Biological affinities and adaptations of Bronze Age Bactrians: IV. A craniometric investigation of Bactrian origins

Hemphill, Brian E.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199902)108:2<173::aid-ajpa4>3.0.co;2-3

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Recent research by Brian Hemphill of California State University‐Bakersfield has presented some intriguing new data on the origins of Xinjiang cultures (Hemphill and Mallory in press) by comparing crania from the Tarim Basin with roughly contemporary examples from the Steppe, southern Central Asia, and the Middle East (Hemphill 1999). The aim of this study was to determine whether either of the two origin hypotheses described above (‘Bactrian’ vs. ‘steppe’) could be supported with craniometric analysis.…”

Section: Physical Anthropologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Genes, language, and culture: an example from the tarim basin

Thornton¹,

Schurr²

2004

Oxford J Archaeology

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The Tarim Basin 'mummies' of western China continue to fascinate scholars and the general public alike due to their 'Caucasoid' features, wellpreserved material culture, and putative 'European' origins. However, there have been some uncritical efforts to link these archaeological cultures to those of other ancient Eurasian groups (e.g. the Celts) by applying syllogistic reasoning to multi-disciplinary evidence. In an attempt to provide a more cautious synthesis of the prehistory of the Tarim Basin, this paper will briefly summarize the archaeological, physical, and linguistic evidence that has been used to model human settlement of this region. These data will then be related to recent molecular anthropology research on modern populations of Central Asia, focusing especially on the Uighur in relation to their neighbours. While the genetic history of the modern peoples of a particular region is not necessarily related to their prehistoric antecedents, it is argued that the Tarim Basin experienced a surprising cultural and biological continuity despite immigration from both east and west into Xinjiang Province. This conclusion has a number of possible political ramifications in the present day that must be addressed in future literature on the subject.

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Section: Physical Anthropologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Genes, language, and culture: an example from the tarim basin

Thornton¹,

Schurr²

2004

Oxford J Archaeology

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“…blond or reddish hair, and straight noses), and reveal an ancient Caucasoid substratum that was present far into the east of Asia (Mair 1995). However, Hemphill (1999) and Hemphill & Mallory (2004) have also noted cranial similarities of some Tarim mummies to populations of South Asia. Ancient mtDNA analysis of some of these remains (Francalacci 1995(Francalacci , 1998 has also demonstrated that they contained a European lineage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling migrations in the steppe: mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient Central Asians

Lalueza-Fox

Sampietro

Gilbert

et al. 2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

101

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This study helps to clarify the debate on the Western and Eastern genetic influences in Central Asia. Thirty-six skeletal remains from Kazakhstan (Central Asia), excavated from different sites dating between the fifteenth century BC to the fifth century AD, have been analysed for the hypervariable control region (HVR-I) and haplogroup diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the mitochondrial DNA genome. Standard authentication criteria for ancient DNA studies, including multiple extractions, cloning of PCR products and independent replication, have been followed. The distribution of east and west Eurasian lineages through time in the region is concordant with the available archaeological information: prior to the thirteenth-seventh century BC, all Kazakh samples belong to European lineages; while later an arrival of east Eurasian sequences that coexisted with the previous west Eurasian genetic substratum can be detected. The presence of an ancient genetic substratum of European origin in West Asia may be related to the discovery of ancient mummies with European features in Xinjiang and to the existence of an extinct Indo-European language, Tocharian. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the ancient DNA in unravelling complex patterns of past human migrations so as to help decipher the origin of present-day admixed populations.

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“…The greatest departure in the results obtained from the dental morphology data and Narasimhan et al's model is the lack of affinities between northwestern South Asians and Central Asians. While it could be claimed that this is due to an absence of relevant Central Asian samples (Andronovo Complex), inclusion of such samples in an earlier craniometric investigation failed to identify any affinities with South Asians (Hemphill & Mallory, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

The role of Hazarewal populations in the peopling of South Asia: A dental morphology investigation

Akbar

Ullah

Ahmad

et al. 2023

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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Objectives: This study seeks to accomplish three objectives: assess the biological impact of historically documented Pathan-speaking populations on present-day Hazarewal ethnic groups, determine consilience in patterns of relationships identified by molecular genetics and dental morphology analyses, and determine which of the current models for the peopling of the Indian subcontinent is best supported by dental morphology analysis. Materials and Methods: Dental morphology traits were scored with the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System among living members of 18 ethnic group samples from South Asia in northern Pakistan and 13 prehistoric samples from south-central Asia and South Asia. Affinities were summarized with raw percentages and Smith's MMD. Affinities based on the former were accomplished with correspondence analysis and principal components analysis. Affinities based on the latter were undertaken with neighbor-joining cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. Results: Biodistances based on 17 tooth-trait combinations suggest the human biological history in South Asia is dominated by long-standing continuity, but this continuity is not absolute. There is no evidence for influx of Central Asians or Pathan influences on Hazarewal ethnic groups. Instead, gene flow likely occurred, albeit from other sources, near the beginning of the Holocene and at the beginning of the Iron Age. Discussion: Consilience in results obtained with molecular genetics and dental morphology analyses is good. Both indicate long-standing population continuity over time and clinal variation emanating from Hazarewal to the south and east. However, dental morphology suggests an early Holocene influx of exogenous genes, perhaps from southern Iran, while ruling out a steppe-based influx during the mid-2nd millennium BC.

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Biological affinities and adaptations of Bronze Age Bactrians: IV. A craniometric investigation of Bactrian origins

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

Genes, language, and culture: an example from the tarim basin

Genes, language, and culture: an example from the tarim basin

Unravelling migrations in the steppe: mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient Central Asians

The role of Hazarewal populations in the peopling of South Asia: A dental morphology investigation

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