Ancient DNA evidence, combined with recent archaeological digs, has uncovered the secrets of the Xiongnu, a nomadic empire that had conflict with imperial China from 200 BC.
An international team of scientists has completed a genetic investigation of two cemeteries along the western frontier of the Xiongnu empire. The scientists sequenced the genomes of 17 individuals and found an extremely high level of genetic diversity, making it likely that the empire was multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual.
The results of the study are published in Science Advances.
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