Slab Grave expansion disrupted long co-existence of distinct Bronze Age herders in central Mongolia.

ABSTRACT: Dairy pastoralism reached Mongolia during the Early Bronze Age and flourished in the Late Bronze Age alongside the emergence of diverse mortuary practices, including the Deer Stone-Khirgisuur Complex and figure-shaped/Ulaanzuukh burials. While the spread of pastoralism has been widely studied, interactions between these pastoralist groups with distinct mortuary traditions remain underexplored due to challenges in obtaining both genomic and mortuary data. In this study, we analyzed genome-wide and mortuary data from 30 ancient individuals in central Mongolia, a key region where pastoralists with distinct mortuary practices converged. We identify two genetically distinct clusters persisting throughout the Late Bronze Age that correspond to separate burial types, suggesting limited genetic mi

SUBMITTER: Lee J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12462455 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature