to the 3rd c. BC. This period is called Early or Ancient Nomads epoch. "Hunnic" monuments date from the 3rd c. BC to the 6th century AD, and other Turkic ones from the 6th century AD to the 13th century AD, leading up to the Mongolian epoch. In all periods, the development of the kurgan structure tradition in the various ethnocultural zones can be distinguished by common components or typical features in the construction of the monuments. Depending on a combination of elements, each historical and cultural nomadic zone has its architectural peculiarities.

The Bronze Pre-Scythian-Saka-Sibirian culture developed in close similarity with the cultures of Yenisei, Altai, Kazakhstan, southern and southeast Amur regions.

The Scythian-Saka-Sibirian kurgans in the Early Iron Age are notable for their grandiose mounds throughout the Eurasian continent. The base diameters of the kurgans reach 500 m in Siberia (Great Salbyk kurgan of the settled Tagar culture), in the neighboring China they reach 5000 m (kurgan of the first emperor of China in the 3rd c. BC near Sian; 西安). The height of the kurgans reached astronomical marks: Great Salbyk kurgan is 22 - 27 m, i.e. the height of a 7-story building; the kurgan of the Chinese emperor is over 100 m. The presence of such structures in Siberia testifies to a high standard of living and a developed construction culture of the nomads.

 

 

Chariot

Historical spread of the chariot

The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC. The original chariot was a fast, light, open, two- or four-wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more horses hitched side by side. The car was little else than a floor with a waist-high semicircular guard in front. The chariot, driven by a charioteer, was used for ancient warfare during the Bronze and Iron Ages, armor being provided by shields.

The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots for use in battle was the spoked wheel. Cavalry had been in use in Central Asia since 3000 BC and eventually replaced chariotry (the part of a military force that fought from chariots).

The chariot probably originated in Mesopotamia about 3000 BC. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, ca. 2500 BC.

The earliest fully developed chariots known are from the chariot burials of the Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in modern Russia and Kazakhstan from around 2000 BC. This culture is at least partially derived from the earlier Yamna culture. It built heavily fortified settlements, engaged in bronze metallurgy on a scale hitherto unprecedented and practiced complex burial rituals reminiscent of Aryan rituals known from the Rigveda. The Sintashta-Petrovka chariot burials yield spoke-wheeled chariots. The Andronovo culture over the next few centuries spread across the steppes from the Urals to the Tien Shan, likely corresponding to early Indo-Iranian cultures which eventually spread to Iran and India in the course of the 2nd millennium BC.

Horses in East Asian warfare: The Chinese do not appear to have ridden horses before the 4th Century BC; but once they came in contact with the nomadic tribes of the western steppes, the use of horses in warfare was understood. Although mounted archers represented an initial tactical advantage over Chinese armies, the Chinese learned to adapt. Conservative forces opposed change, which affected the proportional balance amongst cavalrymen, horse-drawn chariots and infantrymen in Chinese armies.

Feeding horses was a significant problem; and many people were driven from their land so that the Imperial horses would have adequate pastures. Climate and fodder south of the Yangtze River were unfit for horses raised on the grasslands of the western steppes. The Chinese army lacked a sufficient number of good quality horses. Importation was the only remedy but the only potential suppliers were the steppe-nomads. The strategic factor considered most essential in warfare was controlled exclusively by the merchant-traders of the most likely enemies.

The Chinese used chariots for horse-based warfare until light cavalry forces became common during the Warring States era (402-221 BC); and speedy cavalry accounted in part for the success of the Qin dynasty (221 BC–206 BC)

The Chinese warhorses were culled from the vast herds roaming free on the grassy plains of northeastern China and the Mongolian plateau. The hardy Central Asian horses were generally short-legged with barrel chests. Speed is not anticipated from this configuration, but strength and endurance are characteristic features. (Other than the domestic Mongolian horse, the wild Przewalski's Horse also living in that region has never been domesticated.).

* Tocharian Loan Words in Old Chinese: Chariots, chariot gear, and town building by Alexander Lubolsky

 

 

* Ancient China and Its Enemies: The rise of nomadic power in East Asian history by Nicola Di Cosmo

Excerpt: The Andronovo people's unquestioned economic superiority propelled this culture across the Eurasian steppe from the Urals to South Siberia whether by horseback or by chariot, and numerous studies indicate that the chariot was imported into China from the west, through Central Asia, possibly around the thirteenth century B.C. Although no definite evidence has emerged yet, it is plausible that the Andronovo culture's contacts with the eastern part of Central Asia, and especially its interaction with the archaeological context of northwestern China (present-day Sinkiang), may be responsible for the introduction into China of the chariot, whose western origin is doubted only by few. These contacts are attested to by the archaeological evidence, including similar bronze artifacts such as axes, celts shaped as spades, and other implements.

The earliest Chinese chariots to have been found were discovered in burials of the Shang dynasty at An-yang; buried with the chariots were their horses and drivers, who served as sacrificial victims. This type of vehicle was used by the aristocracy for display, for hunting, and in war.... The chariot appears in China already fully formed. There seem to have been no other wheeled vehicles, such as wagons or carts, pulled by cattle or equids, in use in China before the introduction of the chariot. Later during the Chou dynasty, chariots were a common feature of the funerary inventory of the richest tombs, as well as forming the core of both the Chou and foreign armies.

 

 

* The Ancestor of Zhou Dynasty's Royal Family, 后稷 by China History Forum

Excerpt: 姜 Jiang was a great clan in pre-Qin China. They helped the forming of Zhou dynasty and were given several states to rule. The famous state in the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring State period, 齊 (Qi State), was one of the 姜 (Jiang) states. They were also famous for their tall and fair women. A few famous Zhou dynasty beauties came from this clan, and not a few poems were written about them in the Book of Poems. The Zhou’s royal families of 姬 Ji and the families of 姜 Jiang frequently married each other. This custom was based on the ancient marriage traditions that two clans would establish the marriage relationship and married each other throughout the generations. Later on, the so-called “親上加親”(closeness added on closeness) in Chinese culture of marrying cousins at the mother’s side of family was the extension of this old custom. This custom was practiced till modern era.

Many scholars believed that 姜 (Jiang) belonged to the ethnic group of 羌 (Qiang) and probably was originally a nomadic tribe. Zhou people also claimed that they were originally descendents of 夏 Xia people and they lived (mixed) among the 戎 (rong – ancient tribes at the west of China) and 狄 (di – ancient tribes at the north of China) and had close relationships with 羌 (qiang) people.

 

Zhou Dynasty -- Qin Dynasty -- Yan (燕國) -- He Bei Yu (Hebei Province)
Zhou Dynasty -- Qin Dynasty -- Ba (巴國) / Shu (蜀國) -- Cantonese Language (Cantonese People)
Zhou Dynasty -- Qin Dynasty -- Qin / Jin (晉國) -- Guan Zhong Yu -- Northern (Mandarin)
Zhou Dynasty -- Qin Dynasty -- Guan Dong Yu -- Zhong Yuan Yu -- Gan Language
Zhou Dynasty -- Qin Dynasty -- Guan Dong Yu -- Zhong Yuan Yu -- Hakka Language (Hakka People)
Zhou Dynasty -- Qin Dynasty -- Guan Dong Yu -- Zhong Yuan Yu -- Min Language (Hokkien People)
Zhou Dynasty -- Qi (齊國) -- Min Language (Minnan People, Teochew People, Foochow People)
Zhou Dynasty -- Wu (吳國) -- Shanghainese Language (Shanghainese People)
Zhou Dynasty -- Wu -- Hui Language (Anhui Province)
Zhou Dynasty -- Chu (楚國)-- Xiang Language (Hunan Province)

 

 

Chinese Language Tree (Source: glossika.com)

 

The “Least Controversial “Phylogeny of the 40 East Asian Languages (partial chart) from HLA Genetic Diversity and Linguistic Variation in East Asia by Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, et al.

 

 

Ancient Iranian Peoples

Ancient Iranian peoples who settled Greater Iran in the 2nd millennium BC first appear in Assyrian records in the 9th century BC. They remain dominant throughout Classical Antiquity in Scythia and Persia.

The Iranian languages form a sub-branch of the Indo-Iranian sub-family, which is a branch of the family of Indo-European languages. Having descended from the Proto-Indo-Iranians, the Proto-Iranians separated from the Indo-Aryans around in the early 2nd millennium BC. The Proto-Iranians are traced to the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia. The area between northern Afghanistan and the Aral Sea is hypothesized to have been the region where the Proto-Iranians first emerged, following the separation of Indo-Iranian tribes.

By the 1st millennium BC, Medes, Persians, Bactrians and Parthians populated the Iranian plateau, while others such as the Scythians, Sarmatians, Cimmerians and Alans populated the steppes north of the Black Sea. The Saka and Scythian tribes remained mainly in the south and spread as far west as the Balkans and as far east as Xinjiang.

 

 

Scythians

The Scythians or Scyths were an Ancient Iranian people of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists who throughout Classical Antiquity dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppe, known at the time as Scythia. By Late Antiquity the closely-related Sarmatians came to dominate the Scythians in this area. Much of the surviving information about the Scythians comes from the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 440 BC) in his Histories and Ovid in his poem of exile Epistulae ex Ponto, and archaeologically from the exquisite goldwork found in Scythian burial mounds in Ukraine and Southern Russia.

The name "Scythian" has also been used to refer to various peoples seen as similar to the Scythians, or who lived anywhere in a vast area covering present-day Central Asia, Russia, and Ukraine—known until medieval times as Scythia.

Scholars generally classify the Scythian language as a member of the Eastern Iranian languages. The Scythians are thought to have originated from the Central Asian region of Greater Iran (Persia), as a branch of the ancient Iranian peoples expanding north into the steppe regions from around 1000 BC.

China: Ancient influences from Central Asia became identifiable in China following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories from the 8th century BC. The Chinese adopted the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (descriptions of animals locked in combat), particularly the rectangular belt-plaques made of gold or bronze, and created their own versions in jade and steatite.

Following their expulsion by the Yuezhi (the 2nd century BC), some Scythians may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China. Scythian warriors could also have served as mercenaries for the various kingdoms of ancient China. Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilization of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing.

Genetics: Mitochondrial DNA extracted from skeletal remains obtained from excavated Scythian kurgans have produced a myriad of results and conclusions. Analysis of the HV1 sequence obtained from a male Scytho-Siberian's remains at the Kizil site in the Altai Republic revealed the individual possessed the N1a maternal lineage. The study also noted that haplogroup mtDNA N1a was found at a relatively high frequency in the southern fringes of the Eurasian steppe, Iran (8.3%), and within the Indian Havik group (8.3%), an upper Brahmin (North Indian Brahmins)) caste. From this, a possible link to ancient populations presumed to have come from Europe that lived in the neighboring Central Asian parts of India and Iran was suggested.

Additionally, mitochondrial DNA has been extracted from two Scytho-Siberian skeletons found in the Altai Republic (Russia) dating back 2,500 years. Both remains were determined to be of males from a population who had characteristics "of mixed Euro-Mongoloid origin". However it should be noted that "European individual ancestry" does not necessarily mean that these individuals were from Europe, as no test to distinguish between European and Asian Caucasoids was performed. One of the individuals was found to carry the F2a maternal lineage, and the other the D lineage, both of which are characteristic of East Eurasian populations.

Maternal genetic analysis of Saka period male and female skeletal remains from a double inhumation kurgan located at the Beral site in Kazakhstan determined that the two were most likely not closely related and were possibly husband and wife. The HV1 mitochondrial sequence of the male was similar to the Anderson sequence which is most frequent in European populations. Contrary, the HV1 sequence of the female suggested a greater likelihood of Asian origins. The study's findings were in line with the hypothesis that mixings between Scythians and other populations occurred. This was buttressed by the discovery of several objects with a Chinese inspiration in the grave. No conclusive associations with haplogroups were made though it was suggested that the female may have derived from either mtDNA X or D.

