Ancient genomes from northern China suggest links between subsistence changes and human migration
- Chao Ning,
- Tianjiao Li,
- Ke Wang,
- Fan Zhang,
- Tao Li,
- Xiyan Wu,
- Shizhu Gao,
- Quanchao Zhang,
- Hai Zhang,
- Mark J. Hudson,
- Guanghui Dong,
- Sihao Wu,
- Yanming Fang,
- Chen Liu,
- Chunyan Feng,
- Wei Li,
- Tao Han,
- Ruo Li,
- Jian Wei,
- Yonggang Zhu,
- Yawei Zhou,
- Chuan-Chao Wang,
- Shengying Fan,
- Zenglong Xiong,
- …
- Yinqiu Cui
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Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 2700 (2020) Cite this article
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Introduction
China is one of the earliest independent centers in the world for the domestication of cereal crops, second only to the Near East, with the rainfed rice agriculture in the Yangtze River Basin in southern China1,2, and dryland millet agriculture in northern China2,3,4,5,6. Northern China represents a large geographic region that encompasses the Central Plain in the middle-to-lower Yellow River (YR) basin, the birthplace of the well-known YR civilization since the Neolithic period. However, northern China extends far beyond the Central Plain and includes several other major river systems in distinct ecoregions (Fig. 1). Especially, it is now well received that the West Liao River (WLR) region in northeast China (Fig. 1) played a critical role distinct from the YR region in the adoption and spread of millet farming3,6. Both foxtail (Setaria italica) and broomcorn millets (Panicum miliaceum) were first cultivated in the WLR and lower reaches of the YR basins since at least 6000 BCE3,6. In the ensuing five millennia, millets domesticated in northern China spread across east Eurasia and beyond. Millets had served as one of the main staple foods in northeast Asia, particularly until the introduction of maize and sweet potato in the 16–17th centuries2,3,4,5,6,7.
a Location of the 19 archeological sites covering 55 ancient individuals in this study. Each symbol corresponds to a site from a specific region: circle (AR); square (WLR); triangle (YR); diamond (sites from Inner Mongolia or Shaanxi) (see Table 1 for details). The published Early Neolithic genomes from the Russian Far East (“Devil’s Gate_EN”)57,58 are also indicated. The three major river basins in northern China are indicated in different color shades, namely Amur River Basin in light green, West Liao River Basin in pink, and Yellow River Basin in light blue. The base map was prepared from the ArcGIS “World Terrain Base” included in the ArcGIS desktop standard v. 9.2. ArcGIS user license was purchased by, and authorized to, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH, Jena, Germany). b Calibrated radiocarbon dates and relative dating of ancient samples in this study. The archeological sites are ordered according to their locations. SX and IM refer to Shaanxi province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region of China, respectively. Their geographic locations are intermediate between the WLR and YR. Colors correspond to samples of different time periods: EN Early Neolithic, MN Middle Neolithic, LN Late Neolithic, BA Bronze Age, LBIA Late Bronze and Iron Age, IA Iron Age.
Both the YR and the WLR are known for rich archeological cultures that relied substantially on millet farming8,9. By the Middle Neolithic (roughly 4000 BCE), complex societies with a substantial reliance on millet farming had developed in the WLR (Hongshan culture; 4500–3000 BCE)10,11 and in the YR (Yangshao culture; 5000–3000 BCE) basins11. For example, excavations of Hongshan societies in the WLR yielded public ceremonial platforms with substantial offerings including numerous jade ornaments, among which the “Goddess Temple” at the Niuheliang site is the most famous10,12. The establishment of the Middle Neolithic complex societies appears to have been associated with rapid population growth and cultural innovation, and may have been linked to the dispersal of two major language families, Sino-Tibetan from the YR13,14 and Transeurasian from the WLR15, although some scholars debate the genealogical unity of the latter16,17.
