Analysis of mitochondrialDNAhaplogroup frequencies in the population of the slab burial mortuary culture of Mongolia (ca. 1100–300 BCE)

Abstract

Recent research has shown evidence of ancient admixture from both eastern and western Eurasian genetics in the human populations of Mongolia going back to at least the Eneolithic Afanasievo archaeological culture (ca. 3000 BCE). Eastern mtDNA lineages found in ancient and living Mongolians in the past and present have greatest affinity with Neolithic populations from the Transbaikal region of southern Siberia, suggesting that people from this region were likely the first to colonize northern and eastern Mongolia after the last glacial maximum (ca. 24,500-17,000 BCE), while western Eurasian groups probably migrated to the steppe in association with the earliest forms of pastoralism. While some studies suggest the contribution of these ancient western lineages to the modern populations in Mongolia was minimal, this research demonstrates that western mtDNA lineages were particularly prominent among the burial populations of the Early Iron and Iron Ages in the region. This is most notable among the burial population associated with slab burials and the burial population of their successors, the people associated with the Xiongnu polity . Similarities between mtDNA haplogroup frequencies of the slab burial and Xiongnu burial populations also strongly support the proposal that the builders of the slab burials were the principal ancestors of the Xiongnu people. Objectives: The objective of this research is to increase understanding of human population change on the Mongolian steppe during the first millennium BCE and how it may be associated with cultural change and the creation of early eastern steppe empires. It examines the mtDNA haplogroup frequencies of the burial population from slab burials in Mongolia and compares it with frequencies from various other populations to determine population affinities. Methods: This study was primarily based on Sanger sequencing the HV1 of the mtDNA of ancient individuals from Mongolia during the Early Iron Age for haplogroup determination and then comparing mtDNA haplogroup frequencies with previously published data including 110 ancient and modern populations. The 21 samples used in this study were selected based on region, dating, and availability.

Local circulation of elites punctuated by transregional mobility enabled steppe political consolidation in the Xiongnu nomadic state

“…Accordingly, these data are suggestive of dual processes of state making under way during this period. As the Xiongnu state expanded territorially to the east and west by way of both conquest and negotiation [ 4 ], centrally located political actors consolidated and formalized their own intermediate level factions to both balance and benefit from the expanding power exercised by the central court of the Xiongnu.…”

“…This regionally integrated polity arose from indigenous, steppe-centered socio-political developments drawing on earlier Late Bronze and Early Iron Age (ca. 1200 − 300 BC) forms of social organization emphasizing community cohesion and inter-community social interaction [ 3 , 4 ]. The Xiongnu state was supported by internal pastoral production, a degree of cereal crop agriculture that likely supplied local and regional elites, and the management of long-distance exchange networks and tribute extraction [ 5 ].…”