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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Ancient DNA and Forensic Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1471740
This article is part of the Research Topic Ancient DNA and the History of Human Populations View all articles
Genomic insights into the complex demographic history and inbreeding Phenomena during Zhou Dynasty on the Central Plains of China
Provisionally accepted- 1 School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
- 2 School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
- 3 School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- 4 School of History and Culture, Hubei University, Wuhan, China
In the Central Plains of China during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), the social hierarchy gradually solidified, accompanied by frequent wars and the phenomena of multicultural and multi-ethnic integration. These social phenomena collectively influenced the population's genetic structure at that time. However, our understanding of the genetic history of this period remains largely unknown owing to limited ancient DNA studies. In this study, we successfully obtained 11 ancient genomes from the Guanzhuang site during the Zhou Dynasty on the central plain of China. Our findings revealed remarkable genetic continuity with the Neolithic populations of the Yellow River Basin and emphasized genetic diversity through the analysis of uniparental genetic markers. Population structure analysis further confirmed the genetic similarity between the Guanzhuang population and ancient populations of the Yellow River Basin and indicated genetic exchanges with ancient populations from surrounding regions. Intriguingly, signs of inbreeding within the Guanzhuang community cast doubt on the stringent enforcement of the contemporary marital regulations against consanguineous marriages within the same surname or clan. These revelations significantly enhance our insight into the complex interplay of ancient demography and societal organization, concurrently presenting a genetic perspective to view the complex evolution of Chinese civilization's multiethnic.
Keywords: ANCIENT DNA, genetic diversity, social structure, Inbreeding, Zhou Dynasty, Chinese civilization
Received: 28 Jul 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Wu, Ding, Nie, Zhong, Liu, Liang, Wang, Gao, Wei and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiyan Wu, School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
Baoxu Ding, School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
Linyi Nie, School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
Canshuo Zhong, School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
Pengxiang Liu, School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
Jingteng Liang, School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
Lin Wang, School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifen, China
Xiangping Gao, School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
Jiyin Wei, School of History and Culture, Hubei University, Wuhan, China
Yawei Zhou, School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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