ArticleNature ecology & evolution2024
Lake-centred sedentary lifestyle of early Tibetan Plateau Indigenous populations at high elevation 4,400 years ago.
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Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Complex peopling history and expansion events inferred from large-scale modern and ancient Y chromosome sequences.Science advances · 2026Article
- Isotope dataset for archaeological biological remains in China.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Archaeobotanical investigations at high-elevation sites of the Pamir Mountains and fergana foothills.iScience · 2026Article
- Ancient genomes give insight into 160,000 years of East Asian population dynamics and biological adaptation.Genome biology · 2025Review
- Ancient genomes reveal basal Asian ancestries and dynamic population interactions over time on the southern Tibetan Plateau.iScience · 2025Article
- Patrilineages of ethnolinguistically diverse populations reveal multifactorial influences on Chinese paternal population stratification.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Dynamics of Potential Distribution and Cultivation Areas ofEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- Largest-Scale Genomic Resource Reconstructing the Genetic Origin, Population Structure, and Biological Adaptations of the Hui People.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Tripartite origin of the chordate brain.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Article
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38 authors.
Xiaoyan Yang *Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (National Cultural Heritage Administration), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China. xyang@lzu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7191-4139
Yu Gao *Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Shargan Wangdue *Tibetan Institute of the Preservation of Cultural Relics, Lhasa, China. xiagewangdui@163.com.
Jingkun Ran *Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-1598-2696
Qing Wang *Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Songtao Chen *Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Jishuai Yang *Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (National Cultural Heritage Administration), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0598-207X
Tianyi Wang *Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4790-7668
Zhengquan GuGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5480-6697
Ying ZhangGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Peng CaoKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Qingyan DaiKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Shungang ChenGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yan TongTibetan Institute of the Preservation of Cultural Relics, Lhasa, China.
Nihanxue JiaKey Laboratory of Archaeological Science (Ministry of Education), School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Qingli SunGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yunzhe HuangGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Linda PerryThe Foundation for Archaeobotanical Research in Microfossils, Fairfax, VA, USA.
Jade d'Alpoim GuedesDepartment, of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Xu HanGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Feng LiuKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Xiaotian FengKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Qi YangGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yunming WangGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Shihua HuGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yaofei TianKey Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (National Cultural Heritage Administration), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Jianglong GuoKey Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (National Cultural Heritage Administration), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Xinwei LiangGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ting YouKey Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (National Cultural Heritage Administration), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Yazhong LiTibetan Institute of the Preservation of Cultural Relics, Lhasa, China.
Yunan ZhangGroup of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Zhenhua DengKey Laboratory of Archaeological Science (Ministry of Education), School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Ling QinKey Laboratory of Archaeological Science (Ministry of Education), School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xiaohong WuKey Laboratory of Archaeological Science (Ministry of Education), School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3819-0829
Yijie ZhuangInstitute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK.
Yichen LiuKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. yichen.liu@ivpp.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7187-6232
Qiaomei FuKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. fuqiaomei@ivpp.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7141-0002
Fahu ChenKey Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Key Scientific Research Base of Bioarchaeology in Cold and Arid Regions (National Cultural Heritage Administration), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China. fhchen@itpcas.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8874-1035
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The onset of sedentism on the Tibetan Plateau is often presumed to be associated with the dispersal of agriculture or farmers from archaeological sites located in the low elevation margins of the plateau. Previous studies of the plateau assumed that all foragers were probably mobile, but few systematic excavations at forager sites have been conducted to inform us about their settlement patterns. Here we report the world's highest elevation sedentary way of living exhibited by the Mabu Co site at 4,446 metres above sea level, deep in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau 4,400-4,000 years ago. Our interdisciplinary study indicates that the site was occupied by Indigenous inhabitants of the plateau, representing the earliest known DNA evidence of foragers who predominantly harbour the southern plateau ancestry. The evidence shows that they had a sedentary lifestyle primarily supported by fishing at nearby lakes, supplemented by mammal and bird hunting, as well as small-scale exchanges of millet and rice crops.
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ArchaeologySedentary BehaviorAltitudeAnimalsHistory, AncientHumansIndigenous PeoplesLakesTibet
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