Evolutionary history of East Asians inferred from ancient genomics

East Asia is one of the most pivotal regions for the migration, dispersal, and evolution of anatomically modern humans. Since the 21st century, the application of high-throughput sequencing technology has propelled ancient DNA (aDNA) research into the genomics era. Concurrently, innovations in DNA capture technology have enabled more efficient enrichment of target DNA. The publication of a large volume of ancient genome data has provided crucial assistance in elucidating human origins and evolution. Through in-depth analysis of ancient individuals’ whole genomes, palaeogenomic studies have revealed an early north-south genetic divergence in East Asian populations, establishing two major ancestral lineages: the East Asian Northern Ancestry and the East Asian Southern Ancestry. The research confirms a continuous genetic contribution from early East Asian hunter-gatherer ancestors to modern populations. Furthermore, the dispersal of Neolithic agricultural populations was a key event that reshaped the modern genetic landscape. The expansion of agricultural populations from the Yellow River basin profoundly influenced the genetic structure of surrounding populations and became an important genetic basis for the co-divergence of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Simultaneously, the expansion of this Northern Coastal Ancestry into Northeast Asia is closely associated with the formation of modern populations in the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago, notably shaping the post-Yayoi era genetic structure in Japan, which is characterized by a mixture of migrating mainland agriculturalists and indigenous Jomon people. In the South, the expansion of agricultural populations from the Yangtze River region and further south is tightly linked to the dispersal of the Austronesian and Tai-Kadai language families. The bidirectional gene flow and admixture between Northern and Southern populations, which began in the Neolithic period, has shaped the modern East Asian genetic profile, characterized by a predominance of Northern ancestry but with significant regional variations. These findings provide direct genetic evidence for the multi-stage migration and ethnic exchange of East Asian populations. While reconstructing the evolutionary history of East Asian populations, palaeogenomic research also creates a platform for interdisciplinary exchange. The integration of genomics with fields such as anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics has broadened the scope of these research areas and injected new vitality into the field of palaeogenomics itself.