Researchers Sequence Genome of Ancient Harappan Woman
- López, B. & Rueda, A.
- 16 dic 2019
- 2 Min. de lectura
A newly sequenced genome of a Harappan woman suggests that modern people in India probably descended from this ancient civilization. This genome suggest that this individual lived in 4000-5000 years ago.
The Harappan civilization, also known as the Indus valley civilization, extended through the northeast of South Asia from 2600 to 1900 b.C. It was one of the firsts societies in a big scale that was characterized by urbanc systematic planification and standardization of weights and measures. They were one of the first societies of the ancient world, nonetheless, it has been a mystery how they related both to later people as well as to their contemporaries.
Hitherto, due to the hot weather and volatile climate of South Asia, geneticists weren’t able to extract viable data from skeletons buried at Harappan archaeological sites. The DNA was too damaged and it wasn’t possible to get data from it. After analyzing more than 60 skeletal samples from Rakhigarhi (one of Harappan most known civilizations), scientist discovered a hint of ancient DNA. They tried to sequence it up to 100 times, and finally they generated sufficient data that allowed them to obtain solid conclusions.
The Harappan woman genome matched those of other 11 ancient people that lived in what now is known as Iran and Turkmenistan. Because this genetic mix was different to the majority of people that lived in Iran and Turkmenistan at that time, researchers pro pose that these 12 people were migrants. The study directly links together modern South Asians with ancient people of the first civilization of South Asia.
The ideas that emerge from this single individual demonstrate the intrinsic potential of ancient DNA studies in South Asia, stating that further research with a larger group of individuals from a variety of locations, will transform our understanding of the subcontinent history.
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