Abstract: Polymerase chain reaction （PCR）amplification and sequencing were performed on hypervariable region Ⅰ (HVRⅠ) of mitochondria DNA of twentythree samples of Khitan remains. Twentytwo nucleotide sequences of 364 bp were obtained. These DNA sequences were compared with those of Daur population. Phylogenetic tree of Khitan, Daur and contrasted populations was also constructed. The result shows that the genetic relationship between Khitan and Outer Mongolian is the closest, and the relationship between Khitan and Daur is closer. Both the mutation sites and the mutation rates in the sequences of Khitans are quite different from those of Daurs. The results suggest that Duar is not necessarily the direct descendant of Khi tan although the genetic relationship between Khitan and Daur is close.

Key words: Khitan, ancient DNA, mitochondrial, phylogenetic analysis