Y-Chromosome DNA testing performed on ancient Scythian skeletons from the Krasnoyarsk region found that all but one of 11 subjects to carry Y-DNA R1a1. Additional testing on the Xiongnu specimens revealed that the Scytho-Siberian skeleton (dated to the 5th century BC) from the Sebÿstei site exhibited R1a1 haplogroup. Moreoever, the STR haplotype motifs characterising these R1a1 haplogroups were found to closely resemble those found amongst current Balto-Slavic populations in eastern Europe, as well as in indigenous populations in southern Siberia. In contrast, they were found only sporadically amongst central and east Asian populations, and not at all amongst western Europeans .

Migration Period: Although the classical Scythians may have largely disappeared by the 1st century BC, Eastern Romans continued to speak conventionally of "Scythians" to designate Germanic tribes and confederations or mounted Eurasian nomadic barbarians in general: in 448 AD two mounted "Scythians" led the emissary Priscus to Attila's encampment in Pannonia. The Byzantines in this case carefully distinguished the Scythians from the Goths and Huns who also followed Attila.

The Sarmatians (including the Alans and finally the Ossetians) counted as Scythians in the broadest sense of the word — as speakers of Northeast Iranian languages — but nevertheless remain distinct from the Scythians proper.

Byzantine sources also refer to the Rus raiders who attacked Constantinople around 860 AD in contemporary accounts as "Tauroscythians", because of their geographical origin, and despite their lack of any ethnic relation to Scythians. Patriarch Photius may have first applied the term to them during the Siege of Constantinople (860).

Descent Claims: A number of groups have claimed possible descent from the Scythians, including the Ossetians, Pashtuns, the Turkic Kazakhs and Yakuts (whose endoethnonym is "Sakha"), and Parthians (whose homelands laid to the east of the Caspian Sea and thought to have come there from north of the Caspian). Some legends of the Picts; the Gaels; the Hungarians; Serbs and Croats (among others) also include mention of Scythian origins. In the second paragraph of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath the élite of Scotland claim Scythia as a former homeland of the Scots. Some writers claim that Scythians figured in the formation of the empire of the Medes and likewise of Caucasian Albania.

The Carolingian kings of the Franks traced Merovingian ancestry to the Germanic tribe of the Sicambri. Gregory of Tours documents in his History of the Franks that when Clovis was baptised, he was referred to as a Sicamber with the words "Mitis depone colla, Sicamber, adora quod incendisti, incendi quod adorasti."'. The Chronicle of Fredegar in turn reveals that the Franks believed the Sicambri to be a tribe of Scythian or Cimmerian descent, who had changed their name to Franks in honour of their chieftain Franco in 11 BC. The Scythians also feature in some post-Medieval national origin-legends of the Celts.

Based on such accounts of Scythian founders of certain Germanic as well as Celtic tribes, British historiography in the British Empire period such as Sharon Turner in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, made them the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons. The idea was taken up in the British Israelism of John Wilson, who adopted and promoted the "idea that the "European 'race', in particular the Anglo-Saxons, were descended from certain Scythian tribes, and these Scythian tribes (as many had previously stated from the Middle Ages onward) were in turn descended from the ten Lost Tribes of Israel."

Whatever the claims of various modern ethnic groups, the peoples once known as the Scythians of Antiquity were amalgamated into the various Slavic groups of eastern and southeastern Europe.

* Videos: Scythians or Huns?, Scythian Ice Maiden - Indo-Europeans in the Altai 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

 

 

Dian Kingdom

Dian Kingdom Bronze Cowrie Container with Gilt Warrior and Four Oxen (Photo from "Barbarian Kingdoms": Ancient Treasures of South and Southwest China, The Art Institute of Chicago)

The Dian Kingdom (滇國 or 滇王國) was established by the Dian people, who lived around Lake Dian in northern Yunnan, China from the late Spring and Autumn Period until the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Dian buried their dead in vertical pit graves. The Dian language was likely related to Tibeto-Burman languages.

The Dian were first mentioned historically in Sima Qian's Shiji; some Chinese sources identified Chu general Zhuang Qiao as the founder of the Dian Kingdom. The Dian were subjugated by the Han Dynasty under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in 109 BC. The Han Dynasty incorporated the territory of the Dian Kingdom into the Yizhou Commandery, but left the King of Dian as the local ruler.

Bronze Working: The Dian people were sophisticated metal workers, casting both bronze and iron. The Dian cast bronze objects using both the piece mould method and the lost wax method. Dian elite burials contained an impressive array of bronze objects, although late Dian burials also contained locally cast iron objects.

Large bronze drums were employed by the Dian to communicate in battle; ritual burials of Dian elites were accompanied by large bronze drums filled with cowrie shells. The tops of the drums were removed and replaced by a bronze lid.

Scythian influences? Iaroslav Lebedynsky and Victor Mair speculate that some Scythians may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China following their expulsion by the Yuezhi in the 2nd century BC. Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilization of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing. The scenes depicted on these drums sometimes represent these horsemen practicing hunting. Animal scenes of felines attacking oxes are also at times reminiscent of Scythian art both in theme and in composition.

 

 

Seima-Turbino Phenomenon

The Altai Mountains (阿爾泰山脈,) are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh, Ob and Yenisei have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the Turkic peoples' birthplace. The proposed Altaic language family (include the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Korean, and Japonic languages) takes its name from the mountain range.

The Altai Mountains in what is now southern Russia and central China have been identified as the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon. It is conjectured that climatic problems in this region around the start of the second millennium BC created ecological, economic and political changes which triggered a rapid and massive migration of peoples westward into northeast Europe and eastward into southeast China, Vietnam and Thailand across a frontier of some 4,000 miles. This migration took place in just five to six generations and led to peoples from Finland in the west to Thailand in the east employing the same metal working technology and, in some areas, horse breeding and riding. It is further conjectured that this phenomenon may have been the medium through which the Uralic group of languages spread across Europe and Asia, ultimately producing 39 modern languages including Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Lappish.

* Videos: Altai Mountains • Russia, Kara-Chad, Altai, A Celebration of Altaic Cultures

 

 

Iron Age in China

In 1972, near the city of Gaocheng (藁城) in Shijiazhuang (now Hebei province), an iron-bladed bronze tomahawk (铁刃青铜钺) dating back to the 14th century BC was excavated. After a scientific examination, the iron was shown to be made from meteoric siderite.

The Iron Age in East Asia began, however, when iron objects began to appear in present-day Xinjiang between the 10th century BC and the 7th century BC, such as those found at the cemetery site of Chawuhukou. This was soon followed by the development of iron metallurgy on the Manchurian plain by the 9th century BC.

Iron metallurgy reached the Yangzi Valley toward the end of the 6th century BC. The few objects were found at Changsha and Nanjing. According to the mortuary evidence suggests that the initial use of iron in Lingnan belongs to the mid to late Warring States period (from about 350 BC). The techniques used in Lingnan is a combination of bivalve moulds of distinct southern tradition and the incorporation of piece mould technology from the Zhongyuan The products of the combination of these two periods are bells, vessels, weapons and ornaments and the sophisticated cast.

An Iron Age culture of the Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated with the Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings.

 

 

Iron Age in Taiwan

 

* The Biological Evidence of the San-pau-chi People and Their Affinities by Hsiu-Man Lin

Abstract: In Taiwan, the beginning of the manufacture and use of iron began around the birth of Christ (e.g., Liu 1992, 1993, Tsang 2000). During the prehistoric Iron Age, regional cultures continued to flourish all over Taiwan, including the Shih-San-Hang culture in the north (e.g., Chang 1993, Huang 1994, Lin Jia-Wei 1996, Lin Hsiu-Man 1997, Liu Chin-Hsin 2005, Liu Yi-Chang 1992, Peitrusewsky et al. 2001, Tsang and Liu 2001a, Tsang et al. 2001, Yang 1961), the Fan-Tsu-Yuan and Ta-Chiu-Yuan cultures in the west-central region (e.g., Chiu 1991, Sun 1962), the Niao-Sung culture in the south (e.g., Chen 1977, Huang 1982, Wu and Lee 1979), and the Chi-Pu culture in the east (e.g., Guo 2005). A newly excavated site at Kuei-Shan in the Pingtung Prefecture reveals unique features in comparison with aforementioned cultures stepping into the Iron Age and may represent a culture of its own (e.g., Huang et al. 1987, Li Kuang-Chou et al. 1985, Sun et al. 1992).

 

 

* Three Case Studies for mtDNA Analysis of Iron Age People in Central Taiwan by Ling-Dai Yen

Abstract: This study is focused on Central area of Taiwan and based on three important Iron Age plains and coastal archaeological sites-Fan-Zai-Uan (番仔園), Lu-Liao (鹿寮) and Hui-Lai (惠來), dating between 2000 and 400 B.P. This period is so called “Iron Age”. Mitochondrial DNA extracted from human remains of these three sites will tell us the genetic relation between the Iron Age people and modern aboriginal populations of Taiwan. Combing other pertinent researches of this subject, we can delineate the possible migration route of Iron Age people. The results of ancient DNAs（aDNAs）indicate that Iron Age people in Central Taiwan have genetic affinities with some modern aboriginal populations. The haplogroups of aDNAs show that their maternal origin might be the mainland of Asia.

Based on haplotyes shared with modern aboriginal populations, Fan-Zai-Yuan sample is closely related to Atayal ethnic group. Atayal came from mountain area of central Taiwan. The haplotype of Fan-Zai-Yuan sample possibly has a connection with Da-Ma-Lin archaeological site, which is located in the central mountain area and affected by cultures from plains. Lu-Liao sample is close to Bunun ethnic group. Lu-Liao site is where Papora used to live. A linguistic study suggests that Papora might come from the Zhuo-Shui river, which is a possible homeland of Luan community of Bunun. The Hui-Lai sample shares no haplotyes with any modern aboriginal populations. The haplogourp is also hardly found in modern Austronesian, possibly because lots of populations lived here and had a large gene pool.

Recent genetic researches show that modern aboriginal populations are heterogenous because of geographic reasons. However, people who live in plains interacted frequently and belonged to the same culture system for a long time. Based on the results of aDNAs analysis, the Iron Age people arrived lowland central Taiwan as early as part of modern indigenous people who live in mountain area today. Moreover, people who live in plains were more likely to be affected by other cultures. Genetically speaking, their population structures tend to be more diverse.

 

Excerpt

* Haplogroup M9 (mtDNA): Shandong, Liaoning, Xinjiang, Qinghai

 

 

* The Origin of Minnan & Hakka, the So-Called "Taiwanese" Inferred by HLA Study by Marie Lin

Discussion: Because of the high degree of the polymorphism of HLA system, it is a useful genetic marker for the characterization of human populations and analysis of their relationships for anthropological purposes. Differences in the distribution of HLA alleles among various human populations are more marked when compared to other genetic markers. This becomes even more obvious if HLA haplotypes (particular combinations of alleles) are used as an index. It is interesting that many haplotypes were found to have a unique organization of HLA genes that have been well-conserved through thousands of years and also each characteristic haplotype shows a limited regional distribution. Therefore the HLA haplotype is a powerful marker and is useful for surveys among closely related ethnic groups (8). Family studies have been found to be the best method for studying multilocus HLA haplotype distribution in Taiwan, this studies is the first report based on family study in “Taiwanese” (Minnan and Hakka).

