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2025年9月15日Ancient Genomics Pinpoint Northern China as the Domestication Origin of East Asian Pigs
A team led by Peking University sequenced 21 ancient nuclear genomes and 23 mitochondrial genomes of domestic and wild pigs from 14 archaeological sites in China, spanning roughly 5800 BCE to 1300 CE. The findings are published in Molecular Biology and Evolution.
The ancient genomic evidence points clearly to northern China—not the southwest, as some had proposed—as the domestication origin of modern East Asian pigs. As millet-farming populations expanded from the Yellow River basin into the Yangtze valley and the southwest, domesticated pigs spread with them, admixing with local wild boar along the way.
The researchers also detected reduced genomic diversity and signs of inbreeding in ancient northern pigs, signatures of long-term human management and selection. The dispersal trajectory of pigs mirrors the prehistoric spread of East Asian agricultural populations, offering a genetic yardstick for studying the joint movement of people and their livestock.
Source: Han Y, Zhao Z, et al. Molecular Biology and Evolution, Sep 2025.
