Ancient genome analyses shed light on kinship organization and mating practice of Late Neolithic society in China
Chao Ning,
Fan Zhang,
Yanpeng Cao,
Ling Qin,
Mark J. Hudson,
Shizhu Gao,
Pengcheng Ma,
Wei Li,
Shuzheng Zhu,
Chunxia Li,
Tianjiao Li,
Yang Xu,
Chunxiang Li,
Martine Robbeets,
Hai Zhang,
Yinqiu Cui
Affiliations
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; Corresponding author
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; Corresponding author
Summary: 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.
