LU Yan, LI Hui

MOE Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 China

ABSTRACT: Altaic, Uralic, and Yeniseian are three main ethnic families distributed in the north of the Eurasia. Some anthropologists also think that these people are related to the Sino-Tibetan people in East Asia. Some similarities were found among Altaic and Sino-Tibetan languages by comparing the core word components. There were also linguistic studies suggesting Yeniseian and Sino-Tibetan languages might have a common origin. In the genetics aspects, the Y chromosome phylogeny is reconstructed to afford higher resolution of population history. A recent study indicated that Y chromosome haplogroup N, which is dominant in Uralic populations inhabiting North and East Europe, originated in southwestern part of East Asia. Another Y lineage, haplogroup Q reached its highest frequencies in Eurasia among Kets (~95%), a Yeniseian population. Another study of haplogroup R, prevalent in the western branch of Altaic Turkic populations, implied a possible origin of R1b1b1 in East Asia. As the ancestral lineage of Q and R, haplogroup P might have migrated northward via East Asia. Taken all these together, we speculate that the Y chromosome lineages of Altaic, Uralic and Yeniseian might have originated from Sino-Tibetan populations. And the eastern valleys of the Tibetan Plateau are most likely the place of origin. People living in North Asia and North Europe might have a genetic affinity with the ancestor of Sino-Tibetans.