He Liping, chief reporter of The Paper
The dried corpse of Tarim in Xinjiang, the "Princess Xiaohe", is widely circulated, and the excavation of the Xiaohe cemetery was also rated as one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China" in 2004. However, where the "Little River Princess" is has always been an archaeological mystery.
Idiris Abdul Resul and Li Wenying once described it in an article: From the outside, the Xiaohe Cemetery is an oval sand mountain, more than 7 meters above the surface, 74 meters long and 35 meters wide. On the surface of the sand mountain, more than 100 poplar pillars stand densely, and from a distance, it looks like a jungle in the sand sea.
Idilis Abdul Resul was the former director and researcher of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and Li Wenying was then the deputy director and researcher of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and is currently the director. The Xiaohe cemetery they describe was first discovered in the 1930s and was explored again after 2000, eventually attracting widespread attention from academic circles at home and abroad.
Then, these prehistoric dry corpses found in Xinjiang, including in the Tarim Basin, have left a lot of mysteries to the outside world. In particular, their white-like appearance, felt and woven wool clothing, and observable agricultural livestock economies, including cattle, sheep, wheat, barley, millet, and even Kefir cheese, have long puzzled scientists about their mysterious origins.
At 23:00 Beijing time on October 27, the top academic journal Nature published a study completed online by a collaborative team composed of teams from China, Germany, the United States and South Korea, entitled "The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies". One of the corresponding authors of the study is Cui Yinqiu, a professor at the School of Life Sciences of Jilin University, and Li Wenying is also the author of the study.
The research team analyzed the genomic DNA of 18 dried corpses: 13 from the Xiaohe culture of the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, dating back to the mid-Bronze Age (about 2100-1700 BC), and five from the Junggar Basin in northern Xinjiang, dating back to the early Bronze Age (3000-2800 BC), which is the first genome-scale study of the prehistoric population in Xinjiang. The research team also mentioned in the paper that these individuals represent the earliest human remains excavated in the area to date.
Genome-wide analysis revealed that these Bronze Age cadavers found in the Tarim Basin belonged to a genetically independent native population. They were not outsiders, but direct descendants of once widespread Pleistocene groups that had largely disappeared by the end of the last ice age. Known as the ancient Norse Subspecials (ANEs), this group survives only a fraction of the genome of today's population.
These findings negate previous assumptions that the bodies came from descendants of people who migrated from present-day Siberia, northern Afghanistan, or the mountains of Central Asia. Nature also published a news and opinion article by Paula N. Doumani Dupuy of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology of Nazarbayev University at the same time, in which Dupuy further explores the paper's key findings and their implications for the prehistory of the Asian interior. She believes that the research team "answered the genetic origins of the Little River culture." It is now up to scholars to work together to further explain the dynamic and diverse modes of cultural exchange that defined the Bronze Age in inland Asia."
The intersection of Eastern and Western cultures and an important hub of Asia and Europe
As part of the Silk Road, Xinjiang is located at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures, and has long been an important hub for people, culture, agriculture and language exchanges in Asia and Europe. The east-west Tianshan Mountains stretch across Xinjiang's east and west, separating the geographical northern and southern frontiers. The northern frontier has the Junggar Basin, and the southern Xinjiang includes the Tarim Basin.
In the paper, the research team wrote that in the center of the Junggar Basin in northern Xinjiang is the Gurbantünggüt Desert, which is surrounded by large grasslands and is traditionally inhabited by nomadic peoples. The Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang is a dry inland sea that now forms the Taklamakan Desert. While much of the area is uninhabitable, the Tarim Basin also has small oases and rivers formed by melting glaciers and snow from the surrounding mountains.
It is worth noting that compared with the elaborate mummies of ancient Egypt, the dried corpses in Xinjiang are naturally formed. An expert in the field of archaeology told the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) reporter, "There are many dry corpses in Xinjiang, which are all periods, mainly caused by a dry climate. ”
The paper mentions that among the dry corpses found throughout the Tarim Basin, the earliest are those found at the bottom of the tombs of the Ancient Tomb Ditch Cemetery (2135-1939 BC), the Xiaohe Cemetery (1884-1736 BC) and the Northern Necropolis (1785-1664 BC). These and related Bronze Age sites are classified into the Archaeological Sphere of The Creek based on their common material culture.
