Bioarchaeological Analysis of Bronze Age Populations in Xiaohe Cemetery Using Dental Nonmetric Traits

Summary

The archaeological site of Xiaohe cemetery (Cal. 3980 to 3540 years BP), one of the earliest sites in Lop Nur Desert of Xinjiang, China has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to its well-preserved organic materials, such as mummified human remains. However, questions of the regional diversity of populations are still not well understood, as few detailed researches have been undertaken. This study utilizes 17 dental morphological traits to assess the phenetic relationships between Xiaohe (19 males and 17 females), other ancient Chinese populations from the nearby geographical area, and populations from Eurasia. Trait frequencies are determined and biodistances are calculated through the mean measure of divergence statistics (MMD). Based on our MMD results, we suggest that there had already been certain degree of genetic exchange between people of the Xiaohe area and Eurasia as early as the Bronze Age. These results are consistent with other genetic studies on Xiaohe cemetery.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage