The histories hidden in bones

While Wen is focused more on the study of human bones, some of his colleagues and students in the team of 30 focus on animal bones and plants — for example, the domestication and evolution of horses and the spread of grapes in ancient China.

Having studied at Durham University and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Zhou Yu, a doctoral candidate and team member, has an interest in long-distance trade and the historical spread of crops.

Realizing that grapes and grape products played a crucial role in historical trade, cultural and religious exchanges in many parts of Eurasia, she decided to make grapes her focus of research.

"Ancient plant DNA is important to the study of the origins of agriculture and the propagation and evolution of crops," Zhou says, adding that research on existing grape genomes provides the necessary basis for her study.

However, as the challenge lies in extracting ancient plant DNA from poorly preserved remains, she is trying to collect grape seeds that have not carbonized and is exploring more efficient methods that can potentially be applied to the research of plant remains.

Wen says that after they were given the limb bone samples of Emperor Wudi and Queen Ashina in 2015, they spent almost eight years optimizing research methods to extract previously unobtainable DNA data.

He is looking forward to the embrace of DNA by multiple disciplines, especially history and archaeology, to deepen the interpretations of their findings.

"As we solve long-standing mysteries, other deeper questions emerge and wait to be examined through joint efforts," he says.

Contact the writers at fangaiqing@chinadaily.com.cn