Analysis of mitochondrial DNA haplogroup frequencies in the population of the slab burial mortuary culture of Mongolia (ca. 1100–300 BCE)

Recent research has shown evidence of ancient admixture from both eastern and western Eurasian genetics in the human populations of Mongolia going back to at least the Eneolithic Afanasievo archaeological culture (ca. 3000 BCE). Eastern mtDNA lineages found in ancient and living Mongolians in the past and present have greatest affinity with Neolithic populations from the Transbaikal region of southern Siberia, suggesting that people from this region were likely the first to colonize northern and eastern Mongolia after the last glacial maximum (ca. 24,500–17,000 BCE), while western Eurasian groups probably migrated to the steppe in association with the earliest forms of pastoralism. While some studies suggest the contribution of these ancient western lineages to the modern populations in Mongolia was minimal, this research demonstrates that western mtDNA lineages were particularly prominent among the burial populations of the Early Iron and Iron Ages in the region. This is most notable among the burial population associated with slab burials and the burial population of their successors, the people associated with the Xiongnu polity (209 BCE–91 CE). Similarities between mtDNA haplogroup frequencies of the slab burial and Xiongnu burial populations also strongly support the proposal that the builders of the slab burials were the principal ancestors of the Xiongnu people.

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Rogers, L.L., Kaestle, F.A., 2022. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA haplogroup frequencies in the population of the slab burial mortuary culture of Mongolia (ca. 1100–300 BCE). American Journal of Biological Anthropology 177, 644–657. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24478
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