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Background Y-chromosome haplogroup C2a-M48-F8472, a unique paternal line in the ancient Xiongnu population, is concentrated in the modern Han people. The most closely related lineage of this paternal lineage is mainly distributed in Tungusic-, Mongolic-, and Turkic-speaking populations.Aim To investigate the formation process of this unique distribution state.Subjects and methods In total, 36 sequences of haplogroup C2a-M48-F8472 were analysed to generate a revised phylogenetic tree with age estimation and to explore the geographic distribution pattern.Results The results suggested that northern China is likely the diffusion centre of this paternal haplogroup. This lineage is concentrated in the Liu clan (刘姓) of Han populations and may have originated in the Tuge tribe (屠各) of Xiongnu populations. The initial expansion (∼2,600 years ago) and the second phase of expansion (∼1,570 years ago) of haplogroup C2a-M48-F8472 coincide with the earlier appearance and later disappearance of the Tuge tribe. As a sub-clade of M48, the history of F8472 suggested that ancient peoples related to Tungusic-speaking populations were intricately connected with the demographic history of populations in the Mongolian Plateau.Conclusion The appearance of this paternal line in the Han population is helpful for understanding the mixed history of ancient and modern people in the Mongolian Plateau and Central China.

Abstract Uniparental-inherited haploid genetic marker of Y­chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNP) have the power to provide a deep understanding of the human evolutionary past, forensic pedigree, and bio-geographical ancestry information. Several international cross-continental or regional Y-panels instead of Y-whole sequencing have recently been developed to promote Y-tools in forensic practice. However, panels based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) explicitly developed for Chinese populations are insufficient to represent the Chinese Y-chromosome genetic diversity and complex population structures, especially for Chinese-predominant haplogroup O. We developed and validated a 639-plex panel including 633 Y-SNPs and 6 Y-Insertion/deletions, which covered 573 Y haplogroups on the Y-DNA haplogroup tree. In this panel, subgroups from haplogroup O accounted for 64.4% of total inferable haplogroups. We reported the sequencing metrics of 354 libraries sequenced with this panel, with the average sequencing depth among 226 individuals being 3,741×. We illuminated the high level of concordance, accuracy, reproducibility, and specificity of the 639-plex panel and found that 610 loci were genotyped with as little as 0.03 ng of genomic DNA in the sensitivity test. 94.05% of the 639 loci were detectable in male-female mixed DNA samples with a mix ratio of 1:500. Nearly all of the loci were genotyped correctly when no more than 25 ng/μL tannic acid, 20 ng/μL humic acid, or 37.5 μM hematin was added to the amplification mixture. More than 80% of genotypes were obtained from degraded DNA samples with a degradation index of 11.76. Individuals from the same pedigree shared identical genotypes in 11 male pedigrees. Finally, we presented the complex evolutionary history of 183 northern Chinese Hans and six other Chinese populations, and found multiple founding lineages that contributed to the northern Han Chinese gene pool. The 639-plex panel proved an efficient tool for Chinese paternal studies and forensic applications.

Previous studies demonstrated Y chromosome haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 is the only founding paternal lineage of all Tungusic-speaking populations. To infer the differentiation history of these populations, we studied more sequences and constructed downstream structure of haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 with better resolution. In this study, we generated 100 new sequences and co-analyzed 140 sequences of C2a-M48-SK1061 to reconstruct a highly revised phylogenetic tree with age estimates. We also performed the analysis of the geographical distribution and spatial autocorrelation of sub-branches. Dozens of new sub-branches were discovered, many sub-branches were nearly unique for Ewenki, Evens, Oroqen, Xibe, Manchu, Daur, and Mongolian. The topology of these unique sub-branches is the key evidence for understanding the complex evolutionary relationship between different Tungusic-speaking populations. The revised phylogeny provided a clear pattern for the differentiation history of haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 in the past 2,000 years. This study showed that the divergence pattern of founder lineage is essential to understanding the differentiation history of populations.

We analysed the forensic characteristics and substructure of the Handan Han population based on 36 Y-STR (short tandem repeat) and Y-SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) markers. The two most dominant haplogroups in Handan Han, O2a2b1a1a1-F8 (17.95%) and O2a2b1a2a1a (21.51%), and their abundant downstream branches, reflected the strong expansion of the precursor of the Hans in Handan. The present results enrich the forensic database and explore the genetic relationships between Handan Han and other neighbouring and/or linguistically close populations, which suggests that the current concise overview of the Han intricate substructure remains oversimplified.

