| Xinjiang,locates in the hinterland of the Eurasian,and has been the vital route connect the east and west Eurasian since ancient times.It is not clear about the history of the ancient population in Xinjiang in different periods and regions.In order to solve this problem,we obtained 237 human bones from 41 sites in the eastern,southern,western and northern Xinjiang ranging from 5000 to 500 years ago.After drilling the bones,extracting the ancient DNA,sequencing,the mitochondrial genomes were obtained.And the published mitochondrial data of 738 ancient and 7085 present-day individuals were collected.Then the data were used for haplogroup analysis,principal component analysis,genetic distance,Network,Analysis of Molecular Variance.The results found that:(1)The Bronze Age(BA,earlier than 2900 before present-day,BP)population within Xinjiang was quite mixed genetically in the early Bronze Age(～5000 BP),as we found the presence of both East and West Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups.Despite high admixture among the BA Xinjiang people,some unique genetic affinities are still observed.For example,the northern and western Xinjiang populations(NWAfana_EMBA,NChemur_EMBA,NSSG_EMBA)have more western Steppe-like ancestry similar to the Afanasievo and Chemurchek culture than do populations in southern and eastern Xinjiang.In contrast,the eastern(E_BA and E_LBA)and southeastern groups(SEXiaohe_BA)showed more connections with the populations from northeastern Asia(NEA)though we also found Western Steppe haplogroups.Specifically,E_BA and E_LBA showed more connections with northern East Asian populations,including ancient populations from the Gansu and Qinghai region of northern China,and the SEXiaohe_BA populations showed more connections with ancient and present-day Siberian populations.(2)The Iron Age(IA,2900-2000 BP)samples in Xinjiang continued to be more admixed with both East and West Eurasian lineages,but,similar to the BA,certain geographical regions showed different affinities for NEA and West Eurasian populations.The western and eastern populations(W_IA and E_IA)had an affinity with both NEA and western Steppe-related ancestries,and clustered with IA central Steppe populations.The eastern IA populations,in particular,showed a close affinity to a BA population from the Gansu and Qinghai region(GQQijia_BA),with those from the Shirenzigou site of eastern Tianshan showing more western Steppe-related ancestry.Samples from the IA of northern Xinjiang(N_IA)differed from the Bronze Age individuals from this region in showing a closer affinity with NEA populations from the Gansu and Qinghai Provinces.Populations from southern Xinjiang(SZGLK_IA)showed a connection with western Steppe populations from the middle and late BA,while the population from the high-elevation region of southwestern Xinjiang(SWJEZKL_IA)showed more of an NEA connection.Moreover,all populations shared close affinities with Turan populations,revealing Turan as a third type of ancestry that impacted the IA Xinjiang,apart from NEA and western Steppe.(3)The Historic Era(HE,1BCE-500CE)populations continued to show the NEA,West Eurasian and Turan maternal lineages,reflecting the sustained high movement,cultural interaction,and admixture of people in this region.The individuals from western and southern Xinjiang in the HE shared a close affinity with the IA samples from the same regions,indicating genetic continuity from the IA to HE.Moreover,there was a higher proportion of NEA-related maternal lineages found in the later period of HE southern Xinjiang populations,indicating more East Asian in HE than their IA.(4)The IA and HE Xinjiang populations show,in general,a high affinity for the populations in and around the Xinjiang region,demonstrating genetic connection between the IA,HE,and present-day populations.Moreover,the similar genetic population structure in IA,HE and present-day populations showed the genetic continuity of them.Therefore,the mitogenomic history of Xinjiang was heavily marked by western Steppe,central Steppe,northern East Asian,Siberian,and Turan from the BA through HE periods.There is an ancestry shift with more admixtures from BA to I A,and the admixed populations after IA and HE formed the foundation of present-day populations in Xinjiang. |
