INDUS VALLEY SETTLERS HAD A DISTINCT GENETIC LINEAGE
Sept. 8, 2019
A new study argues that Harappan settlers have independent origin and not descended from Eurasian farmers, thus throwing fresh light on the Indus Valley Civilisation.
About:
The researchers had successfully sequenced the first genome of an individual from Harappa and combined it with archaeological data. They studied DNA from skeletal remains excavated from the Harappan cemetery at Rakhigarhi.
The Rakhigarhi study was reported in a paper titled “An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian farmers” in the journal ‘Cell’.
Key findings of the study:
Hunter-gatherers of South Asia had an independent origin. The same hunter-gatherer communities developed into agricultural communities and formed the Harappan civilisation.
The genome of an individual from Harappa do not contain genome from either the Steppe region or ancient Iranian farmers. The genetic continuity from hunter gatherer to modern times is visible in the DNA results.
Thus, the theory of the Harappans having Steppe pastoral or ancient Iranian farmer ancestry thus stands refuted. The finding also negates the hypothesis about mass migration during Harappan times from outside South Asia.
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