Early history of Chinese domestic sheep indicated by ancient DNA analysis of Bronze Age individuals

China has a long history of sheep husbandry, and has several indigenous sheep breeds. However, the exact geographic origin of Chinese domestic sheep remains unclear. To provide valuable genetic information for origin of Chinese domestic sheep, we performed an ancient DNA study on 22 sheep excavated from four Bronze Age archaeological sites in Northern China. Two lineages (A and B) were observed in ancient Chinese sheep, of which lineage A was predominant reaching a frequency of 95.5%. Furthermore, phylogenetic network showed that the most frequent haplotype in ancient sheep was the founder of lineage A. These results suggest that Lineage A may hold the key to understanding the origin of Chinese domestic sheep. Sequence sharing and principal component analysis showed that the ancient Chinese sheep had a close affinity to modern Chinese sheep. However, there was no significant breed structure among three modern Chinese sheep groups, making it difficult to determine their relationship to ancient Chinese sheep. Lastly, our results imply that ancient DNA analysis could provide a new way to investigate prehistoric East-West contact.     

法国巴黎集美博物馆藏克孜尔石窟壁画调查与原位考证

本文在前人研究基础上,结合笔者数十年的石窟工作经验以及远赴国外广泛调查的结果,将法国巴黎集美博物馆收藏的15块克孜尔石窟壁画残片进行了核对与测量,找到了全部壁画所出洞窟及原位,并通过电脑技术对图片进行了复原。     

余庆毛氏清朝科举人物考

余庆毛氏入黔已有千年,有科举功名人物记载自清始,据各文献统计,有清一朝,有功名者达百余人,达到余庆县科举人物总数的三分之一以上.他们中为官者造福一方,居乡者为地方乡贤.本文对清朝毛氏取得科举功名人物的考察,至少说明余庆取得功名的毛氏有相当部分是土司后裔,余庆毛氏大批科举人物的出现,表明余庆土司对科举这种国家制度的充分认同.作为地方表率,这一群体维护了地方稳定,推动了地方经济文化发展.