In this part of the Tarim Basin in China lie boat-shaped coffins which contain the naturally preserved remains of people from the Bronze Age. Archaeologists have been very well acquainted with these people physically, but their identities and why they're there have been a puzzle to them. Thanks to genomic analysis, said archaeologists now have an answer to the decades-long mystery.
Some thought that these people were originally from the west, thousands of kilometers away from the site, and they had just brought their farming practices over when they passed away. The analysis, however, reveals that these were indigenous people who adopted farming methods from their neighbors.
The mummies are said to be over 2,000 years old. It was a time of significance in the Xinjiang region, as it was when ancient communities began to switch from being hunter-gatherers to farmers.
Learn more about this over at Nature.
(Image Credit: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
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