Objectives: Previous studies of archaeology and history suggested that the rise and prosperity of Bronze Age culture in East Asia had made essential contribution to the formation of early state and civilization in this region. However, the impacts in perspective of genetics remain ambiguous. Previous genetic researches indicated the Y-chromosome Q1a1a-M120 and N1a2a-F1101 may be the two most important paternal lineages among the Bronze Age people in ancient northwest China. Here, we investigated the 9,000-years history of haplogroup N1a2a-F1101 with revised phylogenetic tree and spatial autocorrelation analysis.Materials and Methods: In this study, 229 sequences of N1a2a-F1101 were analyzed. We developed a highly-revised phylogenetic tree with age estimates for N1a2a-F1101. In addition, we also explored the geographical distribution of sub-lineages of N1a2a-F1101, and spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted for each sub-branch.Results: The initial differentiation location of N1a2a-F1101 and its most closely related branch, N1a2b-P43, a major lineage of Uralic-speaking populations in northern Eurasia, is likely the west part of northeast China. After ~4 thousand years of bottleneck effect period, haplgroup N1a2a-F1101 experienced continuous expansion during the Chalcolithic age (~ 4.5 kya to 4 kya) and Bronze age (~ 4 kya to 2.5 kya) in northern China. Ancient DNA evidence supported that this haplogroup is the lineage of ruling family of Zhou Dynasty (~ 3 kya-2.2 kya) of ancient China.Discussion: In general, we proposed that the Bronze Age people in the border area between the eastern Eurasian steppe and northern China not only played a key role in promoting the early state and civilization of China, but also left significant traces in the gene pool of Chinese people.

Southern China is the birthplace of rice-cultivating agriculture and different language families and has also witnessed various human migrations that facilitated cultural diffusions. The fine-scale demographic history in situ that forms present-day local populations, however, remains unclear. To comprehensively cover the genetic diversity in East and Southeast Asia, we generated genome-wide SNP data from 211 present-day Southern Chinese and co-analyzed them with ∼1,200 ancient and modern genomes. In Southern China, language classification is significantly associated with genetic variation but with a different extent of predictability, and there is strong evidence for recent shared genetic history particularly in Hmong–Mien and Austronesian speakers. A geography-related genetic sub-structure that represents the major genetic variation in Southern East Asians is established pre-Holocene and its extremes are represented by Neolithic Fujianese and First Farmers in Mainland Southeast Asia. This sub-structure is largely reduced by admixture in ancient Southern Chinese since > ∼2,000 BP, which forms a “Southern Chinese Cluster” with a high level of genetic homogeneity. Further admixture characterizes the demographic history of the majority of Hmong–Mien speakers and some Kra-Dai speakers in Southwest China happened ∼1,500–1,000 BP, coeval to the reigns of local chiefdoms. In Yellow River Basin, we identify a connection of local populations to genetic sub-structure in Southern China with geographical correspondence appearing > ∼9,000 BP, while the gene flow likely closely related to “Southern Chinese Cluster” since the Longshan period (∼5,000–4,000 BP) forms ancestry profile of Han Chinese Cline.

Background In recent decades, considerable attention has been paid to exploring the population genetic characteristics of Han Chinese, mainly documenting a north-south genetic substructure. However, the central Han Chinese have been largely underrepresented in previous studies. Aim To infer a comprehensive understanding of the homogenisation process and population history of Han Chinese. Subjects and methods We collected samples from 122 Han Chinese from seven counties of Hubei province in central China and genotyped 534,000 genome-wide SNPs. We compared Hubei Han with both ancient and present-day Eurasian populations using Principal Component Analysis, ADMIXTURE, f statistics, qpWave and qpAdm. Results We observed Hubei Han Chinese are at a genetically intermediate position on the north-south Han Chinese cline. We have not detected any significant genetic substructure in the studied groups from seven different counties. Hubei Han show significant evidence of genetic admixture deriving about 63% of ancestry from Tai-Kadai or Austronesian-speaking southern indigenous groups and 37% from Tungusic or Mongolic related northern populations. Conclusions The formation of Han Chinese has involved extensive admixture with Tai-Kadai or Austronesian-speaking populations in the south and Tungusic or Mongolic speaking populations in the north. The convenient transportation and central location of Hubei make it the key region for the homogenisation of Han Chinese.