Aerial view of the Creek Cemetery. Image from Li Wenying, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
In the "2003 Excavation Briefing on the Xiaohe Cemetery in Xinjiang" written by Idilis Abdul Resul, Li Wenying and others, it is described that the Xiaohe Cemetery is located in the desert about 60 kilometers south of the lower valley of the Peacock River in the Lop Nur area, about 102 kilometers east of the ancient city of Loulan, and 36 kilometers southwest of Arakan.
In 1934, the Swedish archaeologist Bergmann, under the guidance of the local guide, the 70-year-old Lop Nur hunter Aldek, searched in the sand sea for dozens of days, and finally found the cemetery with "a thousand coffins" in folklore at that time, that is, what we call the "Little River Cemetery" today, and excavated 12 tombs here for the first time.
After Bergman's departure, for more than 60 years, the Little River Cemetery was hidden in a corner of the Lop Nur desert, and no successor could reach it. At the end of 2002, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology began the investigation of the Xiaohe cemetery and excavated 4 tombs on a trial basis. In December 2003, full excavations of the Xiaohe Cemetery began, and by March 2004, a total of 33 tombs had been excavated. From September 2004 to March 2005, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology cooperated with the Frontier Archaeology Research Center of Jilin University to excavate 130 tombs, and finally completed the excavation of the entire cemetery, xiaohe cemetery excavated a total of 167 tombs, and thousands of cultural relics were excavated.
The burial of the Little River Tombs is very distinctive, unlike any other type of burial custom in the interior of Asia. Each tomb has a standing tree, forming a scene like a dry poplar forest. The tombs are coffins wrapped in cowhide, some hanging from the head of the cow, and some with the head of the cow. After the cowhide is uncovered, the small cover is covered on it piece by piece, and the small cover is removed, and the body inside is exposed. The coffin is simply two side plates, front and rear, head and tail, so that it is just riveted up.
The oared boat coffin, representative of the Little River Cemetery, covered with cowhide. Image from Li Wenying, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
One of the tombs is very tough and very well preserved, and the owner of the tomb died with a smile, which is the famous "Little River Princess" at home and abroad.
Academically, the "Little River Princess" is labeled M11 female tomb owner. Idiris Abdul Resul once described the woman this way: an oval face, long chestnut hair with a shawl, a small nose, and thick lips, as if she were asleep. Over the years, a number of important cultural relics of this female corpse and the Xiaohe Cemetery have been exhibited in many cities in China, as well as in Japan, Europe and the United States, causing a sensation, and the media and the public called her "Princess Of the River" out of praise for her beautiful appearance.
On the face and body of the dried corpse of Xiaohe, a layer of milky white slurry is generally evenly coated, whether it is used for embalming or other purposes, it has yet to be scientifically identified.
A naturally preserved dried female corpse in Tomb M11 of the Little River Cemetery. Image from Li Wenying, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
From an archaeological point of view, the origin of the "Western elements" in the dried corpse of Xiaohe has always been the focus of the global academic community, and scholars have also put forward a variety of hypotheses. The paper lists the prairie hypothesis, the oasis hypothesis, and the island biogeography hypothesis, including the Yamnaya/Afanasievo hypothesis, and the Inland Mountain Corridor (IAMC) island biogeography hypothesis.
The first hypothesis is that early Bronze Age populations associated with the Avannashevo people in the Altai-Sayan Mountains spread to the Tarim Basin through the Junggar Basin, followed by the establishment of agricultural livestock communities around 2000 BC.
The second hypothesis, which holds that the Tarim Basin was originally migrated from desert oasis farmers (BMAC) in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, supports this hypothesis largely based on the similarities of agricultural and irrigation systems in the two regions, reflecting adaptation to the desert environment, and evidence of the ritual use of ephedra in both regions.
