Ancient mitogenomes reveal the maternal diversity and genetic history of Ba state in the Western Zhou Dynasty

Abstract

The Yellow River Basin is a crucial region for understanding the origins and evolution of Chinese civilization, as well as the domestication of agricultural in ancient China. The Dahekou cemetery (DHK), located in the middle Yellow River basin, is a significant archaeological site from the Western Zhou Dynasty. It has been identified as the 'Ba State,' a polity that is not documented in historical records. However, the maternal genetic history and population dynamics between the DHK population and other ancient populations from the Yellow River basin, remain unknown. Here, we sequenced 207 complete mitochondrial genomes from individuals excavated from the DHK cemetery in southern Shanxi Province and dated to approximately 1050-800 BCE. Our results show that the DHK population shares strong genetic affinity with ancient populations from the Middle Yellow River Basin during the Neolithic period, suggesting a predominantly regional genetic continuity of the Ba State population. Additionally, the DHK population exhibits genetic affinities with contemporaneous ancient populations from the Upper and Lower Yellow River. We also found that the DHK population is more genetically similar to present-day northern Han than to southern Han or other minorities in China. Analysis of haplogroup D4b shows a marked increase in effective population size beginning around 8000 BP, broadly coinciding with the early development of agriculture in the Yellow River region. Overall, this study provides new insights into the genetic history and population dynamics of the DHK population.