A33-B58-DRB1*03 was found to be the most common and also the best conserved A-B-DR three-locus haplotype among “Taiwanese” (6.3%), was exclusively related to the most common five locus haplotype, A33-Cw10-B58-DRB1*03-DQB1*02 (6.3%). Similar to our results, the haplotype A33-B58-DR17 (DRB1*03) was also proven to be the most common haplotype in Taiwan among Minnan (n = 7137, 5.59%) and Hakka (n = 714, 5.10%) by the Tzu Chi Taiwan Marrow Donor Registry as estimated by the maximum likelihood method (7). The three-locus haplotype A33-B58-DRB1*03 has also been found among southeast Asians (Thai-Chinese 7.1%; Singapore Chinese 4.4%) (5) and northern Asians (Han in Urumchi, China 3.5%; Khalha in Mongolia 3.4%; Uygur in Urumchi, China 1.8%; Kazakhs in Urumchi, China 1.8%; Korean 1.2%) (9, 10). The five-locus haplotype has also been found in Thais (Present-day Thais 2.2%; Black Thai 2.8%) (11). It is interesting to note that the HLA-A, B two-locus haplotype A33-B58 among southern Han (n = 138, samples collected in Human and Fuchien) was reported to be only 2.4%, with no significant A-B-DR three-locus haplotype frequency at the 11 IHW (5), while in an earlier report the A33-B17 haplotype frequency among southern Han (n = 844) was 1.53%, and for southern minorities (n = 621) was 1.29% (12). In another report, the haplotype A33-Cw10-B58 was found among northern Han (n = 196, 3.1%), however, the most frequently associated DR gene with this haplotype in northeast Asians is more likely DR13 than DR3 (13), and the distribution of haplotype B58-DR3 was found clearly focused in southeast Asian population (8). Therefore, although three- to five-locus haplotype of A33-Cw10-B58-DRB1*03-DQB1*02 has been found to be distributed among all east and southeast Asians, however, the highest frequencies have been found in “Taiwanese”, Singapore Chinese and Thai-Chinese, and these three populations are presumed to be the descendants on early settlers from the southeast coast of China. Therefore, this haplotype is probably the most well-conserved haplotype among these three populations.

 

 

Ürümqi or Ürümchi (烏魯木齊), is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country.

 

HLA-DQ2 (DQ2) is a serotype group within HLA-DQ (DQ) serotyping system. The serotype is determined by the antibody recognition of β2 subset of DQ β-chains. The β-chain of DQ is encoded by HLA-DQB1 locus and DQ2 are encoded by the HLA-DQB1*02 allele group. This group currently contains 2 common alleles, DQB1*0201 and DQB1*0202. HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQB1*02 are almost synonymous in meaning. DQ2 β-chains combine with α-chains, encoded by genetically linked HLA-DQA1 alleles, to form the cis-haplotype isoforms. These isoforms, nicknamed DQ2.2 and DQ2.5, are also encoded by the DQA1*0201 and DQA1*0501 genes, respectively.

DQ2 is most common in Western Europe, North and West Africa. Highest frequencies are observed in parts of Spain and Ireland, this distribution correlates with the frequency of two of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases. There is also a increase in DQB1*0201 in Central Asia, peaking in Kazakhstan and declining slowly east to west into China and finally Southeast Asia. DQA1*0501 : DQB1*0201. DQ2.5 is one of the most predisposing factors for autoimmune disease. DQ2.5 is encoded, often, by a haplotype associated with a large number of diseases. This haplotype, HLA A1-B8-DR3-DQ2 is associated with diseases in which HLA-DQ2 has suspect involvement. Direct involvement of DQ2 is certain in coeliac disease.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Celiac Disease DNA Test: Positive for a celiac disease-associated HLA allele (DNA test by Health Check USA)

 

DQ8 (DQB1*0302): Positive

DQB1*0302: Detected

DQ2 (DQA1*05/DQB1*02): Negative

DQA1*0501 or *0505: Not detected
DQB1*0201 or *0202: Not detected

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

HLA-DQ8

HLA-DQ8 (DQ8) is a human leukocyte antigen serotype within the HLA-DQ (DQ) serotype group. DQ8 is determined by the antibody recognition of β8 and this generally detects the gene product of DQB1*0302.

DQ8 is commonly linked to autoimmune disease in the human population. DQ8 is the second most predominant isoform linked to coeliac disease and the DQ most linked to juvenile diabetes. DQ8 increases the risk for rheumatoid arthritis and is linked to the primary risk locus for RA, HLA-DR4. .

DQA1*0301:DQB1*0302 (DQ8.1) is the most common DQ8 subtype representing over 98% of the DQ8 bearing population. DQ8.1 is found almost ubiquitously in every human regional population, but because of its unique distribution it becomes an object of molecular anthropology. There are 3 places where haplotype frequency is elevated, Central and South America, NE Pacific Rim, and Northern Europe.

Global Spread of DQ8: DQ8 along with a few other Haplotypes appears to be split NW/SE in Eurasia and with the evidence for DQ2.5 and other haplotypes suggest an ancient Central Asian population was displaced by a more recent African migration. There are many common markers found in France, Germans, Danes, Swedes, Tibetans, Amur River, Japanese and Koreans that are potential indicators of this bilateral spread. The DQ8 haplotypes is found at high frequencies in the !kung, albeit one expects more DQ8 in Austronesia it is ubiquitously spread if at some times low frequencies, other times higher frequencies (Thai). The path of DQ8 spread to the New World is enigmatic, certainly Japan and Amur River are potent sources, but other displaced populations cannot be ruled out. If the mode of travel was through the Beringia corridor as proposed by archaeologist, the very low frequency of DQ8 at present is a very unusual find with regard to evidence for complete displacement elsewhere in the World. Markers that are shared between Japanese, TW-aboriginals tend to decline in frequency as one approaches Siberia, mtDNA markers decline in the Kuril chain. During the Jōmon period of Japan it appears there would have been displacement by Ninhvet/Ainu ancestors and depression of DQ8 through out northern Japan, but the decline throughout the region is somewhat inexplicable outside of a catastrophic climate event between the settling of the New World and the current time. An alternative model is that there were multiple sources of DQ8 in the peopling of NE Asia, some sources were from central Asia and some from the indochinese region, some of the DQ8 found in NW eurasia could be from an admixture of West pacific Rim and Central Asian sources, and were displaced from the more central regions but not from the more Eastern regions.

High Levels of DQ8 in Northern Europe: DQ8 is also abundant also in Northern Europe and is found at high frequencies in the German-Scandinavian-Uralic population north of Switzerland. HLA A-B haplotypes suggest that a migration from people east of the Urals is responsible for DQ8, possibly from as far east as the West Pacific Rim. The high level of DQ8 and DQ2.5 is something of great interest for DQ mediated diseases of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. DQ8 is also found in Iberia and places were east to west gene flow by other genetic markers cannot be substantiated, and the levels within the African or Middle Eastern population are possible sources, Iberia has considerable A1/B1 equilibration suggesting independent sources from Africa.

 

DQB1*0302 levels in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (given as frequency in %)
Reference Population DQB1 *0302
Nenets (N. Russia)
20.9
Murmansk Saomi (Russia)
18.5
Gaza (Israel/Palestine)
17.6
Arkhange Pomors (Russia)
17.1
Swedish
18.7
Caucasian (England)
16.4
Finland
15.7
France's CEPH
14.5
Dane
13.2
Dutch
11.2
NW Slavic (Russia)
11.0
German
10.5
Russian
8.9
Cantabarian (Spain)
8.4
Spanish
8.9
Basque Arratia Valley
6.7
Sardinian
4.9
Italian
4.6

 

DQ8 and Selection: Like DQ2.5, DQ8 might have been under selection for maritime, coastal foraging peoples and in particular for peoples adapted to the climate/habitat situation on the northern end of the habitable west pacific rim at the Last Glacial Maximum. Triticeae (wheat, barley, and rye) cultivation may apply negative selection on DQ8. While there were numerous members of Triticeae species similar to Mid Eastern wild Triticeae in the Americas, and a great number of domesticated plants in the new world, no single species of Triticeae appears to have been domesticated in the New World, and no clear examples in closely related tribes of grasses. Among new world grass species in post Columbian times, one species of Elymus has been domesticated for human consumption and another as a pastoral cultivar. This could be interpreted in 2 ways. First, that levels of DQ8, negatively, inhibited the domestication of Triticeae strains. Second, that the absence of such cultivars more suitable than already developed cultivars allowed DQ8 to rise or remain high, while DQ2.5 levels in NW under much longer term selection have fallen, or a little of both. Most of American cultivars were domesticated south of the Rio Grande river (exceptions are Caddo rice and Texas varigated squash, etc.). Wheat, particularly Barley and Rye are preferential cultivars in cooler climate, whereas Zea (maize) is more adaptive in tropical climates and some cultivars are relatively drought tolerant, Zea however lacks certain amino acids that must be supplimented by other foods to prevent malnutrition. The proximity of neolithization to the Equator in the New World may have much to do with the unapparent negative selection of DQ8 relative to the neolithization of Western Eurasia.

Abundance in Asia - Hiatus of DQ8 in the NE Siberian Arctic, Elevated Levels in Amur Region and Eastern Turks: The levels of DQ8 in SW to West Pacific Rim are at variable haplotype frequencies, from 2 to 30%, and level off around 10% for Ryūkyūan, Japanese, Koreans, Amur (黑龍江) Regions and in the NW Pacific Rim drop to less than 1% in the Nivkhi. There is a modern hiatus of DQ8 in the Alaska-Eastern Siberian region and it is unclear whether this is due to replacement, selection, or the mode in which first Americans arrived (i.e strictly maritime route). The DR types associated with DQ8 are DRB1*0403, *0404, *0406, *0407, *0408, and *0401 is split between many DQA1:B1 haplotypes. The Cook Island DQ8 had only one associated DR haplotype suggesting diversity limiting introduction into the region, either via the TW-(Japan/Korea/China) route or through the west, for example the Bunun have high DRB1*0403. The majority of DRB1*04 appear to have redistributed from eastern Asia from an unknown source, possibly in Central Asia or India. The distribution can be compared with Native Groups such as South Americans. Three groups with high levels, the Kogui, Sikuni, and Yucpa, have about 75% DQ8, the dominant DRB1* allele in 2 of 3 is the *0411 (N. China = 0), but *0407 (Ryūkyū, Japanese, Mansi-Eastern Ural, Naxi Chinese) and *0403 (Nganasan, Buryat, Negidal, Tunisians, Ryūkyū, Korea, Ainu) are also found. In North America DRB1*0404 and *0407 are more common than *0403 and, in the Lakota Souix, B1*0411 is rare. The DRB1*0404-DQ8 haplotype is more common in North Western Asia, and Northern Europe.

 

DQB1 *0302 levels in the Asia
(given as frequency in %)
Reference Population DQB1 *0302
Cook Isl. (Pacific) 25.0
Negidal (Siberia) 18.6
Kazahk 11.4
Uyghur, Urumqi (China) 11.4
Nganasan (Siberia) 11.4
Japanese 10.8
South Korea 10.3
Ket, Yenisey (Siberia) 8.4
Thais 7.4
Khalkha (Mongolia) 6.1
China Beijing and Xian 6.1
Shandong Han (China) 3.1
Ainu (Japan) 3.0
Naxi (Lijiang, China) 2.7
Yao (China) 2.6
Madang (Papua New Guinea) 1.5
Khoton (Mongolia) 1.2
Zorastra, Yadz (Iran) 0.8
Nivkh (NNE. Sakalin I.) 0

 

 

HLA Gene Frenquencies from the Origin of Minnan and Hakka, the So-Called "Taiwanese", Inferred by HLA Study by M. Lin, et al.

 

HLA

Minnan

(%)

Hakka

(%)
DQB1*0302c
19.4
7.6
DQB1*0302d
7.4
7.6

*0301c:0311-012/04/09/10, *0302d:0302/05/07-08

 

Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem, et al.