Compared with the YR region where crop cultivation already took the status of the dominant subsistence strategy by the Middle Neolithic, the level of reliance on crops in the WLR region has changed frequently in association with changes in climate and archeological culture. For example, paleobotanical and isotopic evidence suggest that the contribution of millets to the diet of the WLR people steadily increased from the Xinglongwa to Hongshan to Lower Xiajiadian (2200–1600 BCE) cultures18, but was partially replaced by nomadic pastoralism in the subsequent Upper Xiajiadian culture (1000–600 BCE). Although many archeologists associated this subsistence switch with a response to the climate change19,20, it remains to be investigated whether substantial human migrations mediated these changes. The WLR region adjoins the Amur River (AR) region to the northeast, in which people continued to rely on hunting, fishing, and animal husbandry combined with some cultivation of millet, barley, and legumes into the historic era21,22. Little is known to what extent contacts and interaction between YR and WLR societies affected the dispersal of millet farming over northern China and surrounding regions. More generally, given the limited availability of ancient human genomes so far, prehistoric human migrations and contacts as well as their impact on present-day populations are still poorly understood in this region.
Here, we present the genetic analysis of 55 ancient human genomes from various archeological sites representative of major archeological cultures across northern China since the Middle Neolithic. By the spatiotemporal comparison of their genetic profiles, we provide an overview of past human migration and admixture events in this region and compare them with changes in subsistence strategy.
Ancient Genomes Link Subsistence Change and Human Migration in Northern China
Genetic analysis of 55 ancient individuals finds that genetic changes in Yellow River, West Liao River and Amur River populations correlate with the intensification of farming and the inclusion of a pastoral economy.
Northern China is among the first centers in the world where agriculture developed, but its genetic history remains largely unknown. In a new study published in Nature Communications, the eurasia3angle research group analyses 55 ancient genomes from China, finding new correlations between the intensification of subsistence strategies and human migration. This work provides a comprehensive archaeogenetic overview of northern China and fuels the debate about the archaeological and linguistic signatures of past human migration.
Location of the 19 archaeological sites covering 55 ancient individuals in this study. Each symbol corresponds to a… [more]
© Ning et al., 2020
The first archaeogenetic overview of northern China
While recent advances in ancient DNA analysis have established the major patterns of prehistoric human migration in western Eurasia, the population history of eastern Eurasia remains little understood. Northern China is of particular importance, as it harboured two of the world’s earliest agricultural centres for millet farming: the Yellow and West Liao River basins. Both basins are famous for their rich archaeological cultures and their influence on nearby regions. However, little is known about their genetic interactions and how these affected the dispersal of millet farming over northern China and surrounding regions.
To tackle these questions, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI SHH) in Germany collaborated with geneticist Prof. Dr. Yinqiu Cui and her team at the School of Life Sciences at Jilin University in China. With joint forces, they were able to sequence 55 genomes from across northern China dating between 7,500 and 1,700 years ago, covering the Yellow River, West Liao River and Amur River regions. Their results add to discussions concerning the relationship between genetic contacts and subsistence change while providing the first comprehensive genetic overview of northern China.
Correlated changes of genes and subsistence
The researchers find that, contrary to the strong genetic continuity in the Amur basin, genetic profiles in the West Liao River region substantially changed over time. Yellow River, however, showed a general genetic stability but received genetic contribution from populations related to present-day groups in southern China since the middle Neolithic.
Human remains in house foundation F40 of the Haminmangha site
© Yonggang Zhu, School of Archaeology Jilin University
“Although the genetic changes in each region differ in timing and intensity, each shift is correlated with changes in subsistence strategy,” says lead author Chao Ning of the MPI SHH’s eurasia3angle team. “As we look backwards in time, an increase of Amur River affinity in West Liao River corresponds with the inclusion of a pastoral economy during the Bronze Age, prior to that, an increased Yellow River affinity in the same region is correlated with the intensification of millet farming in the late Neolithic. Finally, our earliest results show that an affinity of Yellow River to populations from southern China (e.g. from the Yangtze River basin) since the middle Neolithic is concordant with the northward dispersal of rice farming.”
Corresponding author Choongwon Jeong, formerly a geneticist on the eurasia3angle team now affiliated with Seoul National University in South Korea, puts the findings in perspective. “We realize that our current dataset needs ancient genomes from people who brought rice agriculture into northeast China, such as ancient farmers from the Shandong and Lower Yangtze River regions, but nevertheless our study is a major step forward in understanding how this region developed.”
