7,100-year-old skeleton reveals origins of 'ghost' lineage in Tibetan Plateau

Irene Wright, The Charlotte Observer on Jun 2, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

For tens of thousands of years, the people and cultures of southeast Asia have intertwined, moved around and diversified through time.

The region, primarily encompassing modern-day China, is brought together today by shared language and culture, reflected now in their genetic makeup.

But one group remains genetically isolated, separated geographically and culturally.

The people of the Tibetan Plateau, an area also known as the Xizang Autonomous Region by the Chinese government and under the control of China, have what archaeologists have called a “ghost ancestry,” researchers said in a study published May 29 in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

Their genetic code varies “significantly from modern East Asians,” researchers said in a May 29 news release from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Where and how this divergence occurred was a mystery, until the remains of a person from 7,100 years ago were found in Yunnan, China, according to the study.

“Nestled between the Tibetan Plateau, Southeast Asia, and southern China, the region known today as the Chinese province of Yunnan is home to the highest ethnic and linguistic diversity in China today. Ancient humans that lived in this region may be key to addressing several remaining questions on the prehistoric populations of East and Southeast Asia,” researchers said.

The remains of a woman were found at the Xingyi archaeological site in central Yunnan, a site that dates to between 7,158 and 6,888 years ago, according to the study.

The 7,100-year-old remains were included in an analysis of genomes from 127 ancient bodies found in the region, researchers said, but were distinct among the findings.

The woman was found below all other layers of other burials, researchers said, and was dated to about 1,500 years older than the other remains.

“Although the individual genetically differed significantly from modern East Asians, the researchers noted that the individual’s ancestry shared qualities similar to those of populations indigenous to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,” researchers said. “This aligns with previous observations that these plateau populations have certain genetic characteristics that make them distinct from other present-day human groups.”

Researchers called the finding a “large piece of the puzzle,” because it explained that after an early Asian population separated in southwestern China around 40,000 years ago, it persisted in the region. Then, when humans migrated westward and north, the lineage went on to start the native Tibetan populations, according to the release.

The lineage was named the “Basal Asian Xingyi ancestry,” according to the study, and will help researchers learn more about the history of the Tibetan Plateau.

Tibet is an autonomous region controlled by China, which borders Tibet to the north and east.

Yunnan Province in south-central China.

The research team includes Tianyi Wang, Melinda A. Yang, Zhonghua Zhu, Minmin Ma, Han Shi, Leo Speidel, Rui Min, Haibing Yuan, Zhilong Jiang, Changcheng Hu, Xiaorui Li, Dongyue Zhao, Fan Bai, Peng Cao, Feng Liu, Qingyan Dai, Xiaotian Feng, Ruowei Yang, Xiaohong Wu, Xu Liu, Ming Zhang, Wanjing Ping, Yichen Liu, Yang Wan, Fan Yang, Ranchao Zhou, Lihong Kang, Guanghui Dong, Mark Stoneking and Qiaomei Fu.

_____