punjabi8 min
Punjabi DNA: Ancient Origins from the Indus to the Swat Valley
Punjabi ancestry through ancient DNA: the Indus Periphery and Rakhigarhi genomes, AASI, the Steppe MLBA layer, the Swat Iron Age references and qpAdm.
Articles
south-asia
6 articles on south-asia, ancient-DNA research written up for readers who want the evidence, not just the headline.
South Asian ancestry is built from three deep streams: an Ancient Ancestral South Indian population with no ancient sample of its own, an Iranian-related farmer ancestry best represented by the Indus Periphery genomes, and a Bronze Age steppe arrival. That missing sample makes the region the hardest standard case for formal modelling, and it is why HarappaWorld's 2012 components still get quoted. The proportions are a record of descent, not of caste, language or identity.
The articles explain what HarappaWorld's S-Indian, Baloch and NE-Euro components are anchored to and how its categories map onto what ancient DNA later proved, set out the working qpAdm recipe with Indus Periphery, steppe MLBA and the Onge-as-AASI-proxy problem, with right sets, failure modes and a worked reading, and report ten genomes from a Himalayan cave in Ladakh that were half Tibetan-related and half North Indian-related.
What the paid qpAdm analysis includes
pashtun8 minPashtun DNA: Ancient Origins from the Indus to the Swat Valley
What ancient genomes say about Pashtun ancestry: Iranian farmer, AASI and Steppe streams, the Swat valley references, and the legends DNA cannot confirm.
bengali8 minBengali DNA: Ancient Origins of Bangladesh and West Bengal
What genomes say about Bengali ancestry: a strong AASI share, a Southeast Asian layer from Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman speakers, and the gaps in the data.
qpadm4 minqpAdm models for South Asian ancestry: AASI, Indus Periphery and the proxy problem
South Asia is qpAdm's hardest standard fixture: one ancestral stream has no ancient sample at all. The working recipe — Indus Periphery, steppe MLBA, the Onge-as-AASI-proxy problem — with right sets, failure modes and a worked reading.
admixture3 minHarappaWorld explained: the South Asian admixture calculator and its 16 components
What HarappaWorld's S-Indian, Baloch and NE-Euro components are anchored to, why it remains the reference calculator for South Asian ancestry, and how its 2012 categories map onto what ancient DNA later proved.
ladakh9 minLadakh Ancient DNA: A Forgotten Population at 4,000 Metres
Ten genomes from a Himalayan cave reveal a population that was half Tibetan-related and half North Indian-related, mixing from about 2800 years ago.