A Matrilineal Genetic Perspective of Hanging Coffin Custom in Southern China and Northern Thailand.
iScience 2020;
23:101032. [PMID:
32304863 PMCID:
PMC7163074 DOI:
10.1016/j.isci.2020.101032]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Revised: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Hanging Coffin is a unique and ancient burial custom that has been practiced in southern China, Southeast Asia, and near Oceania regions for more than 3,000 years. Here, we conducted mitochondrial whole-genome analyses of 41 human remains sampled from 13 Hanging Coffin sites in southern China and northern Thailand, which were dated between ∼2,500 and 660 years before present. We found that there were genetic connections between the Hanging Coffin people living in different geographic regions. Notably, the matrilineal genetic diversity of the Hanging Coffin people from southern China is much higher than those from northern Thailand, consistent with the hypothesized single origin of the Hanging Coffin custom in southern China about 3,600 years ago, followed by its dispersal in southern China through demic diffusion, whereas the major dispersal pattern in Southeast Asia is cultural assimilation in the past 2,000 years.
The historical Hanging Coffin populations share partial genetic affinity
The mtDNA diversity of the Hanging Coffin people in southern China is high
The aDNA data are consistent with a single origin of the Hanging Coffin custom
Both cultural assimilation and demic diffusion occurred during the spread of the custom
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