A groundbreaking genetic research study has revealed a lost lineage of ancient humans in China’s Yunnan province, challenging long-held notions about the origins of Tibetan and Austroasiatic populations. The discovery, published in the journal Science, relies on DNA from 127 ancient human remains, including an astonishingly unique 7,100-year-old female found at the Xingyi archaeological site in central Yunnan.
The research, led by Chinese Academy of Sciences researcher Fu Qiaomei, uncovered what scientists call a “ghost population”—an unidentified human population whose genetic contribution to present-day Tibetans has not been recorded in skeletal remains until now. The woman, whom researchers dubbed “Xingyi_EN,” was buried singly without funerary items and was likely a hunter-gatherer. Her genome was found to be as genetically distinct from modern East Asians as a 40,000-year-old individual previously discovered near Beijing.
This “Xingyi ancestry,” as the researchers term it, diverged from other Asian human populations at least 40,000 years ago. It likely persisted in isolation for thousands of years in Yunnan’s ecologically diverse and mountainous climate. Fu said that the isolation allowed this ancestry to persist without apparent admixture with other populations.
Later on, this initial lineage mixed with northern East Asian populations, and traces of the blended ancestry remain in some of the modern Tibetan genomes. This is the reason behind the long-standing 20 percent of Tibetan heritage that earlier genetic models couldn’t explain. The remaining 80 percent of Tibetan heritage is already known to have come from northern East Asian groups that lived between 9,500 and 4,000 years ago.
Yunnan’s strategic geographical position—encompassing the Tibetan Plateau, Southeast Asia, and southern China—also sheds light on another major population group: the Austroasiatic people, who speak languages such as Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon. Researchers discovered that a distinctive genetic profile emerged in the center of Yunnan around 5,500 years ago, long before agriculture became widespread in the area. This population would have contributed to the ancestry of modern Austroasiatic speakers, suggesting that they were shaped by pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers rather than farming migrations, contradicting long-standing assumptions.
Beyond the central region of Yunnan, the research also indicates the genetic complexity of the area. Western Yunnan populations between 3,800 and 1,700 years ago show increasing Northeast Asian influence, likely associated with Bronze Age migrations. Southeastern Yunnan, in contrast, shows a blend of northern and central genetic features, bearing witness to its role as a crossroads of cultures.
“This study not only fills a critical gap in the genetic data of prehistoric populations in East and Southeast Asia but also identifies one of the Tibetan Plateau’s ‘ghost ancestors’ for the first time from a genetic perspective,” the researchers said.
The findings position Yunnan as one of the most genetically diverse and dynamic regions of ancient East Asia. The rugged terrain and varied climates there allowed for ancient populations to isolate as well as interact, giving rise to the complex tapestry of human history that still endures today.
Researchers will keep studying areas like central Yunnan and the Red River Valley in an attempt to gain more insight into the prehistoric movements and interactions that forged the identities of modern East Asian populations.
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