Abstract: The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, located in northwestern China, has long been a special area where populations may have originated from the east or from the west based on previous bioarchaeological studies of human cranial variation. Earlier archaeological studies from this region indicate that cultural exchanges occurred across this area during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, however it is unclear when and how such cultural exchanges or population migrations took place. The Liushui cemetery (2950±50 BP) located in Yutian County, Xinjiang, was excavated by the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences between 2003 and 2005. Sixtyfive tombs are the first group of Bronze Age tombs and earliest cultural remains discovered at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains and provided cultural data on the local inhabitants in this region. We examined 111 individuals from Liushui cemetery. Nineteen dental nonmetric traits were collected from each individual. We compared 15 dental nonmetric traits with those from other regions of Eurasia in order to reconstruct population affinities of the study sample. Population comparisons were conducted through Smith’s Mean Measure of Divergence distance cluster and principal components analyses. This study indicated that the Liushui group has closer affinities to people from southern Siberia and the Black Sea area. It also suggests that human migrations from the west can be traced back to as early as 3000 BP in southwestern Xinjiang.

Key words: Liushui Cemetery; Bronze Age; Dental; Nonmetric Traits