Background Mongolian populations are widely distributed geographically, showing abundant ethnic diversity with geographic and tribal differences. Aim To infer the genetic substructure, admixture and ancient genetic sources of Mongolians together with Kazakhs Subjects and methods We genotyped more than 690,000 genome-wide SNPs from 33 Mongolian and Chinese Kazakh individuals and compared these with both ancient and present-day Eurasian populations using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), ADMIXTURE, Refine-IBD, f statistics, qpWave and qpAdm. Results We found genetic substructures within Mongolians corresponding to Ölöd, Chahar, and Inner Mongolian clusters, which was consistent with tribe classifications. Mongolian and Kazakh groups derived about 6–40% of West Eurasian related ancestry, most likely from Bronze Age Steppe populations. The East Asian related ancestry in Mongolian and Kazakh groups was well represented by the Neolithic DevilsCave related nomadic lineage, comprising 42–64% of studied groups. We also detected 10–51% of Han Chinese related ancestry in Mongolian and Kazakh groups, especially in Inner Mongolians. The average admixture times for Inner Mongolian, Mongolian_Chahar, Mongolian_Ölöd and Chinese Kazakh were about 1381, 626, 635 and 632 years ago, respectively, with Han and French as the sources. Conclusion The DevilsCave related ancestry was once widespread westwards covering a wide geographical range from Far East Russia to the Mongolia Plateau. The formation of present-day Mongolic and Turkic-speaking populations has also received genetic influence from agricultural expansion.

Abstract Background The majority of the Kazakhs from South Kazakhstan belongs to the 12 clans of the Senior Zhuz. According to traditional genealogy, nine of these clans have a common ancestor and constitute the Uissun tribe. There are three main hypotheses of the clans’ origin, namely, origin from early Wusuns, from Niru’un Mongols, or from Darligin Mongols. We genotyped 490 samples of South Kazakhs by 35 Y-chromosomal SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) and 17 STRs (short tandem repeat). Additionally, 133 samples from citizen science projects were included into the study. Results We found that three Uissun clans have unique Y-chromosomal profiles, but the remaining six Uissun clans and one non-Uissun clan share a common paternal gene pool. They share a high frequency (> 40%) of the C2*-ST haplogroup (marked by the SNP F3796), which is associated with the early Niru’un Mongols. Phylogenetic analysis of this haplogroup carried out on 743 individuals from 25 populations of Eurasia has revealed a set of haplotype clusters, three of which contain the Uissun haplotypes. The demographic expansion of these clusters dates back to the 13-fourteenth century, coinciding with the time of the Uissun’s ancestor Maiky-biy known from historical sources. In addition, it coincides with the expansion period of the Mongol Empire in the Late Middle Ages. A comparison of the results with published aDNA (ancient deoxyribonucleic acid) data and modern Y haplogroups frequencies suggest an origin of Uissuns from Niru’un Mongols rather than from Wusuns or Darligin Mongols. Conclusions The Y-chromosomal variation in South Kazakh clans indicates their common origin in 13th–14th centuries AD, in agreement with the traditional genealogy. Though genetically there were at least three ancestral lineages instead of the traditional single ancestor. The majority of the Y-chromosomal lineages of South Kazakhstan was brought by the migration of the population related to the medieval Niru’un Mongols.

Background Chuanqing is an unrecognised ethnic group in Guizhou, southwest China. The genetic history of the Chuanqing people is hotly debated due to a lack of available genetic data. Aim To infer the genetic structure and population history of the Chuanqing people and genetic relationships of the Chuanqing with other East Asians. Subjects and methods We collected samples from 14 Chuanqing individuals from Guizhou and genotyped about 690,000 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We used Principal Component Analysis (PCA), ADMIXTURE analysis, and f statistics to infer the population genetic structure and admixture. Results Chuanqing people show a distinct genetic profile from indigenous Tai-Kadai and Tibeto-Burman speaking populations in southwest China, but they are genetically similar to southern Han Chinese, Miao, She and Tujia populations. The Han Chinese characteristic Y chromosomal lineages reach high frequencies in the Chuanqing. Conclusions The genetic formation of the Chuanqing people has been greatly influenced by Han Chinese related populations.

