Ancient cattle DNA provides novel insight into the subsistence mode transition from the late Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Nenjiang River Basin
Ancient cattle DNA provides novel insight into the subsistence mode transition from the late Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Nenjiang River Basin
The Honghe site (Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China) is located in the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River Basin, which situates rich cultural relics and faunal remains dating between the Neolithic and Bronze ages. The site hosts abundant bovine genus remains that are ideal for exploring the genetic history of the bovid species and the subsistence mode of the populations there. In this study, we recovered 14 mitochondrial genomes from 16 bovid samples selected for ancient DNA analysis. Phylogenetic analysis identified them as aurochs (Bos primigenius) and taurine cattle (Bos taurus), with one in eight Neolithic samples belonging to haplogroup T3, the most common type of domesticated cattle in ancient China. The remainder clustered with haplogroup C, found only in Chinese aurochs, while haplogroups C and T3 in six Bronze Age samples accounted for 50% each. Hence, it was speculated that domesticated cattle might have arisen in the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River Basin around 4000 years ago. However, the C-type aurochs remained among the essential resources for cattle production at the Angangxi people's disposal until the Bronze Age. Moreover, more T3-type taurine cattle were introduced during the Bronze Age. These domesticated cattle shared haplotypes with ancient cattle from the Northwest and Central Plains, showing close affinities, thus, reflecting frequent and extensive correlation between the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River and other regions
Ancient DNA, Bos primigenius, Bos taurus, Honghe site, Mitochondrial genomes
Zhang, Naifan
198b5ed1-0d89-4676-984a-40ff2330bc2b
Liang, Qiyao
2f5802a9-6c5d-41c5-a195-0bff4eedae1e
Shao, Xinyue
ffd31e81-cc03-41d1-9ada-f2db002ff5a3
Guo, Yaqi
d777a890-2cb6-42ee-a5d9-121840dd44a2
Wang, Yongdi
ff099cbf-b56e-498c-bb35-5c81e61fa306
Wang, Xingcheng
eb19e699-124c-4c3b-892a-8419af2ea340
Zhang, Wei
60da050d-a020-444c-afef-ade09ee6d942
Ning, Chao
45e64715-fde3-407c-bc7f-c5350a2ad30a
Cai, Dawei
c4eedb5a-f38a-4389-a609-36e6d06bef6e
25 July 2023
Zhang, Naifan
198b5ed1-0d89-4676-984a-40ff2330bc2b
Liang, Qiyao
2f5802a9-6c5d-41c5-a195-0bff4eedae1e
Shao, Xinyue
ffd31e81-cc03-41d1-9ada-f2db002ff5a3
Guo, Yaqi
d777a890-2cb6-42ee-a5d9-121840dd44a2
Wang, Yongdi
ff099cbf-b56e-498c-bb35-5c81e61fa306
Wang, Xingcheng
eb19e699-124c-4c3b-892a-8419af2ea340
Zhang, Wei
60da050d-a020-444c-afef-ade09ee6d942
Ning, Chao
45e64715-fde3-407c-bc7f-c5350a2ad30a
Cai, Dawei
c4eedb5a-f38a-4389-a609-36e6d06bef6e
Zhang, Naifan, Liang, Qiyao, Shao, Xinyue, Guo, Yaqi, Wang, Yongdi, Wang, Xingcheng, Zhang, Wei, Ning, Chao and Cai, Dawei
(2023)
Ancient cattle DNA provides novel insight into the subsistence mode transition from the late Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Nenjiang River Basin.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 51 (10), [104136].
(doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104136).
Abstract
The Honghe site (Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China) is located in the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River Basin, which situates rich cultural relics and faunal remains dating between the Neolithic and Bronze ages. The site hosts abundant bovine genus remains that are ideal for exploring the genetic history of the bovid species and the subsistence mode of the populations there. In this study, we recovered 14 mitochondrial genomes from 16 bovid samples selected for ancient DNA analysis. Phylogenetic analysis identified them as aurochs (Bos primigenius) and taurine cattle (Bos taurus), with one in eight Neolithic samples belonging to haplogroup T3, the most common type of domesticated cattle in ancient China. The remainder clustered with haplogroup C, found only in Chinese aurochs, while haplogroups C and T3 in six Bronze Age samples accounted for 50% each. Hence, it was speculated that domesticated cattle might have arisen in the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River Basin around 4000 years ago. However, the C-type aurochs remained among the essential resources for cattle production at the Angangxi people's disposal until the Bronze Age. Moreover, more T3-type taurine cattle were introduced during the Bronze Age. These domesticated cattle shared haplotypes with ancient cattle from the Northwest and Central Plains, showing close affinities, thus, reflecting frequent and extensive correlation between the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River and other regions
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 20 July 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 July 2023
Published date: 25 July 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by the Major Projects of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 17ZDA221 ); the Major Projects of Key Research Bases of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 22JJD780009); the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFC1521606); and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2022CXTD17).
Keywords:
Ancient DNA, Bos primigenius, Bos taurus, Honghe site, Mitochondrial genomes
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 484809
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/484809
ISSN: 2352-409X
PURE UUID: 7adae5fa-a118-4e05-90b4-ca682e3927f7
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Date deposited: 22 Nov 2023 17:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:19
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Contributors
Author:
Naifan Zhang
Author:
Qiyao Liang
Author:
Xinyue Shao
Author:
Yaqi Guo
Author:
Yongdi Wang
Author:
Xingcheng Wang
Author:
Wei Zhang
Author:
Chao Ning
Author:
Dawei Cai
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