 

 

 

 

Celiac Disease: A hidden epidemic by Peter H.R. Green, Rory Jones

 

 

 

 

* Celiac Disease

 

 

Prehistory of Central Asia

Recent genetic studies have concluded that humans arrived in the region 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, making the region one of the oldest known sites of human habitation. The archaeological evidence of population in this region is sparse, whereas evidence of human habitation in Africa and Australia prior to that of Central Asia is well-known. Some studies have also identified this region as the likeliest source of the populations who later inhabited Europe, Siberia, and North America. According to the Kurgan hypothesis, the northwest of the region is also considered to be the source of the root of the Indo-European languages.

As early as 4500 BC, small communities had developed permanent settlements and began to engage in agricultural practices as well as herding. Around this time, some of these communities began the domestication of the horse. Initially, the horses were bred solely for their meat, as a source of food. However, by 4000 BC it is believed that they were used for transportation purposes; wheeled wagons began making an appearance during this time. Once the utility of the horse as a means of transportation became clear the horses (actually ponies) began being bred for strength, and by the 3rd millennium BC they were strong enough to pull chariots. By 2000 BC, war chariots had spoked wheels, thus being made more maneuverable, and dominated the battlefields. The growing use of the horse, combined with the failure, roughly around 2000 BC, of the always precarious irrigation systems that had allowed for extensive agriculture in the region, gave rise and dominance of pastoral nomadism by 1000 BC, a way of life that would dominate the region for the next several millennia.

Scattered nomadic groups maintained herds of sheep, goats, horses, and camels, and conducted annual migrations to find new pastures (a practice known as transhumance). The people lived in yurts (or gers) - tents made of hides and wood that could be disassembled and transported. Each group had several yurts, each accommodating about five people.

While the semi-arid plains were dominated by the nomads, small city-states and sedentary agrarian societies arose in the more humid areas of Central Asia. The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex of the early 2nd millennium BC was the first sedentary civilization of the region, practicing irrigation farming of wheat and barley and possibly a form of writing. Bactria-Margiana probably interacted with the contemporary Bronze Age nomads of the Andronovo culture, the originators of the spoke-wheeled chariot, who lived to their north in western Siberia, Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan, and survived as a culture until the 1st millennium BC. These cultures, particularly Bactria-Margiana, have been posited as possible representatives of the hypothetical Aryan culture ancestral to the speakers of the Indo-Iranian languages (see Indo-Iranians), and possibly the Uralic and Altaic cultures as well.

Later the strongest of Sogdian city states of the Fergana Valley rose to prominence. After the 1st century BC, these cities became home to the traders of the Silk Road and grew wealthy from this trade. The steppe nomads were dependent on these settled people for a wide array of goods that were impossible for transient populations to produce. The nomads traded for these when they could, but because they generally did not produce goods of interest to sedentary people, the popular alternative was to carry out raids.

A wide variety of people came to populate the steppes. Nomadic groups in Central Asia included the Huns and other Turks, the Tocharians, Persians, Scythians and other Indo-Europeans, and a number of Mongol groups. Despite these ethnic and linguistic differences, the steppe lifestyle led to the adoption of very similar culture across the region.

 

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony

 

 

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup: A (DNA test by FamilyTreeDNA)

 

HVR1 Haplogroup A

HVR1 differences

from CRS

 16148T
  16223T
  16290T
  16319A
  16362C

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Haplogroup A4

16223-16290-16319-16362

 

 

Haplogroup A

Haplogroup A is believed to have arisen in Asia some 30,000-50,000 years before present. Its ancestral haplogroup was Haplogroup N.

The higher frequency is among Indigenous peoples of the Americas the larger population is in East Asia and its greater variety in East Siberia. Thus it might have been originated in and spread from Far East or Central Asia.

Distribution: Its subgroup A1 is found in northern and central Asia, while its subgroup A2 is found in Siberia and is also one of five mtDNA haplogroups found in the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the others being B, C, D, and X.

Haplogroup A is the most common haplogroup among the Chukchis, Eskimos, Na-Denes, and many Amerind ethnic groups of North and Central America. 7.5% of the Japanese belong to haplogroup A (mostly A4 and A5).

Popular Culture: The mummy "Juanita" of Peru, also called the "Ice Maiden", has been shown to belong to mitochondrial haplogroup A.

In his popular book The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes named the originator of this mtDNA haplogroup Aiyana.

 

 

 

* mtDNA Haplogroup Specific Control Region Mutation Motifs by mtDNAmanager

 

 

* mtDNA Subtree A4 by PhyloTree.org

  A  (152)  235  663  1736  4248  4824  8794  16290  16319                     EU597494, AY255144 Derenko 2007, Tamm 2007, Kong 2006, Achilli 2008, Tanaka 2004
                               
    A4  16362                             Derenko 2007, Metspalu 2006, Kong 2006, Tamm 2007
                                 
      A4a  1442                         AP010699  
                                 
        A4a1  9713  16249                     EF153833, AP008617 Derenko 2007 ("A4")
                               
          A4a1a  4928                     EU597529, EF153783 Derenko 2007 ("A4a")
                               
      A4b  12720  14290  16189                       AY519488, EF153771 Derenko 2007, Volodko 2008
                               
      A4c  200                         EU597576, EF153787 Derenko 2007
                               
        A4c1  151                       EF153775, EF153791 Derenko 2007 ("A4d")
                               

 

 

Chart of Haplogroup A from Genetic Structure of the Aleuts and Circumpolar Populations Based on Mitochondrial DNA Sequences: A Synthesis (2006) by Mark Zlojutro, et a.

 

 

 

Map of Haplogroup A from the Genographic Project

* Haplogroup A by the Genographic Project

Excerpt: Likely arising on the high plains of Central Asia between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal, groups moving east brought haplogroup A with them and spread it to several areas in East Asia. One recent subgroup, known as A5, arose around 10,000 years ago and today is specific to Korean and Japanese populations. Another subgroup, A4, is widely spread and found in ten percent of Chinese, and at lower frequencies (one to five percent) in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Siberia.

 

 

Map of Central Asia: Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal

 

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Polymorphism in Populations of the Caspian Region and Southeastern Europe by B. A. Malyarchuk, et al.

Abstract:  Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction polymorphism was examined in Turkmens, Eastern Iranians, and Ukrainians. The gene pools of all populations studied were characterized by the presence of European mtDNA lineages. Mongoloid component observed in Turkmen and Iranian populations with the frequencies of about 20% was represented by groups C, D, and E/G in Turkmens, and by M*, D, A, and B in Iranians. The relative positions of the populations studied, of populations from the Caucasus, Western Iran, and Russian populations from the Krasnodar krai and Belgorod oblast in the space of principal components revealed a geographically specific pattern of the population clustering. The data on mtDNA polymorphism indicated pronounced differentiation of Eastern and Western Iranians. The latter were characterized by a mtDNA group composition similar to that in Eastern Slavs. The historical role of the Caspian populations in the formation of the population of Southeastern Europe is discussed.

 

 

The Iranian peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family. They are spread across the Iranian plateau, stretching from the Hindu Kush to central Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf - a region that is sometimes termed Greater Iran. Speakers of Iranian languages, however, were once found throughout Eurasia, from the Balkans to western China. As Iranian people are not confined to the borders of the current state of Iran, the term Iranic peoples is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the citizens of Iran.

The series of ethnic groups which make up the Iranian people are traced to a branch of the ancient Indo-European Aryans known as the Iranians or Proto-Iranians. Archaeological finds in Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East have elucidated some scant information about the way of life of these early people. The Iranian people have played an important role throughout history: the Achaemenid Persians established one of the world's first multi-national states and the Scythian-Sarmatian nomads dominated the vast expanses of the Eurasian steppe for centuries with a group of Sarmatian warrior women possibly being the inspiration for the Greek legend of the Amazons. In addition, the various religions of the Iranian people, including Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, are believed by some scholars to be important early philosophical influences on Judeo-Christianity. Early Iranian tribes are the ancestors of many modern Iranian peoples.

 

 

* Migration Rates and Genetic Structure of Two Hungarian Ethnic Groups in Transylvania, Romania by A. Brandstätter

Excerpt: Our results describe the genetic relationships between the two Hungarian ethnic groups, the Csángó and Székely, whose native lands lie outside the present borders of Hungary. Both populations claim to be Hungarian although they live in Transylvania, a historical region of Romania. Different hypotheses exist on the historical origin of the Hungarians in Romania, including putative Eurasian Avar, Gepid, Bulgar-Turk, and Hunnish ancestors. In an attempt to validate these hypotheses we calculated the correlation of genetic and geographic distances between the Transylvanian Hungarians, selected west Eurasian countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Greece, Macedonia, Poland and Finland), selected central-east Asian populations (from Japan, Altai/Russia, Iran and Pakistan), and selected European Russian populations (Saratov/Russia and Stavropol/Russia). Both the Csángó and Székely were generally found to be genetically closest to west Eurasian populations. However, the degree of genetic similarity between certain west Eurasian populations and the Székely was one order of magnitude greater than between west Eurasians and the Csángó, thus further underlining the genetic distinction of the Csángó population. Both populations showed genetic affiliations with certain central Asian and European Russian populations, in particular with people from Iran and Stavropol/Russia. These findings could support theories about a partial Asian origin of Hungarian populations, as people from Iran arrived shortly after the Magyars in the Carpathian basin. Finns seem to have, on average, genetically less in common with the Hungarian groups, even though they too speak a non-Indo-European Finno-Ugric language. Overall, the Csángó and Székely seem to have a similar genetic pool which includes central Asian genes.

 

Haplogroup Distributions in the Csángó and the Székely

 

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Variability in the Czech Population, with Application to the Ethnic History of Slavs by Boris A. Malyarchuk, et al.

Abstract: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variability was studied in a sample of 179 individuals representing the Czech population of Western Bohemia. Sequencing of two hypervariable segments, HVS I and HVS II, in combination with screening of coding-region haplogroup-specific RFLP markers revealed that most Czech mtDNAs belong to the common West Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups (H, pre-V, HV*, J, T, U, N1, W, and X). However, about 3% of Czech mtDNAs encompass East Eurasian lineages (A, N9a, D4, M*). A comparative analysis with published data showed that different Slavonic populations in Central and Eastern Europe contain small but marked amounts of East Eurasian mtDNAs. We suggest that the presence of East Eurasian mtDNA haplotypes is not an original feature of the gene pool of the proto-Slavs but rather may be mostly a consequence of admixture with Central Asian nomadic tribes, who migrated into Central and Eastern Europe in the early Middle Ages.

 

 

* Diversity of Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups in Ethnic Populations of the Volga–Ural Region by M. A. Bermisheva, et al.

Excerpt: Haplogroup A occurs at the highest frequency in Siberian populations and rarely, if at all, in the indigenous populations of Southeastern Asia. Thus the frequency of this haplogroup in Chukcha and Eskimo is 80%, higher than in all other world populations examined. We observed several variants of haplogroup A in Trans-Ural Bashkirs (6%); one of these was also found in Chuvash, Tatars, and Mari.

 

Haplogroup A Tree in Ethnic Groups of the Volga–Ural Region

 

Frequency Distribution of mtDNA Haplogroup A in the Populations (N = 979) of the Volga–Ural Region

Haplogroup Bashkirs Tatars Chuvash Mordvinians Komi-Permyaks Komi-Zyryans Mari Udmurts
n
221
228
55
102
74
62
136
101
A
8
7
1
0
1
1
2
1
%
3.6
3.1
1.8
0
1.4
1.6
1.5
1.0

 

 

* The Topology of the Maternal Lineages of the Anatolian and Trans-Caucasus Populations and the Peopling of Europe: Some Preliminary Considerations by Kristiina Tambets, et al.

