A Matrilineal Genetic Perspective of Hanging Coffin Custom in Southern China and Northern Thailand

• Main Authors: Xiaoming Zhang, Chunmei Li, Yanan Zhou, Jiahui Huang, Tengsong Yu, Xu Liu, Hong Shi, Hong Liu, Stephen Chia, Shenmin Huang, Yaozheng Guo, Rasmi Shoocongdej, Xueping Ji, Bing Su
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-04-01
• Series: iScience
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004220302169

Summary: Hanging Coffin is a unique and ancient burial custom that has been practiced in southern China, Southeast Asia, and near Oceania regions for more than 3,000 years. Here, we conducted mitochondrial whole-genome analyses of 41 human remains sampled from 13 Hanging Coffin sites in southern China and northern Thailand, which were dated between ∼2,500 and 660 years before present. We found that there were genetic connections between the Hanging Coffin people living in different geographic regions. Notably, the matrilineal genetic diversity of the Hanging Coffin people from southern China is much higher than those from northern Thailand, consistent with the hypothesized single origin of the Hanging Coffin custom in southern China about 3,600 years ago, followed by its dispersal in southern China through demic diffusion, whereas the major dispersal pattern in Southeast Asia is cultural assimilation in the past 2,000 years. : Biological Sciences; Phylogenetics; Sequence Analysis; Paleogenetics Subject Areas: Biological Sciences, Phylogenetics, Sequence Analysis, Paleogenetics