Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Archaeology), University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK.
Genes (Basel). 2023 Jun 22;14(7):1313. doi: 10.3390/genes14071313.
Cattle are one of the six livestock species that have occupied an important place in Chinese history. Previous ancient DNA studies have indicated that Chinese taurine cattle () are exotic, but the exact route and diffusion by which they were introduced to China is unknown. In this study, we extracted the mitochondrial genomes of 34 cases of ancient taurine cattle (from the late Neolithic to Qin and Han dynasties) excavated from sites in northern China and the eastern Eurasian steppe, and successfully obtained 14 mitochondrial genome sequences. The results of ancient DNA analysis reveal that with cultural exchange and trade, there was close genetic exchange between domestic taurine cattle in different regions. The haplotypes shared by domestic cattle have genetic continuity, reflecting the strong cultural influence of the large capital city sites such as Taosi, Shimao and Erlitou on the surrounding areas. This study suggests that ancient northern Chinese taurine cattle may have accompanied the westward transmission of agricultural or painted pottery culture and thus had a maternal genetic contribution to modern Tibetan cattle.
牛是在中国历史上占有重要地位的六种家畜之一。先前的古 DNA 研究表明，中国黄牛（）是外来的，但它们传入中国的确切途径和扩散方式尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们从中国北方和东欧草原的遗址中提取了 34 例古代黄牛（来自新石器时代晚期到秦汉时期）的线粒体基因组，并成功获得了 14 条线粒体基因组序列。古 DNA 分析的结果表明，随着文化交流和贸易的发展，不同地区的家养黄牛之间存在密切的遗传交流。家养牛共享的单倍型具有遗传连续性，反映了陶寺、石峁和二里头等大型都城遗址对周边地区的强大文化影响。本研究表明，古代中国北方黄牛可能伴随着农业或彩陶文化的西传，从而对现代藏牛的母系遗传做出了贡献。
