Abstract: Ancient DNA analysis has been used to reveal the ethnic origins of ancient human remains. In this paper, we analyzed 59 human teeth excavated from two sites near Shangsunjiazhai, Datong in Qinghai, dated between 3000/3300 and 2000 years before present. The polymorphisms in the first hypervariable region and coding regions of mitochondrial DNA were analyzed using cloning sequencing and RFLP. Results were compared with 1833 mtDNA profiles from 34 contemporary populations and two ancient northwestern Chinese populations at both population and individual levels. Our results showed that people who lived in these two different periods were not the same ethnic population.

Key words: Ancient DNA; mtDNA; Kayue Culture; Ancient Qiang