Genetic evidence suggests a sense of family, parity and conquest in the Xiongnu Iron Age nomads of Mongolia

Keyser, Christine; Zvénigorosky, Vincent; Gonzalez, Angéla; Fausser, Jean-Luc; Jagorel, Florence; Gérard, Pascale; Turbat, Tsagaan; Duchesne, Sylvie; Crubézy, Éric; Ludes, Bertrand

doi:10.1007/s00439-020-02209-4

Cited by 21 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In the west, the presence of western Eurasian (WEu) haplogroups is significant (21.7%) and tends to decrease eastwards, but with the lowest occurrences in central regions. The most represented WEu haplogroup is H (6.5%), thus confirming the results obtained in previous studies on Inner Asia ( Comas et al, 1998 ; Wells et al, 2001 ; Quintana-Murci et al, 2004 ; Derenko et al, 2014 ; Lan et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2020 ; Wang W. et al, 2021 ; Keyser et al, 2021 ). A geographic differentiation is clear in the PCA that represents the mtDNA genetic landscape of Mongolia ( Figure 1C ).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Mitochondrial DNA Footprints from Western Eurasia in Modern Mongolia

et al. 2022

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Mongolia is located in a strategic position at the eastern edge of the Eurasian Steppe. Nomadic populations moved across this wide area for millennia before developing more sedentary communities, extended empires, and complex trading networks, which connected western Eurasia and eastern Asia until the late Medieval period. We provided a fine-grained portrait of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation observed in present-day Mongolians and capable of revealing gene flows and other demographic processes that took place in Inner Asia, as well as in western Eurasia. The analyses of a novel dataset (N = 2,420) of mtDNAs highlighted a clear matrilineal differentiation within the country due to a mixture of haplotypes with eastern Asian (EAs) and western Eurasian (WEu) origins, which were differentially lost and preserved. In a wider genetic context, the prevalent EAs contribution, larger in eastern and central Mongolian regions, revealed continuous connections with neighboring Asian populations until recent times, as attested by the geographically restricted haplotype-sharing likely facilitated by the Genghis Khan’s so-called Pax Mongolica. The genetic history beyond the WEu haplogroups, notably detectable on both sides of Mongolia, was more difficult to explain. For this reason, we moved to the analysis of entire mitogenomes (N = 147). Although it was not completely possible to identify specific lineages that evolved in situ, two major changes in the effective (female) population size were reconstructed. The more recent one, which began during the late Pleistocene glacial period and became steeper in the early Holocene, was probably the outcome of demographic events connected to western Eurasia. The Neolithic growth could be easily explained by the diffusion of dairy pastoralism, as already proposed, while the late glacial increase indicates, for the first time, a genetic connection with western Eurasian refuges, as supported by the unusual high frequency and internal sub-structure in Mongolia of haplogroup H1, a well-known post-glacial marker in Europe. Bronze Age events, without a significant demographic impact, might explain the age of some mtDNA haplogroups. Finally, a diachronic comparison with available ancient mtDNAs made it possible to link six mitochondrial lineages of present-day Mongolians to the timeframe and geographic path of the Silk Route.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Mitochondrial DNA Footprints from Western Eurasia in Modern Mongolia

et al. 2022

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“…Considering all published post-Xiongnu Hun era genomes (Hun period nomad, Hun-Sarmatian, Tian Shan Hun, 20 and Xianbei-Hun Berel 21 ), we counted 10/23 R1a-Z93 and 9/23 Q Hgs, supporting the above observation. These Y-Hgs were most likely inherited from Xiongnus, as these Hgs were frequent among them 22,32 but were rare in Europe before the Hun period. The rest of our Hun period samples with European genomes carried derivatives of R1a1a1b1, an Hg typical in North-Western Europe, in line with the Germanic affinity of many of these samples shown above.…”

Section: Y-chromosome and Mtdna Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians

et al. 2022

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“…The Yakuts represent the largest ethnic group of the Sakha Republic of Eastern Siberia (Yakutia), with almost half a million individuals, some of them descended from the Xiongnu of Mongolia [14]. We excavated more than 150 tombs [15], of which around 100 were well preserved by permafrost.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sucrose Is Not the Whole Story: Risk Factors and Oral Health at the Contact (Yakutia, Siberia-16th/19th)

Crubézy

Duchesne

Razafindrazaka

et al. 2021

Biology

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(1) Background: contact between indigenous and European populations has often resulted in changes in oral health attributed to the introduction of sucrose. Most studies are per tooth over considerable periods and with few ethnological references. (2) Aim: dental epidemiology of 96 autochthonous frozen bodies from Yakutia between the early 17th century and the late 19th century; comparisons with historical texts and ethnographic data. (3) Material and methods: we use descriptive statistics and discriminant factorial analyses to identify dominant variables in the dataset and compare periods and subjects, considering all variables. (4) Results: the peculiarities of the population are the rarity of cavities and the relative frequency of dental pathologies leading to death. Assimilation into the Russian Orthodox culture has led to decreased tooth wear and an increase in tooth loss. Dental health evolves only two centuries after the contact. (5) Conclusions: the confrontation with historical data suggests that changes are not related to the growing importance of sucrose but to a combined action: the substitution of dendrophagy by cereal flour; the decrease in immunity linked to the development of chronic infectious diseases; tobacco addiction and the mandibular torus: a risk factor promoting apical cysts.

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Genetic evidence suggests a sense of family, parity and conquest in the Xiongnu Iron Age nomads of Mongolia

Cited by 21 publications

References 40 publications

Mitochondrial DNA Footprints from Western Eurasia in Modern Mongolia

Mitochondrial DNA Footprints from Western Eurasia in Modern Mongolia

The genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians

Sucrose Is Not the Whole Story: Risk Factors and Oral Health at the Contact (Yakutia, Siberia-16th/19th)

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