The Beauty of Xiaohe mummy (aka Little River Princess) ca. 1800

September 18, 2023

The Beauty of Xiaohe mummy (aka Little River Princess) ca. 1800–1500 BCE

"The Tarim Basin, located on the ancient Silk Road, played a very important role in the history of human migration and cultural communications between the West and the East. However, both the exact period at which the relevant events occurred and the origins of the people in the area remain very obscure. In this paper, we present data from the analyses of both Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from human remains excavated from the Xiaohe cemetery, the oldest archeological site with human remains discovered in the Tarim Basin thus far.

Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that the Xiaohe people carried both the East Eurasian haplogroup (C) and the West Eurasian haplogroups (H and K), whereas Y chromosomal DNA analysis revealed only the West Eurasian haplogroup R1a1a in the male individuals.

Our results demonstrated that the Xiaohe people were an admixture from populations originating from both the West and the East, implying that the Tarim Basin had been occupied by an admixed population since the early Bronze Age. To our knowledge, this is the earliest genetic evidence of an admixed population settled in the Tarim Basin.

The Tarim Basin in western China, positioned at a critical site on the ancient Silk Road, has played a significant role in the history of human migration, cultural developments and communications between the East and the West. It became famous due to the discovery of many well-preserved mummies within the area. These mummies, especially the prehistoric Bronze Age 'Caucasoid' mummies, such as the 'Beauty of Loulan', have attracted extensive interest among scientists regarding who were these people and where did they come from.

Based on analyses of human remains and other archaeological materials from the ancient cemeteries (dated from approximately the Bronze Age to the Iron Age), there is now widespread acceptance that the first residents of the Tarim Basin came from the West. This was followed, in stages, by the arrival of Eastern people following the Han Dynasty."

-Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age, by Chunxiang Li, et al.