Ancient China skeletons to yield DNA data

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ZHANGJIAKOU, China, June 8 (UPI) -- Chinese scientists report they've launched a DNA test program on 22 human skeletons that date back more than 2,000 years.

With the data, the scientists can analyze the diets, lifestyle habits and ages of the people living in the Warring States Period, 476-221 B.C., as well as the agriculture and business development in the period, researcher Wang Wei with the Chinese Frontier Research Center of Jilin University said.

Thirty-four tombs of the Warring States Period were discovered in Zhangjiakou city of north China's Hebei province in September, and the 22 complete human skeletons were recovered.

DNA tests on the bones should provide demographic and ethnologic data, Wang told China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Jilin University set up China's first archaeological DNA laboratory in 1998.