“For me, as a linguist, our findings truly are an eye-opener,” says senior author Martine Robbeets, principal investigator of the eurasia3angle team. “As the West Liao River Basin is associated with the origin of the Transeurasian language family and the Yellow River Basin with the Sino-Tibetan family, our results fuel the debate on the historical correlation between archaeological cultures, languages and genes.”
2020-06-01
[게놈과 인류사]"말 없는 수천 년 전 인류사, 게놈이 밝힐 수 있어요" : 동아사이언스 (dongascience.com)
[게놈과 인류사]"말 없는 수천 년 전 인류사, 게놈이 밝힐 수 있어요"
중국 북동부의 5000년 전 유적지인 하민 망하에서 발견된 유골 집단 매장 유적이다. 수십 구의 유골이 뒤엉켜 묻혀 있다. 감염병 집단 감염 사태 등 당시 사회가 급속도로 커지는 과정에서 어떤
www.dongascience.com
독일 막스플랑크 인류사과학연구소와 정충원 서울대 생명과학부 교수(아래 사진)가 참여하는 국제공동연구팀은 최근 이런 역사계의 '난제'를 푸는 최전선의 연구 결과로 주목 받고 있다. 유전체 분석과 역사, 고고학을 접목해 인류집단의 이동 및 교류 역사를 과학적으로 재조명하는 새로운 융합 학문 분야를 미국 하버드대팀과 함께 열었다는 평이다. '셀'이나 '사이언스', '네이처' 등 최정상급 학술지도 최근 잇따라 이들의 논문을 게재하며 새 분야를 적극 알리고 있다.
최근에는 중국과 시베리아 및 아메리카, 유럽 등의 수만~수천 년 전 인류 이동사를 재조명한 연구 결과가 지난 보름 사이에만 네 편 이상 쏟아져 나왔다. 1일 정 교수팀은 중국 동북부 요하 서쪽 유역을 중심으로 이 남쪽 지역인 중원(황하 중하류) 지역과 북쪽(아무르강 유역)에 거주하던 7500~1700년 전 사람 55명의 유골 55구를 게놈 해독, 분석해 이 지역 인류의 독특한 변천 과정을 세밀히 밝혀 '네이처 커뮤니케이션스'에 공개했다. 이 지역은 최초로 기장을 재배하는 등 인류 문명에서 중요한 가치를 지니는 곳이다. 연구 결과 요하 서쪽 유역의 인류는 중원 지역에 거주하던 집단과, 아무르강 지역의 집단 사이의 끊임없는 교류 결과 시대에 따라 변화하는 모습을 뚜렷히 보여준다는 사실을 확인했다.
정 교수는 “시료 채취가 더 필요하긴 하지만, 예를 들어 4200~3600년 전 랴오닝성 부근에서 발달했던 ‘샤가뎬하층문화’ 때는 사람들의 유전적 특성이 중원 사람과 비슷해졌다가, 이후 청동기시대이자 유목적 성격이 강한 '샤가뎬상층문화' 시대가 오면 아무르강 사람과 비슷해지는 특성이 나타난다”고 말했다. 이런 차이가 나타난 이유는 생산방식의 차이로 추정된다. 쌀과 기장 등을 기르던 중원과 기장, 조 등을 키우던 아무르강 유역 인구집단의 경계 지역이 이 지역이라는 것이다.
지난달 22일 셀에 발표한 논문도 마찬가지다. 이번에는 유라시아와 최초의 아메리카인이 주제였다. 연구팀은 시베리아의 바이칼호 서쪽 부근에 약 1만 년에 걸쳐 살던 후기 신석기~청동기 시대 인류 유골의 유전적 특성을 분석한 결과, 최초로 미국에 건너간 인류가 유럽과 아시아를 아우르는 여러 인류 집단의 복잡하고 오랜 교류에 의해 탄생했다는 사실을 밝혔다. 3만 년 전 이전에 지금의 타이가벨트 지역에 살던, 매머드 등 대형 동물을 사냥하던 수렵채집인과 동아시아인이 복잡하게 섞인 뒤 이들이 지금의 베링해 지역을 거쳐 미국으로 건너갔다는 것이다. 이 과정에서 갈라져 나온 다양한 세부 인류집단의 '가계도'를 세밀하게 밝혔다.