Excerpt: The overall results is clear: the distribution of haplogroups in all of the four populations studied is much closer to that typical of European rather than to Indian populations. Yet the differences between mtDNA haplogroups in Europeans and Anatolian-Trans-Caucasians are both quantitative and qualitative. Unfortunately, this table lacks data on other Turkish language group populations. However, putative assignment of approximately 200 mtDNA HVR-I sequences of different Central Asian Turkish-speaking populations (Comas et al. 1998) into a median network tree (see reconstruction in Kivisild et al. 1999a) shows that significantly more than a half of their mtDNA variants belong to haplogroups M, A, F and B, infrequent in all four Anatolian -- Trans-Caucasus populations (Table 25.1), but typical for Mongoloids (Torroni et al. 1993).

 

mtDNA Haplogroups in Anatolian-Trans-Caucasus Populations (%)

Haplogroup Armenians Georgians Ossetes Turks
n
192
139
187
388
A
0
0
0
0.5
2.6
2.2
11.8
0.8
A is defined by transitions at nps 16,223, 16,145 and a transversion at np 16,176G or A and + AvaII 8252; +HphI 10,237; -NlaIII 12,501; -DdelI 1719

 

 

* Admixture, Migrations, and Dispersals in Central Asia: Evidence from maternal DNA lineages by David Comas, et al.

Abstract: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages of 232 individuals from 12 Central Asian populations were sequenced for both control region hypervariable segments, and additional informative sites in the coding region were also determined. Most of the mtDNA lineages belong to branches of the haplogroups with an eastern Eurasian (A, B, C, D, F, G, Y, and M haplogroups) or a western Eurasian (HV, JT, UK, I, W, and N haplogroups) origin, with a small fraction of Indian M lineages. This suggests that the extant genetic variation found in Central Asia is the result of admixture of already differentiated populations from eastern and western Eurasia. Nonetheless, two groups of lineages, D4c and G2a, seem to have expanded from Central Asia and might have their Y-chromosome counterpart in lineages belonging to haplotype P(xR1a). The present results suggest that the mtDNA found out of Africa might be the result of a maturation phase, presumably in the Middle East or eastern Africa, that led to haplogroups M and N, and subsequently expanded into Eurasia, yielding a geographically structured group of external branches of these two haplogroups in western and eastern Eurasia, Central Asia being a contact zone between two differentiated groups of peoples.

 

Phylogenetic Reconstruction and Geographic Distribution of the Haplogroups Found in Central Asia

(East Asian, West Eurasian, and Indian lineages are shown in white, pale gray, and dark gray, respectively)

 

Frequencies of East Asian, West Eurasian, and Indian Lineages (shown in white, pale gray, and dark gray, respectively)

 

Haplogroup A4 Frequencies

  Crimean Tatars Iranian Turkmen Karakalpak Bukharan Arabs Uzbek Kirgiz Kazakh
A4                
n
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
%                

 

  Tajik Dungan
Khoremian Uzbek
 Uighur
A4
3
2
2
1
n
20
16
20
16
%
15
12.5
10
6.3

 

 

* Phylogeographic Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA in the Nogays: A strong mixture of maternal lineages from Eastern and Western Eurasia by M. A. Bermisheva, et al.

Frequencies of mtDNA Haplogroup A (%) in Some Populations of the Caucasus and Other Regions of the World

Haplogroup Adygeis Nogays Kazakhs Kirghiz Uigurs Mongols Bashkirs Turks Azerbaijanis
n
50
206
82
92
99
103
221
218
48
A
  
5.34
7.32
3.26
6.06
3.88
3.60
0.46
  

 

Phylogeographic Analysis of mtDNA in Nogays

 

 

* Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor by Lluís Quintana-Murci, et al.

Schematic phylogenetic tree of mtDNA haplogroups (haplogroup N) observed in the populations analyzed

Haplogroup A Frequencies (%)

Population Turkish Anatolia Hunza Burusho Uzbek Turkmen Kurdish Shugnan
A
4.0
2.3
7.1
2.1
3.1
2.3
Language
Altaic
Altaic
Indo-European

 

Excerpt: Central Asians exhibit high frequencies of East Asian lineages, which are otherwise virtually absent in populations from the Indo-Gangetic region and westwards, concomitantly with a high prevalence of lineages of western Eurasian origin. Two explanations have been put forward: Central Asians could represent an early incubator of Eurasian variation, or their current genetic diversity could result from later admixture between western and eastern Eurasian populations. Y-chromosome data have been interpreted as indicating that Central Asian populations are amongst the oldest on the continent and were the source of at least three major migration events (Wells et al. 2001) but were also a receiver of migrations (Zerjal et al. 2002). mtDNA studies (Comas et al. 1998) based on HVS-I variation in four populations of Central Asia found that they contained both European and East Asian motifs. This was interpreted as evidence for admixture between Europeans and East Asians, a conclusion that is substantiated by our more thorough analysis. Indeed, if Central Asia had been the source of modern Eurasian diversity, one would expect to observe (i) substantial overlap between present-day western and eastern Eurasian haplogroups and (ii) extensive divergence between the HVS-I types found in Central Asia and those observed in western and eastern Eurasia. This is not the case. Our data, which take into consideration coding-region information and provide a more clear-cut phylogeography, show a major demarcation in the Eurasian landscape between European and East Asian mtDNA lineages within both the R and N branches, and with M playing virtually no role in western Eurasia. Moreover, most Central Asian HVS-I types match sequences that are observed today in either western or eastern Eurasians, suggesting recent arrival in Central Asia.

 

 

* Phylogeographic Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA in Northern Asian Populations by Miroslava Derenko, et al.

 

Excerpt

Phylogeography of Eastern Eurasian Haplogroups: One of the most common haplogroups in northern and eastern Asia is haplogroup A, which falls into two main (A4 and A5) and several minor (A3, A6, and A7) subclades. The frequency of haplogroup A in eastern Asia is generally between 5% and 10%. Similarly, in central Asia, it accounts for <10% of the mtDNAs of eastern Asian origin. Importantly, only one subclade of A, A4, is present in northern Asia, where it is rare even though it was found in the majority of populations studied and Subhaplogroup A4 includes the A2 subcluster, which appears at the highest frequencies (>68%) in the northeastern Siberian populations of Chukchi and Eskimos. In contrast to A4, the other subclades of haplogroup A are found predominantly in Korea and Japan. It has been proposed recently that haplogroup A can display further region-specific subclades, but only a fraction of A4 can be assigned to subclades with use of the HVS1/HVS2 motifs of the four completely sequenced A4 (excluding the Native American A2) mtDNAs. To verify this possibility, we analyzed a large set of northern and eastern Asian haplogroup A lineages, using complete mtDNA sequencing.

A tree of 31 complete haplogroup A mtDNA sequences is illustrated in figure 4, which also incorporates information from four mtDNA genomes published elsewhere....

Discussion: Our analysis of 1,432 mtDNA sequences from 18 southwestern, central, eastern, and northern Asian populations shows that the highest variation is observed in populations located both in the southwestern Asia and the Altai-Sayan region of southern Siberia, thus highlighting these regions as places where western Eurasian lineages interacted with eastern Eurasian genetic components. The coexistence of different genetic lineages in these areas may have resulted from various migrations from diverse geographical sources at different times, beginning with the early human settlements in the Paleolithic era. In addition, the southern Siberian region is characterized by the traces of recent migration events, such as the northward expansion into subarctic and arctic regions that occurred after the LGM. In this respect, the phylogeographic structure of the D2 subhaplogroup observed so far in the circumarctic populations appears to be only more complicated. Here, we demonstrate that a separate subclade of D2 is present in Buryats, Khamnigans, and Yakuts and consequently points to the southern Siberian rather than Beringian origin of haplogroup D2 lineages. The possible split between southern Siberian D2a and Beringian D2b mtDNA clades may have been ~12,000 years ago, whereas the Beringian-specific D2b branch, with a coalescent age of ~7,000 years, appears to be the consequence of population expansion that occurred exclusively in Beringia. It seems that the same expansion was responsible for generating diversity within another Beringian-specific haplogroup, A2. Our results confirm the subdivision of A2 into A2a and A2b clades, which are defined here by coding-region mutations....

 

Phylogenetic Tree of Complete mtDNA Sequences of Haplogroups A

 

Phylogenetic Tree of Complete mtDNA Sequences of Haplogroups A4

 

Haplogroup A Frequencies (%) in Siberia, Southwestern Asia, and Central Asia

Haplogroup Persians
 Kurds
 Tajiks
 Koreans
 Mongolians Kalmyks
 Buryats
 Khamnigans
 Tuvinians
A2                  
A4
2.4
  
2.3
2.9
13.0
2.7
4.4
4.0
1.0
A5      
3.9
    
.3
1.0
  
A8          
.9
.3
    

 

Haplogroup East Evenks West Evenks Yakuts
 Shors Khakassians
 Altaians-Kizhi
 Teleuts
 Telenghits
 Chukchi
A2                
73.0
A4
2.2
4.1
  
1.2
3.5
3.3
  
5.6
  
A5                  
A8                  

 

Sample and Ethnic Origin of 71 Complete mtDNA Sequences

Sample Haplogroup Origin
Ch 1 A2a Chukchi
Ch 9 A2a Chukchi
Ch 5 A2b Chukchi
Ch 6 A2b Chukchi
Ch11 A2b Chukchi
Krk 39 A2b Koryak
Br 334 A4 Buryat
Br 393 A4 Buryat
Br 523 A4 Buryat
Br 568 A4 Buryat
Cz_25_IV A4 Czech
Khm 16 A4 Khamnigan
VN 65 A4a Russian
Alt 163 A4a1 Altaian-Kizhi
Br 390 A4a1 Buryat
Br 552 A4a1 Buryat
Br 627 A4a1 Buryat
Br 442 A4b Buryat
Evk 42 A4b Evenk
Br 406 A4c Buryat
Br 575 A4c Buryat
Khm 66 A4c Khamnigan
Alt 178 A4d Altaian-Kizhi
Kor 97 A5a Korean
Br 643 A5c Buryat
Khm 43 A5c Khamnigan
Br 618 A8 Buryat

 

 

* Diversity of Mitochondrial DNA Lineageas in South Siberia by M.V. Derenko, et al.

Excerpt: Contrary to the widely spread M haplogroups, east Asian-specific N haplogroups A, N9a, and Y were found in South Siberian populations with frequencies less than 3%. Haplogroup A mtDNAs were found to harbour seven distinct HVR1 sequences. Most of them were identified previously in Central and East Asian populations (Kolman et al. 1996; Yao et al. 2002). It is noteworthy that South Siberian haplogroup A mtDNAs lack polymorphisms at nps 16111 and 16192 which are typical for Northeast Asian and New World populations.

 

HVR1 Sequence Variation and mtDNA Haplogroup (HG) Status of 480 South Siberian Samples

HG HVR1 Sequence Altaians Khakassians Buryats Sojots Todjins Tuvans Tofalars
A 086 223 290 319 362        
1
    
A 183 223 274 290 319 362          
1
  
A 189 223 290 319 362    
1
        
A 223 290 292A 319 362            
3
A 223 290 297 311 319 362    
1
        
A 223 290 297 311 319 362      
3
      
A 223 290 319 362  
2
    
1
    
n  
110
53
91
30
48
90
58

 

The Khakas, or Khakass, are a Turkic people, who live in Russia, in the republic of Khakassia in the southern Siberia. They speak the Khakas language, which belongs to the family of Turkic languages. They have dark skin and eyes and coarse dark hair, and beards. Their face is wide, the cheekbones are not very prominent. The Khakass tend to be short, with the average male height being 162--164 cm. In some Khakass groups characteristics of the Finno-Ugrian ethnic groups are discernible.

The origin of the Khakas people is disputed. Some scholars see them as descendants of the Yenisei Kirghiz, while others believe that, at the behest of the medieval Mongol Khans, the Yenisei Kirghiz migrated to Central Asia, where they became known as the Kyrgyz, the core nation of Kyrgyzstan. Traditional Khakas people currently hold that their ancestors were "tall, blond, with blue eyes" - that is, Tocharians - whose appearance was transformed at the arrival of Chinggis Khan.

