Indus Valley settlers had a distinct genetic lineage

Question: Rakhigarhi, the place of the Harappan cemetery, is located in-
(a) Haryana
(b) Punjab
(c) Rajasthan
(d) Himachal Pradesh
Answer: (a)
Related facts:

  • Researchers recently have studied DNA from skeletal remains excavated from the Harappan cemetery at Rakhigarhi in Haryana.
  • According to the new genetic research on Harappan settlers it has been found that they have independent origin and not descended from Eurasian farmers.
  • The research has thus thrown fresh light on the Indus Valley Civilization.
  • The researchers had successfully sequenced the first genome of an individual from Harappa and combining it with archaeological data.
  • This new DNA study about the origin of ancient Harappan settlers has been published, titled as An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian farmers in the journal Cell

Findings of the study:

  • Hunter-gatherers of South Asia had an independent origin.
  • The same hunter-gatherer communities developed into agricultural communities and formed the Harappan civilisation.
  • The genome of an individual from Harappa does not contain genome from either the Steppe region or ancient Iranian farmers.
  • The genetic continuity from hunter gatherer to modern times is visible in the DNA results.
  • In this way the new study rejected the theory that the Harappans having Steppe pastoral or ancient Iranian farmer ancestry.
  • The finding also negates the hypothesis about mass migration during Harappan times from outside South Asia.
  • Professor Vasant Shinde, affiliated to the Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, headed the Rakhigarhi Project.
  • The study, finds that the same hunter-gatherer communities developed into agricultural communities and formed the Harappan civilization.

Links:
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/indus-valley-settlers-had-a-distinct-genetic-lineage/article29355941.ece
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rakhigarhi-dna-study-questions-aryan-invasion-theory-claims-author/articleshow/71001985.cms