Ancient DNA uncovers the mystery of the ethnic group of Zhaotong's "Bao" hanging coffins
Zhaotong prestige tile stone hanging coffin remains. Photo courtesy of Yu Tengsong
【Technological frontier】
Recently, a sub-journal of the international authoritative magazine "Cell" published the research results of ancient DNA of the hanging coffin burial crowd-"A study of the maternal genetic perspective of hanging coffin burial customs in southern China and northern Thailand", which marked Zhaotong in Yunnan bó) The ancient DNA research of the ethnic groups of the "human" hanging coffins has made an important breakthrough. Studies have shown that Zhaotong hanging coffins are ancestors of the Dong-Dai ethnic group, descended from the ancient Baiyue ethnic group.
It is understood that hanging coffins are an ancient and peculiar funeral custom in southern China. They were first discovered in the Wuyishan area of Fujian about 3600 years ago. Later, they moved and flowed in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Sichuan in southern China. , Yunnan and other regions. About 2,000 years ago, the practice spread to some indigenous groups in Southeast Asia such as northern Thailand. Absolute dating shows that the latest record of hanging coffin burial customs in mainland China is the hanging coffin burial at Dousaguan, Yanjin County, Zhaotong City (probably also including the adjacent hanging burial site of Matangba in Gong County, Sichuan), after the end of the Ming Dynasty There is no trace. However, after the Qing Dynasty, such burial customs were still popular in Thailand and other Southeast Asian regions, and the Yemei people in Lanyu, Taiwan and the Toraja people on Sulawesi, Indonesia, still retain this custom.
"Bao people" are ethnic minorities that have disappeared. The hanging coffins are always called "Bao people" hanging coffins in Zhaotong. There have been many controversies about the origin of hanging coffin burial customs, the source of the crowd, the mode of cultural transmission and diffusion, ethnic affiliation, and relationship with the living crowd. Physical anthropology research believes that the hanging coffin burial population has a close relationship with the Dong and Dai people, and the analysis of the funerary objects in the hanging coffin shows that the Mong Khmer ethnic group of the South Asian language family and the Miao Yao language group are important for hanging coffin burial customs The implementers and inheritors even have a small number of Central Plains Han cultural factors.
To explore these important issues, researchers from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and the Thai Art University have used ancient DNA analysis techniques to investigate the problems from Weixin County and Yanjin County in Zhaotong City and Baise City in Guangxi. In the village and the Bangmapa area of Thailand, mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis was conducted on human remains samples from 2500 to 660 years ago. The study found that the genetic diversity of the maternal genetic lineage of the hanging coffin burial population in Zhaotong area is very high, while the genetic diversity of the hanging coffin burial population in northern Thailand is relatively low. This result is consistent with the origin of hanging coffin burial customs in southern China and spread to the south View to Southeast Asia. The researchers combined the results of genetic analysis with archaeology, physical anthropology, folklore, and history, and speculated that the hanging coffin burial customs originated in the southeastern coast of China (such as Wuyishan area) about 3600 years ago. The Yue ethnic group (now the ancestors of the Dong-Dai ethnic group), and then the custom of hanging coffins were widely spread in southern China due to the large number of people migrating and flowing (this is why the maternal genetic diversity is very high). About two thousand years ago, a very small number of inheritors of hanging coffin burial customs (G3a1 lineage people) brought the custom to some indigenous groups (such as the Mon Khmer ethnic group) in Southeast Asia, such as northern Thailand, and spread it widely.
The results of the study show that the Zhaotong hanging coffins are ancestors of the Dong-Dai ethnic group, descended from the ancient Baiyue ethnic group.
The research results are as follows: Associate Researcher Zhang Xiaoming of Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr. Li Chunmei and Master Student Zhou Yanan are co-first authors, Researcher Su Bing of Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Researcher Ji Xueping of Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology He is the co-corresponding author with Professor Lasmi Shukund of Thailand Art University. Professor Shi Hong of Kunming University of Science and Technology made an important contribution to the collection of early samples and the construction of the experimental platform. The geographers and expeditions of the Yunnan Institute of Geography, Yunnan University provided important technical and team support for collecting samples. This research has also received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Yunnan Provincial Ten Thousand People Project "Young Talents".
(Reporter Zhang Yong)