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Ning C, Zhang F, Cao Y, Qin L, Hudson MJ, Gao S, Ma P, Li W, Zhu S, Li C, Li T, Xu Y, Li C, Robbeets M, Zhang H, Cui Y. Ancient genome analyses shed light on kinship organization and mating practice of Late Neolithic society in China. iScience 2021; 24:103352. [PMID: 34805800 PMCID: PMC8590084 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropology began in the late nineteenth century with an emphasis on kinship as a key factor in human evolution. From the 1960s, archaeologists attempted increasingly sophisticated ways of reconstructing prehistoric kinship but ancient DNA analysis has transformed the field, making it possible, to directly examine kin relations from human skeletal remains. Here, we retrieved genomic data from four Late Neolithic individuals in central China associated with the Late Neolithic Longshan culture. We provide direct evidence of consanguineous mating in ancient China, revealing inbreeding among the Longshan populations. By combining ancient genomic data with anthropological and archaeological evidence, we further show that Longshan society household was built based on the extended beyond the nuclear family, coinciding with intensified social complexity during the Longshan period, perhaps showing the transformation of large communities through a new role of genetic kinship-based extended family units.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Ning
- Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Fan Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Yanpeng Cao
- Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, Zhengzhou 450000, China
| | - Ling Qin
- School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Mark J Hudson
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Shizhu Gao
- College of Pharmacia Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
| | - Pengcheng Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Wei Li
- School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Shuzheng Zhu
- Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, Zhengzhou 450000, China
| | - Chunxia Li
- School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Tianjiao Li
- School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Yang Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Chunxiang Li
- School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
| | - Martine Robbeets
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Hai Zhang
- School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yinqiu Cui
- Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
- School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
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