Craniofacial variation of the Xiongnu Iron Age nomads of Mongolia reveals their possible origins and population history
Craniofacial variation of the Xiongnu Iron Age nomads of Mongolia reveals their possible origins and population history
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DOI：
10.1016/j.quaint.2014.11.035
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发表时间：
2016-06
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Ryan W. Schmidt;N. Seguchi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ryan W. Schmidt;N. Seguchi
本文考察了铁器时代的蒙古，当时游牧部落在内亚建立了世界上第一个草原帝国。这些聚集在一起的部落，被称为匈奴（公元前3世纪至公元2世纪），开始定义草原政治建设，后来被成吉思汗统治下的蒙古帝国所使用。他们在东部大草原上广泛活动，并与从西伯利亚南部到新疆的民族进行贸易和通婚。然而，学者们对匈奴这个民族知之甚少，因为他们没有书面语言。本研究利用几何形态计量学分析了匈奴人的颅面多样性，以此来评估匈奴人的种群历史和生物结构。研究人员使用了24个协调的颅骨标志来测试该地区人群之间的关系，并推断潜在的生物学起源。采用Relethford-Blangero R-matrix方法检验微进化过程导致的表型变异假说。本研究假设匈奴个体的生物连续性延伸到现代蒙古人群。另外，来自相邻地理区域的远程基因流动可能表明匈奴之间存在复杂的种群结构，表明多个种群控制着行政职能。结果表明，匈奴可能由至少两个生物学上不同的群体组成。来自博尔汗陶勒盖（Egiin Gol）精英墓地的个人与来自蒙古西部的青铜时代人口共享他们的祖先，也可能是后来移居的土耳其人，他们从公元6世纪到8世纪统治了东部草原。匈奴在生物学上也与中世纪时期蒙古帝国的游牧民族和现代蒙古人，以及现代和古代中亚人、中国人和西伯利亚人相似。这些结果与古代DNA研究相似，表明匈奴存在欧亚东部和西部单倍群的混合，同时也与考古学家提出的草原政体形成模型达成了共识，这些模型表明，通过互动交换网络，当地与外部群体存在联系。
This paper examines Iron Age Mongolia during a time when nomadic tribes created the world's first steppe empire in Inner Asia. These aggregated tribes, known as Xiongnu (3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD), came to define steppe polity construction, later used by the Mongol Empire under the reign of Genghis Khan. They moved extensively over the eastern steppe and interacted, both in trade and intermarriage, with peoples from southern Siberia to Xinjiang. However, the Xiongnu as a people are relatively unknown to scholars, as they did not possess a written language. This study assesses Xiongnu population history and biological structure by analyzing craniofacial diversity via geometric morphometrics. Twenty-four coordinate cranial landmarks were used to test relationships among groups in the region and infer potential biological origins. The Relethford–Blangero R-matrix method was used to test hypotheses of phenotypic variation resulting from microevolutionary processes. This study hypothesizes biological continuity among Xiongnu individuals extending into modern Mongolian populations. Alternatively, long-range gene flow from adjacent geographic regions might suggest a complex population structure among the Xiongnu indicative of multiple populations controlling administrative functions. Results indicate the Xiongnu were potentially composed of at least two biologically distinct groups. Individuals from the elite cemetery of Borkhan Tolgoi (Egiin Gol) share their ancestry with a Bronze Age population from western Mongolia, and possibly, to a later migration of Turks, who came to rule the eastern steppe from the 6th to 8th centuries AD. The Xiongnu also evidence biological similarity with nomads from the Mongol Empire during the medieval period and modern Mongolians, as well as modern and ancient Central Asian, Chinese, and Siberian groups. These results are similar to ancient DNA studies that suggest a mix of Eastern and Western Eurasian haplogroups in the Xiongnu while also achieving consensus with models of steppe polity formation proposed by archaeologists who suggest local ties to extra-local groups through interactive exchange networks.