scholarly journals Yak Domestication: A Review of Linguistic, Archaeological, and Genetic Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Jacques ◽  
Jade D'Alpoim Guedes ◽  
Shuya Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Genetic Evidence ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Eastern Tibet ◽  
Taurine Cattle ◽  
Fourth Millennium Bce

Yak, a species of bovid uniquely adapted to high-altitude environments, plays a critical role in the life of the inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau and neighboring areas. There is currently no consensus on when these animals may have been domesticated. In this paper, we review the archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence relevant to this question, and suggest that the domestication took place following hybridization with taurine cattle from the end of the fourth millennium BCE. This study also shows that the original domesticators of yaks included not only the ancestors of the Tibetans, but also Rgyalrongic speaking people from Eastern Tibet.

scholarly journals Condensing Life Substances within the House: The Rice-Boiling Shuhi of Southwest China

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Hsu ◽  
Franz K. Huber ◽  
Caroline S. Weckerle
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Regional Culture ◽  
Fault Line

AbstractThe Shuhi of Muli County, Sichuan Province, are one of multiple ethnic groups inhabiting the river gorges of the Qinghai-Gansu-Sichuan corridor between the Tibetan plateau and the Chinese lowlands. The Shuhi have grown paddy rice since times immemorial at an unusually high altitude (ca. 2,300 m above sea level). This article aims to explain this conundrum not merely through the ecology (as is common among Tibetan area specialists), but by researching the cultivation and consumption of rice as a historically-evolved cultural practice. According to a recently formulated agro-archaeological hypothesis regarding the macro-region of Eurasia, it is possible to identify two supra-regional culture complexes distinguished by their respective culinary technologies: rice-boiling versus wheat-grinding-and-baking. The hypothesis posits that the fault line between the two supra-regional cultural complexes is precisely along this river gorges corridor. In this article we provide support for this hypothesis arguing that Shuhi ritual and kinship practices have much affinity with those of other rice-boiling peoples in Southeast Asia, whereas certain of their current religious practices are shared with the wheat-grinding Tibetans.

scholarly journals Seismic Tomography of Eastern Tibet: Implications for the Tibetan Plateau Growth

Tectonics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 2833-2847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengxue Zhang ◽  
Qingju Wu ◽  
Yonghua Li ◽  
Ruiqing Zhang ◽  
Lian Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Seismic Tomography ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern Tibet

scholarly journals Early evidence for the use of wheat and barley as staple crops on the margins of the Tibetan Plateau

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (18) ◽  
pp. 5625-5630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jade A. d’Alpoim Guedes ◽  
Hongliang Lu ◽  
Anke M. Hein ◽  
Amanda H. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
East Asia ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Niche Modeling ◽  
Western China ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Thermal Niche ◽  
Early Evidence ◽  
Early Use ◽  
Staple Crops

We report directly dated evidence from circa 1400 calibrated years (cal) B.C. for the early use of wheat, barley, and flax as staple crops on the borders of the Tibetan Plateau. During recent years, an increasing amount of data from the Tibetan Plateau and its margins shows that a transition from millets to wheat and barley agriculture took place during the second millennium B.C. Using thermal niche modeling, we refute previous assertions that the ecological characteristics of wheat and barley delayed their spread into East Asia. Rather, we demonstrate that the ability of these crops to tolerate frost and their low growing degree-day requirements facilitated their spread into the high-altitude margins of western China. Following their introduction to this region, these crops rapidly replaced Chinese millets and became the staple crops that still characterize agriculture in this area today.

scholarly journals Ancient mitogenomes show plateau populations from last 5200 years partially contributed to present-day Tibetans

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1923) ◽  
pp. 20192968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manyu Ding ◽  
Tianyi Wang ◽  
Albert Min-Shan Ko ◽  
Honghai Chen ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Complete Continuity ◽  
Genetic Origins ◽  
Low Altitude

The clarification of the genetic origins of present-day Tibetans requires an understanding of their past relationships with the ancient populations of the Tibetan Plateau. Here we successfully sequenced 67 complete mitochondrial DNA genomes of 5200 to 300-year-old humans from the plateau. Apart from identifying two ancient plateau lineages (haplogroups D4j1b and M9a1a1c1b1a) that suggest some ancestors of Tibetans came from low-altitude areas 4750 to 2775 years ago and that some were involved in an expansion of people moving between high-altitude areas 2125 to 1100 years ago, we found limited evidence of recent matrilineal continuity on the plateau. Furthermore, deep learning of the ancient data incorporated into simulation models with an accuracy of 97% supports that present-day Tibetan matrilineal ancestry received partial contribution rather than complete continuity from the plateau populations of the last 5200 years.

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