In the 17th century, the Khakas formed Khakassia in the middle of the lands of Yenisei Kirghiz, who at the time were vassals of a Mongolian ruler. The Russians arrived shortly after the Kirghiz left, and an inflow of Russian agragian settlers began. In the 1820s, gold mines started to be developed around Minusinsk, which became a regional industrial center.

 

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Variation and the Origins of the Aleuts by Rohina Rubicz, et al.

Excerpt: All of the Aleut A haplotypes had the np 16111C→T (16111T) transition, which is characteristic of most Native American and Chukotkan (Chukchi and Siberian Eskimo) and a few Kamchatkan (Koryak and Itel’men) mtDNAs, but not of other Siberian and Asian haplotypes from this lineage (Schurr et al. 1999; Schurr and Wallace 1999; Starikovskaya et al. 1998; Torroni et al. 1993b). This mutation is part of the sequence motif (16111T-16223T-16290T-16319A-16362C) that defines the A2 subtype of Forster et al. (1996). Most of the A haplotypes in this sample also had the Beringian-specific 16192C→T (16192T) transition (Schurr et al. 1999), a mutation that helps to define the sequence motif of the A3 subtype (16111T-16192T-16223T-16290T-16319A-16362). The majority of Aleut A HVS-I sequences derive from the A3 subgroup. Furthermore, several Aleut A haplotypes were characterized by 16212A→G (16212G) and 16234C→T (16234T) transitions, both of which appear to be Aleut-specific. However, none of them exhibited the Eskimo-specific A4 subtype defined by np 16265A→G (16265G) transition (Shields et al. 1993; Starikovskaya et al. 1998; Saillard et al. 2000), or the Athapaskan-specific 16331A→G (16331G) transition (Shields et al. 1993; Torroni et al. 1993a; Starikovskaya et al. 1998).

 

 

* Phylogenetic Analysis of Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Lineages of Human Remains Found in Yakutia by Fedorova SA, et al.

Abstract: Molecular genetic analysis of ancient human remains are mostly based on mitochondrial DNA due to its better preservation in human skeletons in comparison with nuclear DNA. We investigated mtDNA extracted from human skeletons found in graves in Yakutia to determine their haplotypes and to compare them with lineages of modern populations. Ancient DNA was extracted from fragments of three skeletons of Yakut graves at At-Dabaan, Ojuluun and Jaraama sites (dating XVIII century) and two skeletons of Neolithic graves at Kerdugen site found in central Yakutia (Churapchinsky, Kangalassky and Megino-Kangalassky districts of Yakutia). Five different haplotypes belonging to specific Asian haplogroups were identified. Lineages of mtDNA of Yakut graves belong to haplo-groups C4a, D5a2 and B5b. Our results indicate the continuity of mitochondrial lineages in the Yakut gene pool during the last 300 years. Haplotypes of two humans from Kerdugen site graves belong to haplogroups A4 and G2a/D. We compared these haplotypes with that of 40,000 Eurasian individuals, 900 of them from Yakutia. No exact matches were found in Paleoasian populations of Chukchi, Eskimos, Koryaks and Itelmen. Phylogenetically close haplotypes (+/- 1 mutation) were found in populations of Yakuts and Evenks, as well as in some populations of China, Southern and Western Siberia.

 

 

* Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in Yakuts by S. A. Fedorova, et al.

Abstract: To study the mitochondrial gene pool structure in Yakuts, polymorphism of mtDNA hypervariable segment I (16,024–16,390) was analyzed in 191 people sampled from the indigenous population of the Sakha Republic. In total, 67 haplotypes of 14 haplogroups were detected. Most (91.6%) haplotypes belonged to haplogroups A, B, C, D, F, G, M*, and Y, which are specific for East Eurasian ethnic groups; 8.4% haplotypes represented Caucasian haplogroups H, HV1, J, T, U, and W. A high frequency of mtDNA types belonging to Asian supercluster M was peculiar for Yakuts: mtDNA types belonging to haplogroup C, D, or G and undifferentiated mtDNA types of haplogroup M (M*) accounted for 81% of all haplotypes. The highest diversity was observed for haplogroups C and D, which comprised respectively 22 (44%) and 18 (30%) haplotypes. Yakuts showed the lowest genetic diversity (H = 0.964) among all Turkic ethnic groups. Phylogenetic analysis testified to common genetic substrate of Yakuts, Mongols, and Central Asian (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uighur) populations. Yakuts proved to share 21 (55.5%) mtDNA haplotypes with the Central Asian ethnic groups and Mongols. Comparisons with modern Paleoasian populations (Chukcha, Itelmen, Koryaks) revealed three (8.9%) haplotypes common for Yakuts and Koryaks. The results of mtDNA analysis disagree with the hypothesis of an appreciable Paleoasian contribution to the modern Yakut gene pool.

 

Diversity of mtDNA HVSI Haplotypes (Haplogrop A) in Yakuts (n = 191)

Haplogroup Haplotype n Haplotype frequency Haplogroup frequency
A 223, 242, 290, 319
1
0.0052
0.0209
A 39, 189, 223, 290, 319, 356, 362
1
0.0052
0.0209
A 179, 223, 290, 311, 319, 362
1
0.0052
0.0209
A 179, 223, 260, 290, 311, 319, 362
1
0.0052
0.0209

 

 

* mtDNA of Neolithic Siberians from Lake Baikal by Dienekes' Anthropology Blog

mtDNA Haplogroup A Frequency of Prehistoric and Modern East Eurasian Populations

 

 

* Baikal Archaeology Project

 

 

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Jomon Skeletons From the Funadomari Site, Hokkaido, and Its Implication for the Origins of Native American by Noboru Adachi, et al.

Excerpt: On the contrary, haplogroups A, C, D (except for D1), G, and Y that are abundant in present-day East Asian and Siberian populations were not observed in Funadomari individuals. It seems to be most plausible to infer that the ancient Asian population who had N9b, M7a, and D1 mtDNAs were pushed away to the eastern edge of mainland Asia by the expansion of the populations who had mtDNAs that are common in present-day East Asian and Siberian people, and some of them emigrated from the continent to Hokkaido. Thereafter, they were isolated from the mainland by the marine transgression after the last glacial period, thereby becoming the progenitors of the Hokkaido Jomons.

 

Map of Northeast Asia and the Geographic Location of the East Asian and Siberian Populations Analyzed or Compared in the Present Study

 

Frequencies of mtDNA Haplogroups in the Funadomari Individuals and the Ancient and Present-day
East Asian and Siberian Populations

Population
n
 Haplogroup A

Ancient Japanese

    
Funadomari Jomon 14 0.0
Kanto Jomon 54 7.4
Okhotsk 37 2.7

Modern East Asians

    
Ainu 51 3.9
Mainland Japanese 211 9.0
Okinawa Islanders 326 6.8

Northeastern Chinese

    
Shandong, Liaoning 101 5.0
Koreans 694 8.8
Southeastern Siberian    
Ulchi 87 0.0
Udegey 46 0.0
Nivkhi 56 0.0
Negidal 33 0.0

Northeastern Siberian

    
Chukchi 66 68.2
Eskimos 79 77.2

Kamuchatka Region Siberian

    
Koryak 155 5.2
Itel’men 47 6.4

 

 

* Phylogeographic Differentiation of Mitochondrial DNA in Han Chinese by Yong-Gang Yao, et al.

Excerpt: An interesting case is constituted by the 29 mtDNAs from the 4,500-year-old Nakazuma Jomon site that were sequenced for the region 16209–16402 (Shinoda and Kanai 1999). The haplogroup affiliations of the resulting nine haplotypes, except for type 9 (16256-16278-16295), can be recognized by following our classification strategy. Type 1 (16223-16311-16357) matches haplotypes from M10 (one sampled in Liaoning and another one in Yunnan), and type 7 (16284) matches a B4b haplotype from Liaoning. The other six types have one-step neighbors in the Han mtDNA database: type 2 (16223-16234-16290-16319) is thus related to A haplotypes from Wuhan and Yunnan; type 3 (16223-16298-16319-16355) to M8a haplotypes from Qingdao and Wuhan; type 4 (16223-16266-16274-16362) to a D4 haplotype from Liaoning and to D5a haplotypes from Liaoning, Wuhan, Xinjiang, and Qingdao; type 6 (16223-16278-16362) to two G2 haplotypes and type 8 (16223-16245-16362-16368) to one D4 haplotype, all from Liaoning; finally, type 5 (16223-16357) is a one-step descendant of the matched M10 type 1 (but, alternatively, it would also be a one-step neighbor of an M* haplotype from Qingdao). It is conspicuous that the Jomon mtDNAs find their near-matches within the Han mtDNA database mainly in the northern and central pools, especially in the Liaoning sample.

 

 

* Phylogenetic Classification of Japanese mtDNA Assisted by Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequences (2008) by C. Nohira, et al.

Abstract: We investigated control and coding region polymorphisms in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in 100 unrelated individuals from a Japanese population and determined the basal phylogenetic haplogroup lineages in all samples under updated information. Many of the basal phylogenetic haplogroup lineages assigned on East Asian mtDNA haplogroups corresponded to those previously established. However, new haplogroup lineages such as M7a2a, M7a2b, M7a2*, M7c1b, M11b2*, G2b*, D4c1b1a, D4g2b, A4*, A9, N9b*, B4d1, B4d2, and F1e were identified and established by complete sequencing. Although sequence comparison of the 1.15-kb control region identified 84 mitochondrial haplotypes, examination of coding region polymorphisms increased the total number of haplotypes to 91. Determination of the basal haplogroup lineages increased the discrimination power of mtDNA polymorphisms for personal identification and their usefulness in determining

Excerpt: One individual, EH1061, possessed characteristic mutations for the A haplogroup (152, 235, 16290, 16319, and 8794) and also possessed the 16362 mutation. The 16362 mutation in the A haplogroup was first shown to be specific for the A4 haplogroup. Derenko et al. recently revised the classification of haplogroup A in northern Asian populations using full genome information, designating A4a, A4a1, A4b, A4c, and A4d subclades, in which A4a was characterized by mutations 1442–9713–16249. A complete sequencing of EH1061 revealed an identical control region motif, 16234–16249–16290–16319–16362–152–235, to that of Japanese A4a (ONsq0125) reported by Tanaka et al., which shared 1442–9713–16249 mutations. Although EH1061 did not share the 1442 and 9713 mutations specific to A4a, it did have novel 3408, 8348, 8409, 8459, 14062, and 14067 mutations, which suggested that it diverged after obtaining the 16249 mutation, constituting a new subclade. We provisionally designated this haplogroup A4*, although we had already found a similar type of mutation in a Japanese population (not shown). The control region haplotype of this linage, which includes the A4a1 and A4* haplogroups (16223–16234/16249–16290–16319–16362), was found in 0.34% of Japanese, 0.14% of Korean, and 0.18% of Chinese populations.

Another individual, TK1057, also possessed characteristic mutations for the A haplogroup (152–235–16223–16290–16319 and 8794), but did not share 11536 specific to A5, 16362 specific to A4, or 16242 and 64 specific to the A8 haplogroup lineages. It did possess 2857, 8692, and 9711 mutations, and identical mutations were found in a complete sequence of a Japanese sample (NDsq0028) in the A haplogroup reported by Tanaka et al., suggesting that it constitutes a new lineage. Therefore, we designated it the A9 haplogroup. Because the A9 haplogroup does not have characteristic mutations in addition to A-specific mutations in the control region and the haplotype with the 152–235–16223–16290–16319 motif is common in the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese populations, it is impossible to estimate the frequency of this haplogroup without coding region information.