Background: Due to their long history, complex admixture processes and large population sizes, more research is required to explore the fine genetic structure of Han populations from different geographic locations of China. Aim: To characterise the paternal genetic structure of the Han Chinese in Henan province, which was once the central living region of the ancient Huaxia population, the precursors of the Han Chinese. Subjects and methods: We sequenced Y chromosomes of 60 males from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and reconstructed a phylogenetic tree for these samples with age estimation. Results: We observed high diversity of paternal lineages in our collection. We found that the in situ Neolithic expansion of the “Major lineages” contributed to a large portion of the paternal gene pool of the Han population in Henan Province. We also detected a large number of “Minor lineages” that diverged in the Palaeolithic Age. Conclusion: We suggest that the high genetic diversity in the paternal gene pool of modern Han populations is mainly attributed to the reservation of a larger number of lineages that diverged in the Palaeolithic Age, while the recent expansion of limited lineages contributed to the majority of the gene pool of modern Han populations. We propose that such a structure is a basal characteristic for the genetic structure of modern Han populations.

Archeologically attested human occupation on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can be traced back to 160 thousand years ago (kya) via the archaic Xiahe people and 30∼40 kya via the Nwya Devu anatomically modern human. However, the history of the Tibetan populations and their migration inferred from the ancient and modern DNA remains unclear. Here, we performed the first ancient and modern genomic meta-analysis among 3,017 Paleolithic to present-day Eastern Eurasian genomes (2,444 modern individuals from 183 populations and 573 ancient individuals). We identified a close genetic connection between the ancient-modern highland Tibetans and lowland island/coastal Neolithic Northern East Asians (NEA). This observed genetic affinity reflected the primary ancestry of high-altitude Tibeto-Burman speakers originated from the Neolithic farming populations in the Yellow River Basin. The identified pattern was consistent with the proposed common north-China origin hypothesis of the Sino-Tibetan languages and dispersal patterns of the northern millet farmers. We also observed the genetic differentiation between the highlanders and lowland NEAs. The former harbored more deeply diverged Hoabinhian/Onge-related ancestry and the latter possessed more Neolithic southern East Asian (SEA) or Siberian-related ancestry. Our reconstructed qpAdm and qpGraph models suggested the co-existence of Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestries in the Neolithic to modern East Asian highlanders. Additionally, we found that Tibetans from Ü-Tsang/Ando/Kham regions showed a strong population stratification consistent with their cultural background and geographic terrain. Ü-Tsang Tibetans possessed a stronger Chokhopani-affinity, Ando Tibetans had more Western Eurasian related ancestry and Kham Tibetans harbored greater Neolithic southern EA ancestry. Generally, ancient and modern genomes documented multiple waves of human migrations in the TP’s past. The first layer of local hunter-gatherers mixed with incoming millet farmers and arose the Chokhopani-associated Proto-Tibetan-Burman highlanders, which further respectively mixed with additional genetic contributors from the western Eurasian Steppe, Yellow River and Yangtze River and finally gave rise to the modern Ando, Ü-Tsang and Kham Tibetans.

