Human population history at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia since 11,000 years ago

Tianyi Wang; Wei Wang; Guangmao Xie; Zhen Li; Xuechun Fan; Qingping Yang; Xichao Wu; Peng Cao; Yichen Liu; Ruowei Yang; Feng Liu; Qingyan Dai; Xiaotian Feng; Xiaohong Wu; Ling Qin; Fajun Li; Wanjing Ping; Lizhao Zhang; Ming Zhang; Yalin Liu; Xiaoshan Chen; Dongju Zhang; Zhenyu Zhou; Yun Wu; Hassan Shafiey; Xing Gao; Darren Curnoe; Xiaowei Mao; E Andrew Bennett; Xueping Ji; Melinda A Yang; Qiaomei Fu

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.018

Human population history at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia since 11,000 years ago

Cell. 2021 Jul 8;184(14):3829-3841.e21. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.018. Epub 2021 Jun 24.

Authors

Tianyi Wang¹, Wei Wang², Guangmao Xie³, Zhen Li⁴, Xuechun Fan⁵, Qingping Yang⁴, Xichao Wu⁶, Peng Cao⁷, Yichen Liu⁸, Ruowei Yang⁷, Feng Liu⁷, Qingyan Dai⁷, Xiaotian Feng⁷, Xiaohong Wu⁹, Ling Qin⁹, Fajun Li¹⁰, Wanjing Ping⁷, Lizhao Zhang⁷, Ming Zhang⁷, Yalin Liu¹¹, Xiaoshan Chen¹², Dongju Zhang¹², Zhenyu Zhou¹³, Yun Wu¹⁴, Hassan Shafiey⁷, Xing Gao¹¹, Darren Curnoe¹⁵, Xiaowei Mao⁸, E Andrew Bennett⁷, Xueping Ji¹⁶, Melinda A Yang¹⁷, Qiaomei Fu¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, China; Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, Shanghai 200232, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
³ Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology, Nanning 530022, China; College of History, Culture and Tourism, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541001, China.
⁴ Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology, Nanning 530022, China.
⁵ International Research Center for Austronesian Archaeology, Pingtan 350000, China; Fujian Museum, Fuzhou 350001, China.
⁶ Fujian Longyan Museum, Longyan 364000, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, Shanghai 200232, China.
⁹ School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
¹⁰ Department of Anthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
¹² Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
¹³ Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100710, China.
¹⁴ Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming 650118, China; Archaeological Institute for Yangtze Civilization, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
¹⁵ Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
¹⁶ Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming 650118, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁷ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁸ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, Shanghai 200232, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34171307
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.018

Abstract

Past human genetic diversity and migration between southern China and Southeast Asia have not been well characterized, in part due to poor preservation of ancient DNA in hot and humid regions. We sequenced 31 ancient genomes from southern China (Guangxi and Fujian), including two ∼12,000- to 10,000-year-old individuals representing the oldest humans sequenced from southern China. We discovered a deeply diverged East Asian ancestry in the Guangxi region that persisted until at least 6,000 years ago. We found that ∼9,000- to 6,000-year-old Guangxi populations were a mixture of local ancestry, southern ancestry previously sampled in Fujian, and deep Asian ancestry related to Southeast Asian Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherers, showing broad admixture in the region predating the appearance of farming. Historical Guangxi populations dating to ∼1,500 to 500 years ago are closely related to Tai-Kadai and Hmong-Mien speakers. Our results show heavy interactions among three distinct ancestries at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia.

Keywords: 12,000-year-old humans; admixture; ancient DNA; cross-interactions; deeply diverged ancestry; pre-farming.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Asia, Eastern
Asia, Southeastern
Genetics, Population*
Geography
Humans

Grants and funding

55008731/HHMI/Howard Hughes Medical Institute/United States