The unexpected ancestry of Inner Asian mummies

Doumani Dupuy, Paula N.

doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02872-1

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27 October 2021

The unexpected ancestry of Inner Asian mummies

The genomes of Bronze Age mummies from the Tarim Basin in northwest China suggest that these individuals were descended from an ancient Asian population that was genetically isolated, despite extensive cultural interactions in the region.

Paula N. Doumani Dupuy ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0505-0480⁰

Paula N. Doumani Dupuy
1. Paula N. Doumani Dupuy is in the Anthropology and Sociology Department, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan.
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Discoveries of 4,000-year-old naturally mummified individuals in the remote deserts of the Tarim Basin in the south of present-day Xinjiang, northwest China, have prompted decades of speculation about the individuals’ ancestry. Writing in Nature, Zhang et al.¹ resolve the question of the genetic origins of the mummies, and suggest that they were descended from an ancient, genetically isolated population. The authors’ conclusions have implications for future studies of Inner Asian prehistory that must address the complex relationship between cultural exchange and genetic ancestry.

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Nature 599, 204-206 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02872-1

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