The evolutionary and admixture history of Han Chinese have been widely discussed via traditional autosomal and uniparental genetic markers [e.g., short tandem repeats, low-density single nucleotide polymorphisms). However, their fine-scale genetic landscapes (admixture scenarios and natural selection signatures) based on the high-density allele/haplotype sharing patterns have not been deeply characterized. Here, we collected and generated genome-wide data of 50 Han Chinese individuals from four populations in Guizhou Province, one of the most ethnolinguistically diverse regions, and merged it with over 3,000 publicly available modern and ancient Eurasians to describe the genetic origin and population admixture history of Guizhou Hans and their neighbors. PCA and ADMIXTURE results showed that the studied four populations were homogeneous and grouped closely to central East Asians. Genetic homogeneity within Guizhou populations was further confirmed via the observed strong genetic affinity with inland Hmong-Mien people through the observed genetic clade in Fst and outgroup f3/f4-statistics. qpGraph-based phylogenies and f4-based demographic models illuminated that Guizhou Hans were well fitted via the admixture of ancient Yellow River Millet farmers related to Lajia people and southern Yangtze River farmers related to Hanben people. Further ChromoPainter-based chromosome painting profiles and GLOBETROTTER-based admixture signatures confirmed the two best source matches for southwestern Hans, respectively, from northern Shaanxi Hans and southern indigenes with variable mixture proportions in the historical period. Further three-way admixture models revealed larger genetic contributions from coastal southern East Asians into Guizhou Hans compared with the proposed inland ancient source from mainland Southeast Asia. We also identified candidate loci (e.g., MTUS2, NOTCH4, EDAR, ADH1B, and ABCG2) with strong natural selection signatures in Guizhou Hans via iHS, nSL, and ihh, which were associated with the susceptibility of the multiple complex diseases, morphology formation, alcohol and lipid metabolism. Generally, we provided a case and ideal strategy to reconstruct the detailed demographic evolutionary history of Guizhou Hans, which provided new insights into the fine-scale genomic formation of one ethnolinguistically specific targeted population from the comprehensive perspectives of the shared unlinked alleles, linked haplotypes, and paternal and maternal lineages.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that the human Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a1a-M120, a widespread paternal lineage in East Asian populations, originated in South Siberia. However, much uncertainty remains regarding the origin, diversification, and expansion of this paternal lineage. Aim: To explore the origin and diffusion of paternal Q-M120 lineages in East Asia. Subjects and methods: The authors generated 26 new Y chromosome sequences of Q-M120 males and co-analysed 45 Y chromosome sequences of this haplogroup. A highly-revised phylogenetic tree of haplogroup Q-M120 with age estimates was reconstructed. Additionally, a comprehensive phylogeographic analysis of this lineage was performed including 15,007 samples from 440 populations in eastern Eurasia. Results: An ancient connection of this lineage with populations in Siberia was revealed. However, this paternal lineage experienced an in-situ expansion between 5000 and 3000 years ago in northwestern China. Ancient populations with high frequencies of Q-M120 were involved in the formation of ancient Huaxia populations before 2000 years ago; this haplogroup eventually became one of the founding paternal lineages of modern Han populations. Conclusion: This study provides a clear pattern of the origin and diffusion process of haplogroup Q1a1a-M120, as well as the role of this paternal lineage during the formation of ancient Huaxia populations and modern Han populations.

Guizhou province in southwest China has abundant genetic and cultural diversities, but the forensic features and genetic structure of Guizhou populations remain poorly understood due to the sparse sampling of present-day populations. Here, we present 30 insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels) data of 591 human individuals collected from four populations, Dong, Yi, Han, and Chuanqing residing in Guizhou. We calculated the forensic parameters of 30 InDel loci and found that this panel meets the efficiency of forensic personal identification based on the high combined power of discrimination, but it could only be used as a complementary tool in the parentage testing because of the lower combined probability of exclusion values. The studied populations are genetically closer related to geographically adjacent or linguistically related populations in southern China, such as the Tai-Kadai and Hmong-Mien speaking groups. The unrecognized ethnic Chuanqing people show an additional genetic affinity with Han Chinese, highlighting the role of possible military immigrations in their origin.

The Y-chromosome has been widely used in ancestry inference based on its region-specific haplogroup distributions. However, there is always a debate on how informative such a single marker is for inferring an individual's genetic ancestry. Here, we compared genetic ancestry inferences at continental level made by Y-chromosomal haplogroups to those made by autosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 1230 samples of Affymetrix Human Origins dataset. The highest ancestry proportions of a majority of individuals match the highest average continental-ancestry proportions in haplogroups A, B, D, H, I, K, L, T, O, and M. The high consistencies have not been observed in haplogroups E, C, G, J, N, Q, and R, but in some of their sublineages, such as E1a, E1b1a1, E1b1b1b1a, E2b1a, J1a2b, Q1a1a1, Q1a2a1a1, R1b1a2a1a, and R2. Although the consistencies of Y-chromosomal and autosomal continental ancestry vary among haplogroups, Y-chromosome could provide valuable clues for individual's continental ancestry.

