Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road
Abstract Background Ancient Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) was one of the world’s largest and most populated cities and acted as the eastern end of the world-famous Silk Road. However, little is known about the genetics of Chang’an people and whether the Western Regions-related gene flows...
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BMC
2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02068-9 |
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| author | Minglei Lv Hao Ma Rui Wang Hui Li Xiangyu Zhang Wenbo Zhang Yuding Zeng Ziwei Qin Hongbo Zhai Yiqiang Lou Yukai Lin Le Tao Haifeng He Xiaomin Yang Kongyang Zhu Yawei Zhou Chuan-Chao Wang |
| author_facet | Minglei Lv Hao Ma Rui Wang Hui Li Xiangyu Zhang Wenbo Zhang Yuding Zeng Ziwei Qin Hongbo Zhai Yiqiang Lou Yukai Lin Le Tao Haifeng He Xiaomin Yang Kongyang Zhu Yawei Zhou Chuan-Chao Wang |
| author_sort | Minglei Lv |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Ancient Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) was one of the world’s largest and most populated cities and acted as the eastern end of the world-famous Silk Road. However, little is known about the genetics of Chang’an people and whether the Western Regions-related gene flows have been prevalent in this cosmopolitan city. Results Here, we present seven genomes from Xingfulindai (XFLD) sites dating to the Tang Dynasty in Chang’an. We observed that four of seven XFLD individuals (XFLD_1) were genetically homogenous with the Late Neolithic Wadian, Pingliangtai, and Haojiatai populations from the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin (YR_LN), with no genetic influence from the Western Eurasian or other non-Yellow River-related lineages. The remaining three XFLD individuals were a mixture of YR_LN-related ancestry and ~ 3–15% Western Eurasian-related ancestry. Mixtures of XFLD_1 and Western Eurasian-related ancestry drove the main gradient of genetic variation in northern and central Shaanxi Province today. Conclusions Our study underlined the widespread distribution of the YR_LN-related ancestry alongside the Silk Road within the territory of China during the historical era and provided direct evidence of trans-Eurasian communication in Chang’an from a genetic perspective. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e834f40dddef498e890828ffb5ad9bcc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1741-7007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e834f40dddef498e890828ffb5ad9bcc2025-08-20T02:22:33ZengBMCBMC Biology1741-70072024-11-0122111110.1186/s12915-024-02068-9Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk RoadMinglei Lv0Hao Ma1Rui Wang2Hui Li3Xiangyu Zhang4Wenbo Zhang5Yuding Zeng6Ziwei Qin7Hongbo Zhai8Yiqiang Lou9Yukai Lin10Le Tao11Haifeng He12Xiaomin Yang13Kongyang Zhu14Yawei Zhou15Chuan-Chao Wang16School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversitySchool of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou Institute of Antiquities and ArchaeologyState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversityDepartment of Anthropology and Ethnology, Institute of Anthropology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Bioanthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen UniversitySchool of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan UniversityAbstract Background Ancient Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) was one of the world’s largest and most populated cities and acted as the eastern end of the world-famous Silk Road. However, little is known about the genetics of Chang’an people and whether the Western Regions-related gene flows have been prevalent in this cosmopolitan city. Results Here, we present seven genomes from Xingfulindai (XFLD) sites dating to the Tang Dynasty in Chang’an. We observed that four of seven XFLD individuals (XFLD_1) were genetically homogenous with the Late Neolithic Wadian, Pingliangtai, and Haojiatai populations from the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin (YR_LN), with no genetic influence from the Western Eurasian or other non-Yellow River-related lineages. The remaining three XFLD individuals were a mixture of YR_LN-related ancestry and ~ 3–15% Western Eurasian-related ancestry. Mixtures of XFLD_1 and Western Eurasian-related ancestry drove the main gradient of genetic variation in northern and central Shaanxi Province today. Conclusions Our study underlined the widespread distribution of the YR_LN-related ancestry alongside the Silk Road within the territory of China during the historical era and provided direct evidence of trans-Eurasian communication in Chang’an from a genetic perspective.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02068-9Ancient Chang’anEast AsiaAncient DNATang DynastySilk RoadPopulation history |
| spellingShingle | Minglei Lv Hao Ma Rui Wang Hui Li Xiangyu Zhang Wenbo Zhang Yuding Zeng Ziwei Qin Hongbo Zhai Yiqiang Lou Yukai Lin Le Tao Haifeng He Xiaomin Yang Kongyang Zhu Yawei Zhou Chuan-Chao Wang Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road BMC Biology Ancient Chang’an East Asia Ancient DNA Tang Dynasty Silk Road Population history |
| title | Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road |
| title_full | Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road |
| title_fullStr | Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road |
| title_short | Ancient genomes from the Tang Dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans-Eurasian communication at the eastern end of Silk Road |
| title_sort | ancient genomes from the tang dynasty capital reveal the genetic legacy of trans eurasian communication at the eastern end of silk road |
| topic | Ancient Chang’an East Asia Ancient DNA Tang Dynasty Silk Road Population history |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-024-02068-9 |
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