Reconstructing population history is harder in South Asia than in many other world regions due to a paucity of ancient DNA. We report genome-wide data for 10 individuals from Old Lady Spider Cave, which lies 4000 meters above sea level in the Himalayan region of Ladakh and dates to around 1500 years before the present (B.P.). These individuals were genetically homogeneous and had an ancestry signature rare in South Asians today: admixed in roughly 50-50% proportions between a population well proxied by present-day North Indians and another genetically…
The demographic history of the Japanese archipelago was shaped by major episodes of migration and admixture, most notably the transition approximately 3,000 years ago from the Jomon period, a long-established hunter-gatherer tradition, to the Yayoi period, when migrants from the Eurasian continent introduced agriculture and new technologies. However, the timing, extent, and regional variability of the admixture between continental migrants and indigenous Jomon populations remain poorly understood.
2026Journal of Genetics and Genomics
Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes Reveal the Maternal Diversity and Genetic Influence of the Qijia Culture in Prehistoric Eastern Asia
This study examines ancient Mitochondrial Genomes Reveal the Maternal Diversity and Genetic Influence of the Qijia Culture in Prehistoric Eastern Asia. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within ancient dna and archaeogenomics.
Characterized by the earliest use of pottery, the Jomon culture was a unique Neolithic 59 culture that spread throughout the Japanese Archipelago. Previous archaeological evidence 60 suggests that Jomon hunter-gatherers colonized the southernmost islands, the Ryukyu Archipelago, by approximately 7,000 years before present (YBP). However, genetic 62 characteristics of the Ryukyu Jomon population and its contribution to the modern 63 population have not been elucidated yet.
2026Science Advances
Ancient Yellow River ancestry and divergent admixture histories in the Qiang people
This study examines ancient Yellow River ancestry and divergent admixture histories in the Qiang people. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within ancient dna and archaeogenomics.
The Jomon culture that spread across the Japanese archipelago began about 16000 years ago and lasted for over 10000 years. The population history of the Jomon people, prehistoric huntergatherers bearing the Jomon culture, is of great interest in understanding prehistoric East Eurasians. Traditionally, population size and its fluctuations, i.e.
The Gansu-Qinghai (GQ) region is a critical Eurasian contact zone with exceptional linguistic and genetic diversity. However, genomic studies integrating genetic and linguistic evidence in areas with intensive language mixing remain limited. We conducted fine-scale genomic analyses on 153 new samples from four linguistically mixing or mixed regions: Linxia and Xiahe in Gansu, and Gan ’gou and Wutun in Qinghai.
This study examines genetic regulation across germline and somatic variation on the Y chromosome contributes to type 2 diabetes. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within japan, ainu, ryukyu and the jomon.
2026Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesNew
Prehistoric population movements played a central role in shaping the genetic diversity across Eurasia. As the eastern terminus of the Eurasian continent, the Japanese archipelago provides a pivotal context for reconstructing the genetic interplay between prehistoric indigenous lineages and continental migrations. However, high-resolution genomic evidence from mainland Japan is limited due to poor DNA preservation.
2026Science Advances
Jomon genomics reveal cold adaptation in Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers of eastern Eurasia
This study examines jomon genomics reveal cold adaptation in Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers of eastern Eurasia. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within ancient dna and archaeogenomics.
Background: Maternally inherited, high-copy, non-recombining and fast-mutating, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is exploited in anthropology to trace maternal ancestry and in genetics to reconstruct population histories and study disease susceptibility. The Han Chinese represent the largest ethnic group in the nation and are spread across the country in vast numbers, and their genetics have been extensively studied.
Studies on the genetic characteristics of Tibeto-Burman (TB)-speaking populations have primarily concentrated on highaltitude Tibetan populations, while studies involving TB-speaking populations in Guizhou remain scarce. This research involved sequencing the whole mitochondrial genome of 321 individuals from TB-speaking populations in Guizhou, such as Bai, Yi, and Tujia.
Background The Chengdu Plain and surrounding regions (CPS) host a diverse mosaic of archaeological cultures and ethnolinguistic groups, yet the origins of these populations and the extent of Western Eurasian and East Asian influences remain unclear and underrepresented in genomic studies. As a molecular archaeological archive, Y-chromosome data provide vital insights into the paternal genetic history of ancient Shu populations and their descendants.
Objectives: Although human cranial morphology is thought to have undergone changes in various populations over the past century, the details of this three- dimensional transformation remain largely unknown. To address this problem, we conducted a geometric morphometric analysis of cranial shapes in the historical Japanese group who lived approximately 100 years ago and the present- day Japanese group who died in recent years.
This study examines an early East Asian lineage with unexpectedly low Denisovan ancestry. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within japan, ainu, ryukyu and the jomon.
This study examines ancient genomes reveal Basal Asian ancestries and dynamic population interactions over time on the southern Tibetan Plateau. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within ancient dna and archaeogenomics.
2025Science Advances
Dynamic human admixture histories over the past ~1300 years at the northern Himalayan frontier
This study examines dynamic human admixture histories over the past ~1300 years at the northern Himalayan frontier. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within tibetan, qiangic and himalayan populations.
This study examines from bones to sediments: ancient human DNA from open-air archaeological sites. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within ancient dna and archaeogenomics.
The Tibetan-Yi corridor in Southwestern China is well-known for the origins, migration, and evolution of Sino-Tibetan populations. Previous genetic studies have primarily focused on Han and Tibetan populations, leaving the significant genetic diversity within Tibeto-Burman groups under-researched. In this study, to explore the genetic structure and admixture history of Tibeto-Burman populations in southwestern China, we sequenced the human genomes from 100 individuals of the Qiang and Yi ethnic groups in Sichuan Province.
This study examines genome of an early Okhotsk individual reveals ancient admixture between Jomon and Kamchatka lineages. It is catalogued here as comparative evidence within ancient dna and archaeogenomics.