Austronesian diffusion is considered one of the greatest dispersals in human history; it led to the peopling of an extremely vast region, ranging from Madagascar in the Indian Ocean to Easter Island in Remote Oceania. The Y-chromosome haplogroup O3a2b*-P164(xM134), a predominant paternal lineage of Austronesian populations, is found at high frequencies in Polynesian populations. However, the internal phylogeny of this haplogroup remains poorly investigated. In this study, we analyzed -seventeen Y-chromosome sequences of haplogroup O3a2b*-P164(xM134) and generated a revised phylogenetic tree of this lineage based on 310 non-private Y-chromosome polymorphisms. We discovered that all available O3a2b*-P164(xM134) samples belong to the newly defined haplogroup O3a2b2-N6 and samples from Austronesian populations belong to the sublineage O3a2b2a2-F706. Additionally, we genotyped a series of Y-chromosome polymorphisms in a large collection of samples from China. We confirmed that the sublineage O3a2b2a2b-B451 is unique to Austronesian populations. We found that O3a2b2-N6 samples are widely distributed on the eastern coastal regions of Asia, from Korea to Vietnam. Furthermore, we propose- that the O3a2b2a2b-B451 lineage represents a genetic connection between ancestors of Austronesian populations and ancient populations in North China, where foxtail millet was domesticated about 11,000 years ago. The large number of newly defined Y-chromosome polymorphisms and the revised phylogenetic tree of O3a2b2-N6 will be helpful to explore the origin of proto-Austronesians and the early diffusion process of Austronesian populations.

Demographic change of human populations is one of the central questions for delving into the past of human beings. To identify major population expansions related to male lineages, we sequenced 78 East Asian Y chromosomes at 3.9 Mbp of the non-recombining region, discovered >4,000 new SNPs, and identified many new clades. The relative divergence dates can be estimated much more precisely using a molecular clock. We found that all the Paleolithic divergences were binary; however, three strong star-like Neolithic expansions at ∼6 kya (thousand years ago) (assuming a constant substitution rate of 1×10(-9)/bp/year) indicates that ∼40% of modern Chinese are patrilineal descendants of only three super-grandfathers at that time. This observation suggests that the main patrilineal expansion in China occurred in the Neolithic Era and might be related to the development of agriculture.

Previous studies demonstrated Y chromosome haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 is the only founding paternal lineage of all Tungusic-speaking populations. To infer the differentiation history of these populations, we studied more sequences and constructed downstream structure of haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 with better resolution. In this study, we generated 100 new sequences and co-analyzed 140 sequences of C2a-M48-SK1061 to reconstruct a highly revised phylogenetic tree with age estimates. We also performed the analysis of the geographical distribution and spatial autocorrelation of sub-branches. Dozens of new subbranches were discovered, many sub-branches were nearly unique for Ewenki, Evens, Oroqen, Xibe, Manchu, Daur, and Mongolian. The topology of these unique sub-branches is the key evidence for understanding the complex evolutionary relationship between different Tungusic-speaking populations. The revised phylogeny provided a clear pattern for the differentiation history of haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 in the past 2,000 years. This study showed that the divergence pattern of founder lineage is essential to understanding the differentiation history of populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) from Africa around 65,000 to 45,000 y ago (ca. 65 to 45 ka) led to the establishment of present-day non-African populations. Some paleoanthropologists have argued that fossil discoveries from Huanglong, Zhiren, Luna, and Fuyan caves in southern China indicate one or more prior dispersals, perhaps as early as ca. 120 ka. We investigated the age of the human remains from three of these localities and two additional early AMH sites (Yangjiapo and Sanyou caves, Hubei) by combining ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis with a multimethod geological dating strategy. Although U-Th dating of capping flowstones suggested they lie within the range ca. 168 to 70 ka, analyses of aDNA and direct AMS 14C dating on human teeth from Fuyan and Yangjiapo caves showed they derive from the Holocene. OSL dating of sediments and AMS 14C analysis of mammal teeth and charcoal also demonstrated major discrepancies from the flowstone ages; the difference between them being an order of magnitude or more at most of these localities. Our work highlights the surprisingly complex depositional history recorded at these subtropical caves which involved one or more episodes of erosion and redeposition or intrusion as recently as the late Holocene. In light of our findings, the first appearance datum for AMHs in southern China should probably lie within the timeframe set by molecular data of ca. 50 to 45 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]