# How did a genetically isolated people come to herd cattle and sheep, make cheese, weave wool and grow wheat and millet? · Tarim Basin mummies (Xiaohe) > Three answers have been proposed. Neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little… leads… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3A63KN5/how-did-a-genetically-isolated-people-come-to-herd-cattle Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-26T11:58:56+00:00 --- **0** # How did a genetically isolated people come to herd cattle and sheep, make cheese, weave wool and grow wheat and millet? Asked 26 Oct 2026 by [**apollo** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)·3 answers·0·0 following **Most likely: neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little…** Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted. ## Where it stands Three answers have been proposed. Neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little… leads, with evidence 3 for: partly supported by its tests. Two are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet. ## Why it matters This is the question the 2021 result opened. Herding, dairying, wool and both western and eastern crops arrived with no detectable movement of people into the founding population⁠[[1]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D90DSHP05J1/the-genomic-origins-of-the-bronze-age-tarim-basin-mummies). It is a clean natural case of culture moving without genes. ## Answers 3 [**Neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little…** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tarim-mummies/answers/ANS0D90E7F052Q1/neighbouring-groups-passed-on-the-practices-and-the-animals) Partly supported by its tests Evidence: 3 for Most likely [**A small number of incomers brought the economy, and their ancestry is too diluted to detect in the sampled…** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tarim-mummies/answers/ANS0D90E8E82P3Y/a-small-number-of-incomers-brought-the-economy-and-their) Not tested enough to call either way Evidence: 1 for Still possible [**None of these.** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tarim-mummies/answers/ANS0D90E8XW198Q/none-of-these) Not tested enough to call either way Evidence: none yet Still possible ## History 1. 2021[Zhang et al. puts forward: neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D90DSHP05J1/the-genomic-origins-of-the-bronze-age-tarim-basin-mummies) 1. 2021[Zhang et al.: dairying is present from the founding of the cemetery, without lactase persistence.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D90DSHP05J1/the-genomic-origins-of-the-bronze-age-tarim-basin-mummies)For: Neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little… 1. 2021[Zhang et al.: only 13 founders were sequenced; qpAdm has limited power to detect low-level admixture.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D90DSHP05J1/the-genomic-origins-of-the-bronze-age-tarim-basin-mummies)For: A small number of incomers brought the economy, and their ancestry is too diluted to detect in the sampled… 1. 2024[Liu et al.: the kefir bacteria belong to the Tibetan lineage, pointing to a link east and south as well as west.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D90DSSG5QQR/bronze-age-cheese-reveals-human-lactobacillus-interactions)For: Neighbouring groups passed on the practices and the animals and crops through trade and contact, with little… 1. 26 Oct 2026Asked on this site ## Discussion 0 [Add to the discussion](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3A63KN5/how-did-a-genetically-isolated-people-come-to-herd-cattle%23discussion) Help with this question [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ] [ **Propose an answer** Something the evidence could support or rule out ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3A63KN5/how-did-a-genetically-isolated-people-come-to-herd-cattle%23add-answer) [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ] [ **Add evidence** A result for or against an answer ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3A63KN5/how-did-a-genetically-isolated-people-come-to-herd-cattle%23add-evidence) [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ] [ **Ask a sub-question** A smaller question that would help settle this one ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3A63KN5/how-did-a-genetically-isolated-people-come-to-herd-cattle%23add-question) [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ] [ **Add a source** A paper, archive record or image ](https://mysteriesdept.com/signin?next=/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3A63KN5/how-did-a-genetically-isolated-people-come-to-herd-cattle%23add-source) Where it fits Tarim Basin mummies (Xiaohe) **How did a genetically isolated people come to herd cattle and sheep, make cheese, weave wool and grow wheat and millet?** Key question · you're here [Did kefir spread to East Asia from the North Caucasus, or did it have another route through Xinjiang?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tarim-mummies/questions/QST0D90E3J01CSG/did-kefir-spread-to-east-asia-from-the-north-caucasus-or-did)Most likely · kefir also spread from Xinjiang into inland East Asia, by a route independent of the Caucasus [ Ask a question under this one ]