Explore the Tianyuan individual, Upper Palaeolithic East Asian population structure and later genetic connections.
📍 RegionChina
🧬 Closest modern matchOnge
⏳ Time periodEarly Upper Paleolithic
Tianyuan: an early window into East Asian ancestry
The Tianyuan reference concerns an individual rather than a population average spanning many settlements. Its importance comes from the unusually early genetic evidence it provides for people living in northern China.
A person near Beijing about 40,000 years ago
The Tianyuan skeleton was found in a cave near Beijing and dates to approximately 40,000 years ago. It belongs to the early modern-human record of eastern Eurasia, well before farming, Chinese states or present-day ethnic identities. The geographic word China on this page identifies the modern location of the find.
The first DNA study examined mitochondrial DNA and part of the nuclear genome. Later genome-wide work substantially enlarged the evidence available for testing relationships with other ancient and living populations. This distinction matters when comparing conclusions published in 2013 and 2017.
The 2017 analysis found Tianyuan more closely related to eastern Eurasian populations than to sampled western Eurasians, but also detected relationships that do not fit a simple unbranched East–West split. Affinities involving some South American populations helped motivate models with structure among early Asian populations.
Those statistical relationships are not evidence that a Tianyuan individual travelled to the Americas. They concern ancestry shared among populations before later movements and population changes. An ancient person can illuminate a branching history without being the sole ancestor of all later members of a branch.
Subsequent work identified Denisovan-derived segments in Tianyuan as well as in the younger Salkhit genome. The inference comes from genomic segments and comparative methods; a G25 nearest-match ranking cannot independently identify archaic ancestry.
The label contains n=1. A single early individual is especially valuable, but cannot describe the full diversity of all people living across East Asia at the same time. Compare Tianyuan with other ancient references to explore differences through time; do not read the modern heatmap as a map of Palaeolithic territories.
What is China Beijing EUP Tianyuan DNA closest to?
In the World Genetics modern G25 comparison, the closest non-self match for China Beijing EUP Tianyuan is Onge. Other nearby references include Jarawa, Rajbanshi West Bengal, Maniq, and Manipuri Brahmin. This gives the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan profile its nearest modern genetic context inside the current reference database.
Closest Matches
Target: —
Distance
What does China Beijing EUP Tianyuan ancestry look like?
The ancestral breakdown below loads the best-fitting World Genetics calculator for the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan average. It should be read as a model of deep ancestry components, while the closest-match table is the better guide to which modern populations are most similar in G25 space.
Ancestral Breakdown
Loading
Loading ancestral breakdown.
Where is China Beijing EUP Tianyuan DNA closest on the map?
The heatmap gives the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan profile a geographic shape. Warmer areas mark regions where available modern reference populations sit closer to the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan average, while cooler areas represent more distant matches.
What populations are genetically closest to China Beijing EUP Tianyuan?
The closest non-self match in this World Genetics comparison is Onge. Other nearby references include Jarawa, Rajbanshi West Bengal, Maniq, and Manipuri Brahmin.
Is China Beijing EUP Tianyuan DNA closest to Onge?
In the current modern G25 reference set, Onge is the closest listed match to the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan average after removing China Beijing EUP Tianyuan itself from the table.
What does the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan heatmap show?
The heatmap shows where modern reference populations are closer or farther from the China Beijing EUP Tianyuan G25 average, giving the closest-match results a geographic view.
