title: Identification of kinship and occupant status in Mongolian noble burials of the Yuan Dynasty through a multidisciplinary approach.
abstract: The Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368) was the first dynasty in Chinese history where a minority ethnic group (Mongols) ruled. Few cemeteries containing Mongolian nobles have been found owing to their tradition of keeping burial grounds secret and their lack of historical records. Archaeological excavations at the Shuzhuanglou site in the Hebei province of China led to the discovery of 13 skeletons in six separate tombs. The style of the artefacts and burials indicate the cemetery occupants were Mongol nobles. However, the origin, relationships and status of the chief occupant (M1m) are unclear. To shed light on the identity of the principal occupant and resolve the kin relationships between individuals, a multidisciplinary approach was adopted, combining archaeological information, stable isotope data and molecular genetic data. Analysis of autosomal, mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal DNA show that some of the occupants were related. The available evidence strongly suggests that the principal occupant may have been the Mongol noble Korguz. Our study demonstrates the power of a multidisciplinary approach in elucidating information about the inhabitants of ancient historical sites.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yinqiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Binxiao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongjie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hebei Provincial Centre for Cultural Relics Protection, Shijiazhuang 050031, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yashan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics, Shijiazhuang 050031, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chunchang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China yanyi@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yanyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China Department of Scientific History and Archaeometry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China ywhu@ucas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yaowu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China zhouhui@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology / Q000379:methods*; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002048:Burial / Q000266:history*; D002681:China; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D010375:Pedigree; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014316:Tritium / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D014316:Tritium; D003094:Collagen
keywords: ancient DNA; archaeology; kinship; mitochondrial DNA; stable isotopes