This exert from p. 18 "Molecular Genetic Diversity of Indigenous Siberians: Implications for Ancient DNA Studies of Cis-Baikal Archeological Populations" says Tocharians were more related to southern Caucasians in terms of cranial features (the red hair could be a result of chemical change as mummies):
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Qumul-Xinjiang 3200 B.P. First uncovered in the 1970s, the Tarim Basin mummies lacked typical mongoloid (northern Asian) cranial features, had greater stature and different hair color than other populations in the area, and differed in their material culture from surrounding Asian groups. Some individuals were also buried with tartans that were apparently similar to those made in Scotland, Austria, and Switzerland, raising the possibility of genetic and cultural links between populations living in these distant regions. It was further hypothesized that the Tarim Basin people spoke an extinct Indo-European language, Tocharian, and were pastoralists from the Russian steppes who migrated from northern Europe into western China some 3,000-4,000 years ago. However, recent research suggests different source areas for the Tarim Basin people. To test the Russian steppe origins hypothesis, Hemphill (2000) conducted a detailed craniometric analysis of Aeneolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age samples from the Russian steppe, China, south-central Asia, Iran, and the Indus Valley, and a number of Tarim Basin samples. His results indicated that the earliest groups had their closest affinities with populations from the Indus Valley, while the later ones exhibited affinities with peoples of the Oxus River Valley of south-central Asia, with both groups being considerably divergent from one another. These results argued against the Russian steppe origin? of the Tarim Basin peoples, and indicated that further genetic research was needed to clarify their relationships to other Indo-European and South Asian populations.
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