The Shirenzigou culture (, ca. 410–190 BCE), also referred to as Dongheigou (), or Heigouliang-Dongheigou (黑沟梁-东黑沟), is an archaeological culture from the Shirenzigou site in Barkol County, to the east of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

. Skeletal evidence from sites in Shirenzigou and Xigou in eastern

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

indicate that by the fourth century BCE both horseback riding and mounted archery were practiced along China's northwest frontier. Genetic studies on Iron Age individuals of the Shirenzigou site dated to circa 200 BCE have shown a fairly balanced admixture between the West Eurasian and East Eurasian genetic pools. The West Eurasian component was

Yamnaya The Yamnaya ( ) or Yamna culture ( ), also known as the Pit Grave culture or Ochre Grave culture, is a late Copper Age to early Bronze Age archaeological culture of the region between the Southern Bug, Dniester, and Ural rivers (the Pontic–C ...

-related, while the East Eurasian component was Northeast Asian-related. The Yamnaya component suggests a strong probability that the Shirenzigou populations were derived from the

Afanasievo culture The Afanasievo culture, or Afanasevo culture (Afanasevan culture) ( ''Afanas'yevskaya kul'tura''), is an early archaeological culture of south Siberia, occupying the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai Mountains during the eneolithic era, 3300 to 2 ...

to the north, and spoke an

Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia ( ...

. This reinforces an Afanasievo origin hypothesis for the

Tocharians The Tocharians or Tokharians ( ; ) were speakers of the Tocharian languages, a group of Indo-European languages known from around 7,600 documents from the 6th and 7th centuries, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinj ...

, often called the "Steppe hypotheses", rather than a hypothesis favouring BMAC and

Andronovo culture The Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1150 BC,Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021)"Andronovo Problem: Studies of Cultural Genesis in the Eurasian Bronze Age" in Open Archaeology 202 ...

origins, the "Bactrian Oasis hypotheses". Culturally, the Shirenzigou site showed strong affinity with the neighbouring Yanbulake culture close to the east and the

Pazyryk culture The Pazyryk culture ( ''Pazyrykskaya'' kul'tura) is a Saka (Central Asian Scythian cultures, Scythian) nomadic Iron Age archaeological culture (6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in the Siberian ...

to the northwest (deer-shaped griffin motifs) from the Altai region. The Shirenzigou culture is sometimes considered as the easternmost expansion of the Pazyryk culture. Beads were also imported from China. Looking at the archaeological and genetic evidence, the region has been suggested as an area of origin for the

Yuezhi The Yuezhi were an ancient people first described in China, Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defea ...

: the Yuegongtai-Xiheigou (岳公台-西黑沟) archaeological sites, corresponding to the Barkol culture in the Barkol County of

. This would have positionned the Yuezhi between the

Subeshi culture The Subeshi culture (; 1100–100 BCE), also rendered as Subeishi culture or Subeixi culture, is an Iron Age culture from the area of Shanshan County, Turfan, Xinjiang, at the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin. The Subeshi culture contributes some ...

to their west, the

Yanbulaq culture The Yanbulaq culture (Ch: 焉不拉克文化 or 焉布拉克文化, Yanbulake wenhua, 1100–500 BCE) was an ancient culture based on the tombs of the Yanbulaq Cemetery (Chinese 焉不拉克古墓群, Pinyin Yānbùlākè gǔmùqún or焉不拉� ...

to their east, the aftermaths of the Chemurchek culture to the north, and a wide desertical area to south about a thousand kilometers away from the Central Plains of China. File:Shirenzigou map.png, Shirenzigou map File:Shirenzigou site with dwellings (yellow circles) and tombs (purple triangles).jpg, Shirenzigou site with dwellings (yellow circles) and tombs (purple triangles) File:Shirenzigou panorama.png, Surroundings of the Shirenzigou archaeological site in Barkol County File:Shirenzigou bone arrowhead.png, Shirenzigou bone arrowheads File:Shirenzigou dwelling (from the North).jpg, Shirenzigou dwelling F2 (from the North) File:Shirenzigou dwelling F2, with artifacts.png, Shirenzigou dwelling F2, with artifacts File:Principal component analysis (PCA) based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup frequencies of ancient and present-day Eurasian populations.png, Principal component analysis (PCA) based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup frequencies of ancient and present-day Eurasian populations, with Shirenzigou samples

References

{{Neolithic cultures of China Archaeological sites in China

Further reading

References