Chinese origins of the Transeurasian language family

The Transeurasian (or Altaic) family of languages is very ancient and spread all across Eurasia, from Japan, Korea and Siberia in the east to Turkey in the west. The origins and spread of this language family are much debated. Here the researchers combine historical linguistics, ancient DNA and archaeology to show that the Transeurasian language family can be traced back around 9000 years to early millet farmers in the Liao valley of NE China and a gene pool originating in the adjacent Amur valley in what is now the Russian Far East. Thence it spread north and west into Siberia and the steppes, and east into Korea and Japan.