Excellent book that was recommended to me by FReeper JimSEA
Posted on 11/04/2006 7:22:03 PM PST by JimSEA
DNA tests on ancient skeletons in the Northeast suggest our ancestors may have migrated to this part of the region long before we first thought.
The tests were conducted by scholars and archaeologists at the Fine Arts Department in a bid to find the origins of Thai people. The team started its work in 2003, using the testing of mitochondrial DNA on skeletons in selected graveyards in Nakhon Ratchasima and groups of living people in China, and some countries in Southeast Asia.
Mitochondria are small energy-producing organelles found in egg cells which, unlike nuclear DNA that is equally inherited from both father and mother, is passed only from a mother to her children.
The result showed genetic similarities in the skeletons and people in China and Southeast Asia, which means migration might have taken place about 3,000 years ago.
''We want to know more about the origin of Thais. We used DNA tests which scientists employ for medical purposes to learn about our history and our origins,'' Rachanie Thosarat, former archaeologist at the department, told a seminar on Friday.
She said the technology has been used widely by foreign archaeologists since 1980s. But local archaeologists applied it for the first time only in recent years.
''We want to know whether a theory which says that our ancestors migrated from China's lower region about 700 years ago is true or not,'' she said.
The researchers extracted mitochondrial DNA samples from the teeth of skeletons in ancient Noen U-Loke and Ban Lum Khao graveyards, near Pimai historical park in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
Almost unknown to the public, compared to the country's popular Ban Chieng archaeological site, the researchers chose the two sites as more than 200 skeletons there were in perfect condition.
Noen U-Loke contained 130 skeletons aged 1,500-2,500 years while Ban Lum Khao site is home to 113 skeletons aged 2,500-3,500 years.
Details of the DNA samples were put in a computer model that contained the DNA of 20 living ethnic people, 10 from countries in Southeast Asia and another 10 from eastern China.
The method constructed the so-called ''Phylogenetic tree'' or ''genetic evolution tree'' that indicates links between ancient skeletons and people in China and Southeast Asian countries, said Prof Samoerchai Poolsuwan, anthropologist from Thammasat University's sociology faculty and also a member of the research team.
''The DNA test confirmed that the genes of the people and the skeletons are close,'' he said.
''In lay terms, you may say that Thai ancestors may have shared the same ancestors from people in China and Southeast Asia.
''You may say that people in this region may share the same origins, and Thais may go back more than 700 years,'' he said.
He said the findings are just a small part of the whole picture and more DNA tests were needed, adding the Fine Arts Department had agreed to use DNA tests at other archaeological sites.
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Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
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An update:
I've had the DNA of my family checked and my father's mother (Mrs Smith) has the same mtDNA as 9,000 year old Cheddar Man, mtDNA U5a. (See here.) U5a and 'V' are well represented amongst the Sami (Laplanders - rein deer herders) of the far north. My mtDNA is 'V'.
The origin of ties... probably French. ;’)
Oh? Never mind...I thought we were talking about Thai's.
Hey, at least no one brought up the Thai master.
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