 

 

* Mitochondrial Genome Variation in Eastern Asia and the Peopling of Japan (2004) by Masashi Tanaka, et al.

Haplogroup A: This haplogroup was defined by an HaeIII site gain at 663 (Torroni et al. 1992). It was subdivided on the basis of HVSI motifs in A1 (16223–16290–16319) and A2 (16111–16223–16290–16319) by Forster et al. (1996). In our Japanese sample, we have detected several A1 representatives characterized by two substitutions (8563, 11536). Two of these lineages (ON67 and ND218) have been ascribed to the A1a subgroup that is defined by 4655, 11647, and 16187 substitutions. Two additional A1 Japanese clusters (A1b and A1c) have also been phylogenetically defined (Fig. 2). The A2 subgroup is represented in the tree by a Chukchi (6971) and two (KA21 and ON125) Japanese lineages, all sharing the 16362 mutation. As the Chukchi harbors the 16111 and 16265 mutations, it has been labeled as an A2a representative, as tentatively proposed by Saillard et al. (2000), having four additional mutations (152, 153, 8027, and 12007) in its basal branch. Owing to their phylogenetic position, three more Japanese lineages (ND28, TC48, and J42) should be classified as representatives of three new A subhaplogroups, respectively named A3, A4, and A5. Geographically, whereas A1 has a wide northern and central Asian distribution, subclade A1a is confined to Korea and mainland Japan. The greatest diversity for A1 is in central Asia (79%). In Japan it is present in both mainland and indigenous populations. Subhaplogroup A2 is mainly present in northeast Siberia including the Kamchatka peninsula, although a lineage has also been detected in Tibet. The main diversity (30%) and frequency (60%) for this subhaplogroup are in the Chukchi.

 

Phylogenetic Tree, Based on Complete mtDNA Sequences, for Haplogroup A

 

List of Individuals Used to Build Up the Networks

Sample Haplogroup Origin
ON67 A1a1a Japanese
ND218 A1a Japanese
PD26 A1b1 Japanese
JD57 A1c Japanese
6971 A2a Chukchi
KA21 A2 Japanese
ON125 A2 Japanese
ND28 A3 Japanese
TC48 A4 Japanese
J42 A5 Japanese

 

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Control Region Sequences in Koreans: Identification of useful variable sites and phylogenetic analysis for mtDNA data quality control by Hwan Young Lee, et al.

List of important nucleotide positions that identify East Asian mtDNA haplogroups and haplogroup frequencies in Koreans (sample total: 592 Korean mtDNAs )

Haplogroup

HV1a

HV2a

HV3, etc.a

Sample

A

16223–16290–16319

235

  

13

A4

16223–16290–16319–16362

235

523d–524d

18

A5

16187–16223–16290–16319

235

523d–524d

19

 

 

* The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers by Han-Jun Jin, et al.

Distribution of mtDNA Haplogroup Frequencies in 7 East Asian Populations

Haplogroup Korean-Chinese Mongolian Manchurian Han (Beijing) Vietnamese Thais Korean
A    
3
1
    
3
A4
4
2
1
1
1
  
6
A5
1
      
1
  
5
A5a            
1
n
51
47
40
40
42
40
185
A4 %
7.8
4.3
2.5
2.5
2.4
  
3.2

Excerpt: The highest (23.8%) frequency in the Korean mtDNA pool was observed for haplogroup D4, which is widespread in northern East Asia and especially in the Korean-Chinese (21.6%), and Manchurians (20.0%). In total, haplogroup D lineages including the subhaplogroups (D4, D4a, D4b, D5, and D5a) accounted for 32.4% of the Korean mtDNA pool. In addition, the Koreans present moderate frequencies of (sub)haplogroup A (8.1%) and (sub)haplogroup G (10.3%) lineages, mostly prevalent in northeast Asia and southeast Siberia. Other Siberian and Mongolian-prevalent haplogroups from the C, Y and Z lineages make up less than 4% of the Korean mtDNA pool. Haplogroups A5a and Y2 are found almost exclusively in Korea but were present at extremely low frequencies. In total, these northern haplogroups account for ~60% of the mtDNA gene pool of the Koreans. In addition, southeast Asian-prevalent mtDNA lineages of (sub)haplogroups B (14.6%), M7 (10.3%), and F (9.7) are also found at moderate frequencies in the Korean population). These findings suggest that more than 30% of the Korean mtDNA pool is attributable to maternal lineages with a more southern origin. We also found the haplogroup M7a1 exclusively in the Korean population. This result is consistent with previous reports that haplogroup M7a is restricted to Japan and south Korea. Thus, the distribution pattern of mtDNA haplogroups leads us to consider that the peopling of Korea is likely to have involved multiple sources.

 

 

* Ancient DNA Analysis of Human Remains from the Upper Capital City of Kublai Khan by Fu Y, et al.

Analysis of DNA from human archaeological remains is a powerful tool for reconstructing ancient events in human history. To help understand the origin of the inhabitants of Kublai Khan's Upper Capital in Inner Mongolia, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms in 21 ancient individuals buried in the Zhenzishan cemetery of the Upper Capital. MtDNA coding and noncoding region polymorphisms identified in the ancient individuals were characteristic of the Asian mtDNA haplogroups A, B, N9a, C, D, Z, M7b, and M. Phylogenetic analysis of the ancient mtDNA sequences, and comparison with extant reference populations, revealed that the maternal lineages of the population buried in the Zhenzishan cemetery are of Asian origin and typical of present-day Han Chinese, despite the presence of typical European morphological features in several of the skeletons.

 

 

* Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of a 2,000-Year-Old Necropolis in the Egyin Gol Valley of Mongolia by Christine Keyser-Tracqui, et al.

Abstract: DNA was extracted from the skeletal remains of 62 specimens excavated from the Egyin Gol necropolis, in northern Mongolia. This burial site is linked to the Xiongnu period and was used from the 3rd century b.c. to the 2nd century a.d. Three types of genetic markers were used to determine the genetic relationships between individuals buried in the Egyin Gol necropolis. Results from analyses of autosomal and Y chromosome short tandem repeats, as well as mitochondrial DNA, showed close relationships between several specimens and provided additional background information on the social organization within the necropolis as well as the funeral practices of the Xiongnu people. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using biparental, paternal, and maternal genetic systems to reconstruct partial genealogies in a protohistoric necropolis.

Haplogroup 16179C 16192C 16223C 16239C 16243T 16274G 16290C 16293A 16319G 16362T
A    
T
T
C
      
A
C
A
T
T
T
      
T
  
A
C
A
T
T
T
      
T
  
A
C
A    
T
      
T
C
A
  
A    
T
      
T
  
A
C
A    
T
      
T
  
A
C
A    
T
      
T
  
A
C
A    
T
    
A
T
  
A
C

 

The Xiongnu (匈奴) were a confederation of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with a ruling class of unknown origin. The bulk of information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources. What little is known of their titles and names comes from Chinese transliterations from their language.

The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses, because only a few words, mainly titles and personal names, were preserved in the Chinese sources. Proposals by scholars include Mongolic, Turkic, and Yeniseian. The name Xiongnu may be cognate to the name Huns, but the evidence for this is very controversial.

Chinese sources from the 3rd century BC report them creating an empire under Modu Chanyu (who became supreme leader in 209 BC) stretching beyond the borders of modern day Mongolia. In the 2nd century BC, they defeated and displaced the previously dominant Yuezhi and became the predominant power on the steppes north of China. They were active in southern Siberia, western Manchuria, and the modern Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Xinjiang. These nomadic people were considered so dangerous and disruptive that the Qin Dynasty began construction of the Great Wall to protect China from their attacks. Relations between early Chinese dynasties and the Xiongnu were complex, with repeated periods of military conflict and intrigue alternating with exchanges of tribute, trade, and marriage treaties.

 

 

* A Western Eurasian Male Is Found in 2000-year-old Elite Xiongnu Cemetery in Northeast Mongolia by Kim K, et al.

Excerpt: Xiongnu cemeteries have been found at Noin-Ula, Bor Bulagin Am, Golmod, Golmod-II, Takhilt Khotogo, Egyin Gol, and Duurlig Nars in Mongolia. Duurlig Nars has been considered as an elite cemetery among those sites in Mongolia. The excavation of three tombs in Duurlig Nars site has proved this through the recovery of various luxury items such as gold ornaments. This archeological evidence demonstrates the social stratification of the Xiongnu Empire. In this study, genetic analysis was completed on three subjects from Duurlig Nars cemetery dating to 2,000 years ago. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no detailed and integrated molecular analysis of ancient human subjects using mtDNA haplogrouping, Y-SNP haplogrouping, and autosomal STR genotyping in the Xiongnu population. We report here for the first time the occurrence of the R1a1 haplogroup in the Xiongnu population in Northeast Mongolia.

The MNX3 West Eurasian male has R1a1 of Y-SNP and U2e1 mtDNA. R1a is the most common haplogroup in Europe (Malyarchuk et al., 2004; Kayser et al., 2005; Wetton et al., 2005; Fechner et al., 2008; Volgyi et al., 2009). It shows decreasing frequencies from North to South Europe (Wells, 2007) and from Central toward South Asia (Wells et al., 2001). R1a1 in Nepal (Gayden et al., 2007) and India (Sahoo and Kashyap, 2006; Thanseem et al., 2006; Sharma et al., 2009) has been suggested to be associated with migration of Indo-European people from Central Asia (Cordaux et al., 2004). The mtDNA haplogroup U2e has been found in most Central Asian populations (Comas et al., 2004). This haplogroup shows high frequencies in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kalash in Pakistan (Table 7) (Quintana-Murci et al., 2004). U2e is present in West Eurasia at 1% on average (Richard et al., 2007). The ancestral mtDNA haplogroup U2 is subdivided into U2e and U2i; U2e is known as a characteristic European haplogroup, and U2i as an indigenous haplogroup in India (Kivisild et al., 1999; Bermisheva et al., 2002; Basu et al., 2003; Quintana-Murci et al., 2004; Maji et al., 2008; Malyarchuk et al., 2008). U2e is also found in India but exclusively in caste populations, especially in the upper caste with a high frequency (Table 7) (Basu et al., 2003; Maji et al., 2008).

Kurgan people were nomadic peoples of the Volga steppe region, infiltrating Europe between the middle of the fifth and the second millennium BC. Kurgan people expansion would have resulted in the spread of the Indo-European language (Gimbutas, 1970). The Kurgan culture is divided into different subcultures and thought to succeed to the following cultures (Gimbutas, 1970; Hemphill and Mallory, 2004). Historical records and archaeology attest that Kurgan nomadic groups moved across Eurasia from North of the Black sea through Central and Inner Asia, to northeast Asia in a matter of centuries (Mair, 2005). Carriers of the Kurgan culture, believed to be Indo-European speakers, were also carriers of the R1a1 haplogroup (Keyser-Tracqui et al., 2009). R1a1 has thus been considered a marker of Indo-European contribution (Zerjal et al., 1999; Kharkov et al., 2004). R1a was found in Eulau, Germany of the Corded Ware Culture (Haak et al., 2008). R1a1 was predominant in the Krasnoyarsk area in southern central Siberia with the Andronovo, the Karasuk, the Tagar, and the Tachtyk cultures (Keyser-Tracqui et al., 2009).

 

 

Inner Asia has a range of meanings among different researchers and in different countries. Denis Sinor defined Inner Asia broadly (synonymous with Central Eurasia) as the homelands of the Altaic peoples (Mongolian, Turkic, and Manchu-Tungus) and the Uralic peoples (Finno-Ugrian and Samoyed).

Northeast Asia, sometimes Northeastern Asia, refers to the northeastern subregion of Asia.

There are two rival definitions: North Asia and East Asia together or the northern parts of East Asia.

The Council on Foreign Relations defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea. Sometimes it also include Manchuria (Northeast China) and Part of Russian Far East.

