DNA reveals unexpected origins of enigmatic mummies buried in a Chinese desert

Since their discovery, the ancestry of hundreds of mummified bodies buried in boats in an inhospitable desert region of north-west China has puzzled and divided archaeologists.

Found in the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang mostly in the 1990s, the mummies’ bodies and clothes are strikingly intact despite being up to 4000 years old.

Naturally preserved by the dry desert air, their facial features and hair colour can clearly be seen.

DNA reveals unexpected origins of enigmatic mummies buried in a Chinese desert — Since their discovery, the ancestry of hundreds of mummified bodies buried in boats in an inhospitable desert region of northwest China has puzzled and divided archaeologists.

In a groundbreaking discovery, DNA analysis has shed light on the mysterious origins of enigmatic mummies found buried in a Chinese desert. These mummies, known for their remarkable preservation and distinct physical features, have puzzled researchers for decades.

The study, led by a team of archaeologists and geneticists, utilized advanced sequencing techniques to extract and analyze ancient DNA from the mummies’ remains. The findings, published in a prominent scientific journal, revealed surprising insights into the ancestry and migration patterns of these ancient individuals.

Contrary to previous assumptions, the DNA results indicated that the mummies were not solely of East Asian descent but instead had genetic ties to populations from Europe and West Asia. This suggests a more complex history of human migration and interaction in ancient China than previously understood.

Furthermore, isotopic analysis of the mummies’ hair and teeth provided additional clues about their diet and lifestyle, indicating a diverse and varied cultural milieu in the region during the time period in which they lived.

The discovery challenges existing theories about the demographic makeup of ancient China and underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in unraveling the mysteries of the past. It opens new avenues for research into the interconnectedness of ancient civilizations and the forces that shaped human history.

Incredible crossroads

Ancient DNA can provide powerful evidence about the movements of people at a time when written records or other clues are scarce, Vagheesh Narasimhan, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who has worked on genetic samples from the Central Asia region, said.

He wasn’t involved in the study, and called the research “exciting.”

The research found that the Tarim Basin mummies showed no sign of admixture (a scientific term for having babies) with other groups that lived at the same time.

The mummies were direct descendants of a group that was once widespread during the Ice Age but had largely disappeared by the end of that era – around 10,000 years ago.

Called Ancient North Eurasians, traces of this hunter-gatherer population survive only fractionally in the genomes of present-day populations, with Indigenous people in Siberia and the Americas having the highest known proportions.

Finding them in the Tarim Basin and dated to these years was unexpected.

The other genetic samples from farther North in Xinjiang showed that the people they came from mixed extensively with different Bronze Age populations in the region, making it remarkable that the Tarim Basin mummies were so genetically isolated.

While remote now, in the Bronze Age “this was a region of incredible crossroads.

There was vibrant mixing of North, South, East and West going back as far back as 5000 years,” Michael Frachetti, a professor of anthropology at Washington University in Saint Louis, who wasn’t involved in the study, said.

“It makes it all the more paradoxical in a way that you have a community which is heavily integrated from cultural perspectives, but who maintain some very, very iconic and unique components of their own local ideology, local culture, local burial traditions as well as a seemingly unmixed genetic profile that goes back even further into deep time primordial ancestry.”

Professor Narasimhan said it was possible for a population to be genetically isolated but also be culturally cosmopolitan.

“It’s not necessary for genetics to always go hand in hand with cultural or linguistic exchange,” he said.

“People can always adopt new techniques be it farming or metal working from other groups, or change their funerary practices and so on, without population movement or turnover.”

Unanswered questions

While the DNA study reveals tantalising details about the mummies, it’s unlikely to be the last word on their origins.

The study looks at mummies found at a single site, and it’s unclear whether sequencing a wider range of sites in the Tarim Basin might result in the discovery of different genetic ties, Professor Narasimhan said.

Professor Frachetti said ancient genetic samples from this region are still relatively rare, and it was possible that they could find other genetic influences from the Himalayas or Tibet.

Although earlier work has shown the mummies lived on the shores of an oasis in the desert, it’s still unclear why they were buried in boats covered in cattle hides with oars at their head – a rare practice not seen elsewhere in the region and perhaps best associated with Vikings.

“They bury their bodies in boats, and no one else does that. That means where that tradition comes from remains one of the biggest enigmas of this desert population, which should be the last community in the world to do this,” Professor Farchetti said.

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