Anthropological study of ancient human bones in China.

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A study of physical anthropology of the ancient human skeletal remains from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was carried out in order to clarify the regional and period variation in Xinjiang, in cooperation with Institute of Archaeology Chinese Academy of Social Science, Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum in 1994 and 1995.The skeletal remains excavated from the Shanpula ancient tombs of Lopu country in south Xinjiang were surveyed by the osteological and dental anthropological method.The Shanpula tombs is one of the sites of the southern route of the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty. The skeletons and teeth were measured and observed after careful cleaning and restoration work. The morphological characteristics of facial index, facial flatness, nasal index, incisor shoveling, and incisor double-shoveling, proved that most of the racial component of the Lopu Shanpula site was caucasoid.We are apt to estimate that there was the mixed race or the living of plural race in this region, bacause this region is one of the site of the south route of the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty. Nevertheless the result of this study indicated that the Lapu Shanpula at the time was the living area of caucasoid, and was uninfluenced by mongoloid gene. This suggested that the genetic influence from other race to this region did not necessarily exist, even if culture or trade goods were distributed from other region to this region.Thus the estimation of the gene flow is important as well as the flow of culture and trade goods in the sites of the Silk Road of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.