Latest news with #EarlyNeolithic
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Newly discovered 'ghost' lineage linked to ancient mystery population in Tibet, DNA study finds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A 7,100-year-old skeleton from China has revealed a "ghost" lineage that scientists had only theorized about until now, a new study finds. Researchers made the discovery while studying ancient skeletons that could help them map the diverse genetics of central China. The DNA of this ghost lineage individual, an Early Neolithic woman who was buried at the Xingyi archaeological site in southwestern China's Yunnan province, also holds clues to the origins of Tibetan people. "There likely were more of her kind, but they just haven't been sampled yet," study co-author Qiaomei Fu, a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, told Live Science in an email. Fu and colleagues detailed their analysis of 127 human genomes from southwestern China in a study published May 29 in the journal Science. Most of the skeletons that they sampled were dated between 1,400 and 7,150 years ago and came from Yunnan province, which today has the highest ethnic and linguistic diversity in all of China. "Ancient humans that lived in this region may be key to addressing several remaining questions on the prehistoric populations of East and Southeast Asia," the researchers wrote in the study. Those unanswered questions include the origins of people who live on the Tibetan Plateau, as previous studies have shown that Tibetans have northern East Asian ancestry along with a unique ghost ancestry that has mystified researchers. The oldest person the researchers tested was found to be the missing link between Tibetans and the ghost' lineage. Related: 'Mystery population' of human ancestors gave us 20% of our genes and may have boosted our brain function At the Xingyi archaeological site in central Yunnan, dozens of burials were discovered that dated from the Neolithic period (7000 to 2000 B.C.) to the Bronze Age (2000 to 770 B.C.). Beneath all the other burials, archaeologists found a female skeleton with no grave goods. Carbon dating revealed she lived about 7,100 years ago, and isotope analysis of her diet showed she was probably a hunter-gatherer. But genomic analysis of the woman, who has been named Xingyi_EN, was a surprise: her ancestry was not very similar to East and South Asians but was closer to a "deeply diverged" Asian population whose genes contributed to the ghost population only seen in modern Tibetans. A "ghost population" refers to a group of people who were not previously known from skeletal remains but whose existence has been inferred through statistical analysis of ancient and modern DNA. The mystery ancestry seen in Xingyi_EN does not match Neanderthals or Denisovans, both well-known ancient populations that did contribute some "ghost" DNA to humans. Rather, Xingyi_EN is evidence of a previously unknown lineage that diverged from other humans at least 40,000 years ago, according to the researchers, and has been named the Basal Asian Xingyi lineage. RELATED STORIES —Ancient jawbone dredged off Taiwan seafloor belongs to mysterious Denisovan, study finds —DNA from mysterious 'Denisovans' helped modern humans survive —Now-extinct relative had sex with humans far and wide For thousands of years, the lineage was separated from other human groups, meaning there was no admixture — interbreeding that would mix their DNA. "The possible isolation allowed this ancestry to persist without apparent admixture with other populations," Fu said. But at some point, Xingyi_EN's relatives did interbreed with other groups of East Asian ancestry, mixing DNA. "The mixed population has lasted for quite a long time and contributed genes to some Tibetans today," Fu explained. However, these results should be taken with caution, the researchers noted in the study. Given the genetic evidence comes from just a single person, further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between Xingyi_EN and the Tibetan ghost lineage.
Miami Herald
05-02-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Ancient Roman kiln — one of the ‘best-preserved' in UK — unearthed. Take a look inside
Three years ago, archaeologists were called to a 24-acre plot of land in central England. They were there on behalf of Bloor Homes, a housing development company, to search the land and make sure there wasn't anything in need of preservation. Then they made exciting discoveries. 'The large-scale nature of this excavation offered a rare opportunity to look into not only (an) Iron Age settlement and land-use of the site but the entire past landscape, from the early prehistoric to the medieval period,' according to a Feb. 3 news release from Cotswold Archaeology. There were only a few artifacts from the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic periods, including flint pieces and flakes leftover from toolmaking, archaeologists said. They did, however, find a leaf-shaped flint arrowhead, a curved oblique flint arrowhead and a Bronze Age copper alloy barbed and tanged arrowhead, a rare discovery. 'While a very rare artifact to find, it tells us little of the pre-Iron Age activity within our area of focus,' archaeologists said. Pits dating from the Iron Age, between 700 and 400 B.C., were mostly devoid of artifacts, suggesting that they were used more as boundaries than as storage or waste management, according to the release. The boundaries they provided may have been symbolic because they separated a nearby river from the settlement, providing a barrier between a representation of the divine — water — from people and animals. A cremation cemetery with at least 11 human burials was also found and dated to the Middle Bronze Age, archaeologists said. These graves were on the south side of the brook that divides the site, and on the north side archaeologists found three more sets of remains that had been dispersed, begging the question of why there would be two different kinds of burials from the same time periods in different areas of the site. Archaeologists said as time went on a larger settlement was built, including the construction of a roundhouse and multiple enclosures, according to the release. The areas had large pieces of Middle and Late Iron Age pottery, as well as other cooking vessels and a spindle whorl. 'The people who lived here were most likely farmers keeping sheep and cattle, with the small enclosures probably used for crops,' archaeologists said. 'The livestock enclosures were created gradually, maintained, and shaped to suit the function.' Parts of the site were repurposed as time went on and new groups moved onto the land, archaeologists said. For example, an enclosure from the Iron Age was later used by the Romans to build a large lime kiln, according to the release. It was built strategically on the western slope of a hill to catch westerly winds. 'The characteristics conform well with a type of kiln known as a 'flare kiln,'' archaeologists said. 'It did not contain any artefacts but radiocarbon dating has produced a mid to late Roman date (circa 230-360 A.D.) for the kiln, making it one of the best preserved examples in the country.' Flare kilns were shaped like the top and neck of a bottle and used to burn chalk and limestone into quicklime, which would then be used for construction. 'Since completing the fieldwork in 2023, we have been working on a programme of post-excavation assessment and analysis, where our specialists have been teasing out further insights into the settlement, landscape character and people who lived there in the past,' archaeologists said. The site is located in Harpole, a village outside Northampton and a 70-mile drive northwest from London.
