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

CNN ^ | 28 October 2021 | Katie Hunt, CNN

[blueplum]

(CNN)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....

Their Western looks; felted and woven wool clothing; and the cheese, wheat and millet found in their unusual graves suggested they were long-disticance herders....

However, a new study by Chinese, European and American researchers that analyzed the DNA of these 13 mummies, sequencing their genomes for the first time, has painted a different picture. Their analysis suggested that the remains did not belong to newcomers but a local group descended from an ancient ice age Asian population...

...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....

[blueplum]

What would Halloween be without a mummy story?

[Adder]

Be better if they got up and started herding again...

:D

[ScottinVA]

Wow… Floki made it that far, eh?

[House Atreides]

Damn, the mummie looks like Aunt Mabel.

[MortMan]

Enigmatic? I guess the mummies aren’t talking? Lol

[Craftmore]

23 and me determined they came from south africa?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks blueplum.

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• These Are The World's Oldest Pants [05/31/2014]
• Ancient nomads spread earliest domestic grains along Silk Road, study finds [04/05/2014]
• Ancient mummies found buried with world's oldest cheese [03/01/2014]
• Kushan Empire (ca. 2nd century B.C.–3rd century A.D.) [07/21/2013]
• Redheaded Tocharian Mummies of the Uyghir Area, China [12/06/2012]
• New Indo-European Language Discovered [06/21/2012]
• Cultural heritage: Takht Bhai offers a glimpse of life under Kanishka {Kushan Empire} [04/02/2012]
• Mystery of the Chinese mummy’s travel ban [02/05/2011]
• Unearthed cities in Southern Siberia could rewrite Aryan history [10/04/2010]
• Xinjiang discovery provides intriguing DNA link [05/01/2010]
• Mummy find in China desert stirs ethnic debate [Caucasian Features] [03/16/2010]
• The Mystery Behind the 5,000 Year Old Tarim Mummies [08/31/2009]
• Giant Chinese dustball circles the Earth [07/21/2009]
• Folk wanderings in "the Heartland" [07/07/2009]
• White Masters in the deserts of China? [03/11/2009]
• Mummies stir political row in China [Caucasian Mummies?] [11/19/2008]
• Fragments Of The Tocharian [01/30/2008]
• Mystery Mummy (National Geographic, 9:00PM EST tonight - Ancient Caucasian Mummies Found In China) [12/02/2007]
• Genetic Testing Reveals Awkard Truth About Xinjiang's Famous (Red-Headed) Mummies [03/06/2007]
• China Striving For (Caucasian) Mummy Identification (2,800-YO) [12/24/2006]
• On The Presence Of Non-Chinese At Anyang [08/16/2006]
• Tocharians [07/26/2006]
• Fresco pieced together after 1,400 years in desert [ Taklamakan Dandanulike ] [07/20/2006]
• Mysteries Of The Xiaohe Tombs In Xinjiang, China [06/11/2005]
• Genetic testing reveals awkward truth about Xinjiang’s famous mummies (Caucasian) [04/19/2005]
• The Sand Dune Forgotten By Time (Caucasian Mummies In China - More ) [03/19/2005]
• New Desert Coffins Unearthed In Xinjiang [01/04/2005]
• Burushaski [11/06/2004]
• China Unearths Ancient Caucasian Tombs [10/24/2004]
• Ancient European Remains Discovered In Qinghai (China) [07/06/2004]
• Blast Blower Some 2,500 Years Old Has Been Discovered in XinJiang (Urumchi) [06/06/2004]
• The Curse Of The Red-Headed Mummy [12/12/2003]
• LINGUISTICS: [11/28/2003]