'Culturally Cosmopolitan' Bronze Age Mummies Discovered In China Have Astonishing Origins
Archaeologists discovered the mummies interred in boats with leather and wool clothing, even cheese necklaces. The genome of the bizarre Tarim Basin mummies has been arranged in a particular order for the first time, in an attempt to grasp the origins of these fascinating people, according to Chinese researchers.
A collection of hundreds of well-preserved skeletal remnants nearly 4,000 years old, the Tarim Basin mummies were discovered interred in the Western China desert. The mummies had been believed to be migrants to the region due to their cosmopolitan style – the mummies were entombed in boats, sporting western-style felted clothing, and having agricultural products including wheat and cheese.
"What we ultimately found was something that was very surprising, and I have to say, completely unexpected," said study co-author Christina Warinner. "It's not that frequently where we look at a set of data and think, 'Wow, that was not something I expected at all.'" What was astonishing is that those people were truly indigenous to the area, yet genetically separated from nearby societies.
Initially found by European explorers in the 1900s, these hundreds of mummified bodies from were between 2,000 BC and 200 AD, immaculately preserved by the dry and salty desert.
"These people are so well preserved that we can see the tattoos on their faces. We can see the woollen clothing that they're wearing," said Warinner, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University and a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
The items they were buried with were also well preserved, such as wheat, barley, millet, and even kefir cheese. "One mummy famously had clumps of cheese arranged as a kind of necklace," she said.
That high level of preservation extended to their DNA. Using cutting-edge genetic technology, the team was able to sequence the genomes of 13 individuals who lived between 4,100 and 3,700 years ago. They compared this data to hundreds of both ancient and modern genomes to better understand where this population came from.
But their results showed no ancestry from any of the western groups that had been proposed. Instead, the findings suggest they were direct descendants of an Ice Age population that was Indigenous to Northern Eurasia 9,000 years ago.
"Like many things in archeology, it solves one mystery but raises so many more," said Warinner.
"So while they were very genetically isolated and did not inter-marry with any of the neighbouring groups that completely surrounded them, they borrowed ideas and cultural elements from all of these groups," said Warinner. "They adopted dairying practices and made cheeses. They learned how to farm both wheat from the west and millet from the east…. They seem to have been very culturally cosmopolitan."
Snow melt from mountains to the North would have led to large, vast rivers flowing through the area . However, because of the lack of geographic features constraining these rivers, they were prone to sudden shifts, which could be the reason behind this populations' demise.
"They lived there and thrived when it was this riverine oasis, and when the river moved, they were suddenly stranded in the middle of the desert."
Next Warinner would like to learn more about how communities were interacting along these rivers at the time.
"Genetics can't fully explain that process. That's something really where we have to rely on the archeology to help us understand what happens when people with such different lifestyles meet and interact," she said.
A collection of hundreds of well-preserved skeletal remnants nearly 4,000 years old, the Tarim Basin mummies were discovered interred in the Western China desert. The mummies had been believed to be migrants to the region due to their cosmopolitan style – the mummies were entombed in boats, sporting western-style felted clothing, and having agricultural products including wheat and cheese.
"What we ultimately found was something that was very surprising, and I have to say, completely unexpected," said study co-author Christina Warinner. "It's not that frequently where we look at a set of data and think, 'Wow, that was not something I expected at all.'" What was astonishing is that those people were truly indigenous to the area, yet genetically separated from nearby societies.
Exceptionally well preserved, down to their DNA
Source: Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Initially found by European explorers in the 1900s, these hundreds of mummified bodies from were between 2,000 BC and 200 AD, immaculately preserved by the dry and salty desert.
"These people are so well preserved that we can see the tattoos on their faces. We can see the woollen clothing that they're wearing," said Warinner, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University and a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
The items they were buried with were also well preserved, such as wheat, barley, millet, and even kefir cheese. "One mummy famously had clumps of cheese arranged as a kind of necklace," she said.
That high level of preservation extended to their DNA. Using cutting-edge genetic technology, the team was able to sequence the genomes of 13 individuals who lived between 4,100 and 3,700 years ago. They compared this data to hundreds of both ancient and modern genomes to better understand where this population came from.
Source: Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
But their results showed no ancestry from any of the western groups that had been proposed. Instead, the findings suggest they were direct descendants of an Ice Age population that was Indigenous to Northern Eurasia 9,000 years ago.
"Like many things in archeology, it solves one mystery but raises so many more," said Warinner.
Culturally cosmopolitan and yet genetically isolated
Warinner said this result is particularly interesting because it contrasted so strikingly with their clear influences from far-flung cultures."So while they were very genetically isolated and did not inter-marry with any of the neighbouring groups that completely surrounded them, they borrowed ideas and cultural elements from all of these groups," said Warinner. "They adopted dairying practices and made cheeses. They learned how to farm both wheat from the west and millet from the east…. They seem to have been very culturally cosmopolitan."
Source: Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Snow melt from mountains to the North would have led to large, vast rivers flowing through the area . However, because of the lack of geographic features constraining these rivers, they were prone to sudden shifts, which could be the reason behind this populations' demise.
"They lived there and thrived when it was this riverine oasis, and when the river moved, they were suddenly stranded in the middle of the desert."
Next Warinner would like to learn more about how communities were interacting along these rivers at the time.
"Genetics can't fully explain that process. That's something really where we have to rely on the archeology to help us understand what happens when people with such different lifestyles meet and interact," she said.
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