No Celts in Ancient China

These people may have been Tocharians, the easternmost branch of the white Europeans, who had spiritual and trade links with Asia. Or possibly proto-Celts i.e. the peoples who were there before the Celts were named as such by the Greeks. As to the argument that there is no blood link between Celts and Italics and Scandinavians, some experts might disagree. Denmark was Celtic for centuries and the famous Cimbri, who came from Jutland, had Celtic names.

The Celts were in India, they served as mercenaries in Cleopatra's Egypt, so it seems a little short sighted to conclude that they could never have reached China.  

Anne, first I'd like to say I'm Chinese and I think you are hot!

Anyway, It is interesting that these people from the Caucasis region settled in China and from all indication, had contact with the Mongolians. One has to wonder if there are any intermixed decendents still living in China.

The Chinese like to think they are a "pure" race, but the funny thing is, we're just as mixed as the Americans. China was one of the first melting pots of the ancient world.

A new study at the Hui Zhou of Jilin University in Changchun, confirms indeed part eurasian ancestry (but did not mention any Celts). ;) A combination of DNA tests and gathering archaeological evidence for human remains found at the Xiaohe cemetery, Tarim Basin, an important site on the ancient Silk Road.

Their genetic analyses revealed that the maternal lineages of the Xiaohe people were originated from both the East and the West, whereas paternal lineages discovered in the Xiaohe people all originated from the West. The Xiaohe people were an admixture from populations originating from both the West and the East, implying that the Tarim Basin had been occupied by an admixed population since the early Bronze Age. The team says that considering the unique genetic haplotypes and particular archaeological culture, the admixed population might have had relationship with populations settled South Siberia during the Bronze Age.

The abstract:

The Tarim Basin, located on the ancient Silk Road, played a very important role in the history of human migration and cultural communications between the West and the East. However, both the exact period at which the relevant events occurred and the origins of the people in the area remain very obscure. In this paper, we present data from the analyses of both Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from human remains excavated from the Xiaohe cemetery, the oldest archeological site with human remains discovered in the Tarim Basin thus far.

Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that the Xiaohe people carried both the East Eurasian haplogroup (C) and the West Eurasian haplogroups (H and K), whereas Y chromosomal DNA analysis revealed only the West Eurasian haplogroup R1a1a in the male individuals.

Our results demonstrated that the Xiaohe people were an admixture from populations originating from both the West and the East, implying that the Tarim Basin had been occupied by an admixed population since the early Bronze Age. To our knowledge, this is the earliest genetic evidence of an admixed population settled in the Tarim Basin.

The complete paper - 'Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age' - can be found on biomed central.

I think the problem here is that people do not understand that Europe is part of Asia to begin with.
Likewise, people also do not understand therefore that European features have never been limited to far Western Eurasia.
There have always been "European looking" people in the Northern Iranian plateau and even the Greeks mentioned that the Aechmanid Persians were whiter than themselves. Likewise, many people do not realize that many of the populations taking part in the Great Migrations into Europe were in fact from between Southern Russia and Northern Iran. This ancient population is not "western European" in any sense of the word and are related to people like the Scythians and other folks who have been noted as having blond hair and other features for quite a while. So I think some people want to suggest that Western Eurasian means Western European when this is not the case. It simply means west of Asia, which covers a large geographic area from Khazakstan and Southern Russia to Scotland.

Honestly this isn't a surprise. Caucasians originated around the Caucas Mts in Asia anyways. There they spread to Europe, Western Asia, and the Indian peninsula...

Couple of things going on here. China claims the region. The oldest burials are mostly not ethnically Chinese and the indigenous people of the region have, shall we say, mixed feelings about Chinese rule. The conundrum is, how do red-haired people wearing tartans, with big eyes and big noses end up in the Gobi desert?

The argument you seem to be making is that there were no "Celts" at the time of the burials as the artifacts (and, I would add, plaid textiles) predate Celtic culture. The other argument is DNA-based. Swedes, Finns and Italians are not Celtic. 

The ancient Silk Road was at one time a heavily trafficked trade route. The legendary Shangri La was somewhere along the old mouintain route, a temperate oasis which was unique in that a great diversity of people (and their varied religions and appearances) purportedly existed in peace. It's been suggested that the mythic city's tolerance of diversity was very directly linked to its prosperity as trade center.   

The DNA evidence suggests that the mummies have modern Swedish, Finnish, and Italian ancestry in common, so obviously they can't be Celts because Celts have...Celtic ancestry. And Celtic ancestry is, well...sorta Spanish. One of the most common haplogroups, R1B1, is considered Basque. The Finnish ancestral pool is extremely small and largely thought of as Viking, having mostly come from Sweden and Norway. Where things get confusing is that some haplogroups, notable I1a, used to be thought of as exclusively Viking. That idea has been revised and now I1a is both Anglo-Saxon and Viking. So it would not be right to say that the Urumchi mummies were not Celts as they do have Celtic DNA. 

We could quibble about the time frame, because what we know of Celtic culture is that it is not nearly as old as some of the mummies. The thing is, these are natural mummies formed by desert conditions - burials in Europe in a similar time frame, or even a few millenia later, would have dissolved to nothing. Another thing to keep in mind is that mummified black or brown hair can eventually oxidize to reddish. How exactly do we define "Celt"? Would ancient salt traders in what is now Austria qualify? Whomever these people were, they were buried in a way that was unique to their culture.

We are continually redefining the genome (Neanderthal was thought to have died out but modern rock stars prove otherwise) as well as the extent to which our ancestors traveled and traded. It's an ongoing thing, so I would not dismiss the tartan in China just yet. The big problem is, the Chinese government chose to do some of their nuclear bomb tests in an area that might have yielded good results. So a definitive answer may never be found. 

<p>Something to keep in mind is that the Celts were not genetically homogenous.&nbsp; Most experts now agree that there was no mass migration to the British Isles by Indo-European Celts.&nbsp; They believe the people in the British Isles acquired their Celtic language and culture through other influences.&nbsp; Someone speaking a Celtic language in what is now Wales does not necessarily share ancestors with those Celts who sacked Delphi.&nbsp; Language and culture have more to do with the definition of &quot;Celt&quot; than one particular bloodline.&nbsp; So whether or not those mummies were Celtic would be a hard thing to pin down.</p>