From the Far Eastern Economic Review´s point of view Northeast Asia included in 1991: China, Hongkong, Macau, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Russian Asia (Asian Russia) and Taiwan

 

 

* Unravelling Migrations in the Steppe: Mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient Central Asians by C. Lalueza-Fox, et al.

Abstract: This study helps to clarify the debate on the Western and Eastern genetic influences in Central Asia. Thirty-six skeletal remains from Kazakhstan (Central Asia), excavated from different sites dating between the fifteenth century BC to the fifth century AD, have been analysed for the hypervariable control region (HVR-I) and haplogroup diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the mitochondrial DNA genome. Standard authentication criteria for ancient DNA studies, including multiple extractions, cloning of PCR products and independent replication, have been followed. The distribution of east and west
Eurasian lineages through time in the region is concordant with the available archaeological information: prior to the thirteenth–seventh century BC, all Kazakh samples belong to European lineages; while later an arrival of east Eurasian sequences that coexisted with the previous west Eurasian genetic substratum can be detected. The presence of an ancient genetic substratum of European origin in West Asia may be related to the discovery of ancient mummies with European features in Xinjiang and to the existence of an extinct Indo-European language, Tocharian. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the ancient DNA in unravelling complex patterns of past human migrations so as to help decipher the origin of present-day admixed populations.

Excerpt: The observed absence of east Eurasian sequences prior to the eighth to seventh century BC suggests an earlier prehistoric expansion of peoples containing west Eurasian sequences into Asia, that probably went further east, into present-day China. This expansion may be related to the discovery of mummies that contain European features and west Eurasian mtDNA seequences in the Tarin basin, China, as well as the relict Indo-European Tocharian. An intriguing finding is the occurrence in the ancient sample of sequences from Central Asia that are mainly distributed far into the West, such as the Caucasus and central Mediterranean areas.

The latter westward movement of Asian nomads, such as that of the Hsiung-nu, estimated to have taken place around the sixth century BC (Ismagulov 1982), corresponds to the period in which the earliest east Eurasian sequences are found among our ancient samples. In addition, the presence of a haplogroup A sequence found in Siberia (Starikovskaya et al. 1998) and a G2 sequence found in Chinese Han (Yao et al. 2002) points to Siberia and Mongolia as a possible source of such migrations.

If there was a human substratum of west Eurasian origin far into East Asia in prehistoric times, what happened to it? Analyses of present-day Han mtDNA sequence from different regions in China detect a very residual presence (less than 5%) of European haplotypes in a few regions. These include Qinghai (east to Xinjiang and Tibet) and Yunnan (north of India and Burma), as well as some coastal regions (Yao et al. 2002).

 

Haplogroup Attribution and HVR1 Haplotype for Each Sample Successfully Analysed

Haplogroup Sample HVS-I haplotype
A*
8, 17
 223 319 362
A*
14
 223 290 319 362

 

 

* Different Matrilineal Contributions to Genetic Structure of Ethnic Groups in the Silk Road Region in China by Yong-Gang Yao, et al.

The Haplogroup A Distribution Frequencies (%)
Haplogroup
 Hui
Mg
Kaz
Uzb
Uyg
Hana
UIGb
KITb
KIRb
KAZb
IM-Mg c
Central Asian d
n
 45 49 53 58 47 47 55 48 47 55 48 232
A
 6.7 8.2 3.8 3.4 4.3 10.6 7.3 6.3 2.1 9.1 8.3 3.4
NOTE.—The populations Uygur, Uzbek, Kazak, Mongolian, and Hui are abbreviated as Uyg, Uzb, Kaz, Mg, and Hui, respectively.
a Data from Yao et al. (2002a).
b Data from Comas et al. (1998). Kazakh, Uighur, Kirghiz (Sary-Tash), and Kirghiz (Talas) are abbreviated as KAZ, UIG, KIR, KIT, respectively.
c Mongolian from Inner Mongolia, data from Kong et al. (2003a).
d Aggregated samples reported by Comas et al. (2004).

 

Schematic Profile of the mtDNA Haplogroup N in 252 Samples from Xinjiang, China

 

 

Demographics of Xinjiang: East Asian migrants arrived in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin about 3,000 years ago, while the Uighur peoples arrived after the collapse of the Orkon Uighur Kingdom, based in modern-day Mongolia, around the year 842.

Xinjiang is home to several distinct ethnic groups of various religious traditions; however, the majority of the region's total population are adherents of Islam. Among ethnic groups who are of the Muslim faith, most notable are Muslim Turkic peoples including the Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tatars and the Kazakhs; there are also Muslim Iranian peoples including Pamiris and the Sarikolis/Wakhis (often conflated as Pamiris); and Muslim Sino-Tibetan peoples such as the Hui. Other PRC ethnic groups in the region include Han, Mongols, Russians, Xibes, and Manchus. William Mesny said in 1896:

"The present inhabitants of Eastern Turkestan are more like Europeans than any other Asiatics I have seen. Blue eyes, curly hair and red beards are common among them."

The population of Xinjiang was estimated to be about 1,180,000 in 1880 rising sharply after that, due largely to "emigrations and banishments from China."

The percentage of ethnic Han in Xinjiang has grown from less than 7% in 1949 to an official tally of over 40% at present. This figure does not include military personnel or their families, or the many unregistered migrant workers. Much of this transformation can be attributed to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a semi-military organization of settlers that has built farms, towns, and cities over scattered parts of Xinjiang. The demographic transformation is held by Uyghur independence advocates as a threat to Uyghurs and other non-Han ethnicities in maintaining their culture.

In general, Uyghurs are the majority in western Xinjiang, including the prefectures of Kashgar, Khotan, Kizilsu, and Aksu, as well as Turpan prefecture in eastern Xinjiang. Han are the majority in eastern and northern Xinjiang, including the cities of Urumqi, Karamay, Shihezi and the prefectures of Changjyi, Bortala, Bayin'gholin, Ili (especially the cit of Kuitun), and Kumul. Kazakhs are mostly concentrated in Ili prefecture in northern Xinjiang.

Some Uighur scholars claim descent from both the Turkic Uighurs and the pre-Turkic Tocharians (or Tokharians, whose language was Indo-European), and relatively fair-skin, hair and eyes, as well as other so-called 'Caucasoid' physical traits, are not uncommon among them. In general Uyghurs resemble those peoples who live around them in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.

 

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Human Remains from the Yuansha Site in Xinjiang, China by Gao Shi Zhu, et al.

Abstract: The Yuansha site is located in the center of the Taklimakan Desert of Xinjiang, in the southern Silk Road region. MtDNA was extracted from fifteen human remains excavated from the Yuansha site, dating back 2,000―2,500 years. Analysis of the phylogenetic tree and the multidimensional scaling (MDS) reveals that the Yuansha population has relatively close relationships with the modern populations of South Central Asia and Indus Valley, as well as with the ancient population of Chawuhu.

 

Distribution of HVI Sequences in GenBank

Sample 8: Hungarian (ancient individual)

 

HVI Polymorphic Site of Sample 15

Samples HVI polymorphic site Haplogroup Sharing sequence (Distribution of HVI sequences in GenBank)
15 16129 16223 16290 16319
A
Unique

 

The NJ Tree Based on the dA Values. (b) Is the Larger View of the Box in (a)

 

Excerpt: To further investigate the history of population origin, migration, and admixture in the Xinjiang region, ancient mtDNA data from Xinjiang, including Yuansha, Turfan Basin, Yanghai, Luobenoer, and Chawuhu, were compared with other modern and ancient DNA data from the circumjacent regions (Figures 2 and 3). The results show that the Xiongnu population (300BC―2AD) of Mongolia exhibits a close affinity to North Asian populations, while the Jiangjialiang (about 3000BC or so) population of Hebei shares a close affinity with North of East Asian populations. These two populations are both identified as possessing a distant relationship with the Yuansha population. The Luobenoer population (about 1800BC or so) classified as of a proto-European type and linked to steppe culture shares a close affinity with populations of Europe and the Iranian Plateau, and it possesses a relatively remote affinity with the Yuansha population. Affinities are closest between the Yuansha population and the Chawuhu population, followed by the Turfan Basin populations. It is worth pointing out that, due to the similarities of the Yuansha and Chawuhu cultures, the former is assigned to the Zaghunluq type of the Chawuhu culture, and this is supported by the mtDNA results of this study. Compared with the Yuansha population, the Turfan Basin populations share a relatively close relationship with North and East Asian populations, which may be attributed to the contributions of Mongoloid lineage to the gene pool of the Turfan Basin. This indicates to some extent that a westward admixture between Mongolian and local lineages existed in the Tarim Basin at that time.

 

 

* Analysis of the Matrilineal Genetic Structure of Population in the Early Iron Age from Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China by Cui Yin Qiu, et al.

Abstract: Ancient mtDNA data of human remains were analyzed from four early Iron Age Tarim Basin sites
(Yuansha, Zaghunluq, Sampula and Niya) in the southern Silk Road region. Haplogroup distributions show that ancient Tarim Basin population was comprised of well-differentiated Western and Eastern matrilineal lineages. Some West lineage of Tarim Basin population originated from Near East and Iran region. Of the East lineages, North and Northeast Asia originated lineages were the main components, and a few Southeast Asian lineages also existed, which indicated a more extensive origin and a more complex admixture. The genetic structure of ancient Tarim Basin population is relatively close to the modern populations of Xinjiang, which implied that the early Iron Age is an important period during the formation of the modern Xinjiang population.

 

mtDNA Haplogroup A of Ancient Tarim Basin Population

Haplogroup Sample HVI mutation sites (16 000 +) Coding region SNP
A
 Z3 223 319 362 663HaeIII+
A
 Z7 223 290 319 360 362 663HaeIII+
A
 Y15 129 223 290 319 10397AluI-, 663HaeIII+

 

 

* Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of China: A Caveat About Inferences Drawn from Ancient DNA by Yong-Gang Yao, et al.

mtDNA sequence variation in the 2,500-year-old, 2,000-year-old, and modern mtDNAs from Shandong Province, China

Population
 Haplogroup
HVS-I (minus 16000)
2,500-year-old Liach, Shandong
A
 223 290 319 362
Modern Taian, Shandong
A
 223 290 319 362
Modern Taian, Shandong
A
 169 223 290 319 362 399T
Modern Taian, Shandong
A
 223 230 290 319 362
Modern Taian, Shandong
A
 201 223 274 290 319 352 362 400
Modern Taian, Shandong
A
 223 290 293 311 319 362
Modern Taian, Shandong
A
 223 290 311 319 362

 

 

* The Emerging Limbs and Twigs of the East Asian mtDNA Tree by Toomas Kivisild, et. al.

Excerpt: In contrast to A4, which is widely spread, the A5 twig, with its low diversity suggesting shallow time depth, is specific to Koreans and Japanese.

Map of A4 Frequency

Frequencies of A*, A4, and A5 in Asian populations inferred from HVS-I sequences. Sample codes (and sources): AI—Ainu (Horai et al. 1996 ); CU—Chukchis (Starikovskaya et al. 1998 ); EN—Evens (Derenko and Shields 1997 ); GD—Guangdong, Han Chinese (Yao et al. 2002 ; this study); IT—Itelmen (Schurr et al. 1999 ); JP—Japanese (Horai et al. 1996 ; Seo et al. 1998 ; Nishimaki et al. 1999 ); KI—Kirghiz (Comas et al. 1998 ); KN—Koreans (Horai et al. 1996 ; Lee et al. 1997 ; Pfeiffer et al. 1998 ); KY—Koryaks (Derenko and Shields 1997 ; Schurr et al. 1999 ); KZ—Kazakhs (Comas et al. 1998 ); LN—Liaoning, Han Chinese (Yao et al. 2002 ); MO—Mongols (Kolman, Sambuughin, and