The IAMC island biogeography hypothesis assumes that the initial population of the creek came from the mountainous regions of Central Asia.
However, the authors note in the paper that recent archaeological genomic studies have shown that the Bronze Age Avannashevo and IAM/BMAC populations in southern Siberia have distinguishable genetic traits that also differ from pre-pastoral hunter-gatherer populations in inland Asia.
Therefore, they argue that the archaeological genomic study of the Bronze Age population in Xinjiang provides a powerful way to reconstruct the demographic history of the Junggar Basin and the Tarim Basin and the origin of the Bronze Age river region.
Genetically independent, but culturally cosmopolitan
To better understand the origin and early population of dry corpses in the Tarim Basin, the researchers analyzed the DNA of 18 dried corpses found in Xinjiang: 13 from the Xiaohe culture of the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, dating back to the middle of the Bronze Age (about 2100-1700 BC), and 5 from the Junggar Basin in northern Xinjiang, dating back to the early Bronze Age (3000-2800 BC).
They also tested seven Tarim Basin dry corpses for protein in mineralized plaques on their teeth to reconstruct their diets.
This study provides an overview of the Bronze Age archaeological sites in Xinjiang.
Surprisingly, the research team found that their results did not match the above three hypotheses. The dry corpses of the Tarim Basin are not outsiders at all, but direct descendants of once widespread Pleistocene groups that largely disappeared by the end of the last ice age. Known as the Paleocene Subs (ANEs), this group survives only a fraction of the genome of today's population, with indigenous populations in Siberia and the Americas having the highest known proportions, at about 40 percent.
The study suggests that dry corpses in the Tarim Basin show no evidence of mixing with any other Holocene population compared to today's populations, but instead form a previously unknown genetic isolation that may have experienced an extreme and long-term genetic bottleneck before settling in the Tarim Basin.
"To better understand the genetic history of the Eurasian interior, archaeologists have long been searching for holocene ANES, and we found one in the most unexpected places," said Choongwon Jeong, one of the study's corresponding authors and a professor at the School of Life Sciences at Seoul National University.
It is worth noting that, unlike the Tarim Basin, the earliest inhabitants of the adjacent Junggar Basin were not only descendants of local residents, but also descendants of Western steppe herders, the Afanasievo, a nomadic group with strong genetic ties to the Early Bronze Age Yannya. The research team believes that these findings also increase our understanding of the eastward spread of Yannaean ancestors and the scene of genetic mixing when they first encountered populations inside Asia.
The study also highlights that while populations in the Tarim Basin are genetically isolated, they are not culturally. Proteomic analysis of their tartar confirmed that cow, sheep and goat dairy farms were already practiced by the population of the time, and they were well aware of the different cultures, cooking methods and techniques around them.
"Although genetically isolated, the Bronze Age people of the Tarim Basin were culturally very international – they fed on medicinal plants such as wheat and dairy products in West Asia, millet in East Asia, and ephedra in Central Asia." Dr. Christina Warinner, one of the study's corresponding authors, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University and head of the MPI-EVA research group, said.
Considering these findings together, the paper mentions that the founders of the Xiaohe culture at that time were very aware of the different technologies and cultures outside the Tarim Basin, and they developed a unique culture.
"Reconstructing the origins of dry corpses in the Tarim Basin has had a transformative impact on our understanding of the region, and we will continue to study the ancient human genome from other eras to gain a deeper understanding of the history of human migration in the Eurasian steppes." Cui Yinqiu, another corresponding author of the study and a professor at the School of Life Sciences of Jilin University, added.
Dupuy also writes at the end of the News & Opinion article that the two very different stories of southern and northern Xinjiang show that even the most comprehensive analysis of ancient DNA cannot fully reveal cultural practices and choices that contribute to archaeology. She argues that the latest study's description of the Tarim Basin's unique and cosmopolitan river culture, as well as the population of the Junggar Basin, provides an example of the previous view that cultural ideas and new technologies flow throughout Asia and undergo various iterations.
Thesis link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04052-7
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