汉族是世界上人口最多的民族，其起源与发展历程一直倍受关注。目前学术界对于中原地区的华夏族历经人群融合而成汉族这一发展主线基本没有异议，然而华夏族组成成分夏人、商人和周人的源流问题却存在争议。夏人、商人、周人主要活动于中原地区，以这一地区的古代人群为对象进行遗传学研究是解决汉族起源与发展问题的有效手段。本项目拟对河南安阳殷墟中小墓地和山西横北村墓地的古代人类遗骸进行线粒体DNA和Y染色体研究，从母系和父系两方面揭示商周时期中原地区古代人群的遗传结构，探讨中原地区古代人群在汉族形成和发展过程中的作用和贡献，结合已经公布的其他人群的遗传数据，进一步分析华夏族和汉族与周边人群的融合过程。

Han Chinese is the largest single ethnic group in China and in the world. It has attracted extensive interest among scientists regarding where it originated and how it developed.It has been generally accepted that Hauxia group in the central plain integrated gradually with neighboring populations and developed into a large population known as Han Chinese. However, where the ancestor of Huaxia group originated and flowed are still controversial. The ancient people in the central plain during Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties formed the Huaxia group, and these populations are thus of great importance to the genetic studies of origin and development of Han Chinese. In this study, ancient people from Yinxu site and Hengbei site, located in the Central Plain, will be analyzed in maternal and paternal lineage. Using genetic data in this study together with that of other people, we attempt to explore the origin and development of the Han Chinese.