Highlights d Genome-wide analysis of 214 ancient individuals from Mongolia and the Baikal region d Three genetically distinct dairy pastoralist groups in Late Bronze Age Mongolia d Xiongnu nomadic empire formed through mixing of distinct local and distant groups d No selection on the lactase persistence alleles despite 5,000 years of dairy culture

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SummaryThe Eastern Eurasian Steppe was home to historic empires of nomadic pastoralists, including the Xiongnu and the Mongols. However, little is known about the region’s population history. Here we reveal its dynamic genetic history by analyzing new genome-wide data for 214 ancient individuals spanning 6,000 years. We identify a pastoralist expansion into Mongolia ca. 3000 BCE, and by the Late Bronze Age, Mongolian populations were biogeographically structured into three distinct groups, all practicing dairy pastoralism regardless of ancestry. The Xiongnu emerged from the mixing of these populations and those from surrounding regions. By comparison, the Mongols exhibit much higher Eastern Eurasian ancestry, resembling present-day Mongolic-speaking populations. Our results illuminate the complex interplay between genetic, sociopolitical, and cultural changes on the Eastern Steppe.

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This paper is based on data sets acquired by a fast and efficient ground-based measurement system, which is based on superconducting quantum interference device technology and ensures geo-magnetic mapping of large areas. The local variations (gradients) of the Earth's magnetic field are represented in so-called magnetograms, which typically include a large number of magnetic anomalies with different appearance and shape. Here, elongated anomalies are investigated, which are explainable by a polyhedral source body. These underground structures can be represented by a cross section that is approximately uniform along the main strike extent of the source. After introducing the measurement system, a source description model is developed theoretically and in the following adapted to practical problems. In order to illustrate the utility of this kind of minimization-based inversion and to validate the produced results, an example of archaeological measurements in Mongolia is shown. Results of the field measurements are used for inversion toward a description of possible subsoil situation. Finally, an excavation shows the accuracy of the results.