Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics; Bashkir State University - Department of Genetics and Fundamental Medicine

Murat Dzhaubermezov

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics; Bashkir State University - Department of Genetics and Fundamental Medicine

Sergey Voroniatov

State Hermitage Museum - Department of Archaeology of Eastern Europe and Siberia

Olga Utevska

V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University - Department of Genetics and Cytology

Irina Shramko

V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University - Museum of Archaeology

Elza Khusnutdinova

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics; Bashkir State University - Department of Genetics and Fundamental Medicine

Mait Metspalu

University of Tartu - Estonian Biocentre

Nikita Savelev

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - Institute of History, Language and Literature

Aivar Kriiska

University of Tartu - Institute of History and Archaeology

Toomas Kivisild

University of Tartu - Estonian Biocentre; KU Leuven

Richard Villems

University of Tartu - Estonian Biocentre

More...

Abstract

The Early Iron Age nomadic Scythians have been described as a confederation of tribes of different origins, based on ancient DNA evidence. It is still unclear how much of the Scythian dominance in the Eurasian Steppe was due to movements of people and how much reflected cultural diffusion and elite dominance. We present new whole-genome sequences of 31 ancient Western and Eastern Steppe individuals including Scythians as well as samples pre- and postdating them, allowing us to set the Scythians in a temporal context (in the Western/Ponto-Caspian Steppe). We detect an increase of eastern (Altaian) affinity along with a decrease in Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG) ancestry in the Early Iron Age Ponto- Caspian gene pool at the start of the Scythian dominance. On the other hand, samples of the Chernyakhiv culture postdating the Scythians in Ukraine have a significantly higher proportion of Near Eastern ancestry than other samples of this study. Our results agree with the Gothic source of the Chernyakhiv culture and support the hypothesis that the Scythian dominance did involve a demic component.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Järve, Mari and Saag, Lehti and Scheib, Christiana Lyn and Pathak, Ajai K. and Montinaro, Francesco and Pagani, Luca and Flores, J. Rodrigo and Guellil, Meriam and Saag, Lauri and Tambets, Kristiina and Kushniarevich, Alena and Solnik, Anu and Varul, Liivi and Zadnikov, Stanislav and Petrauskas, Oleg and Avramenko, Maryana and Magomedov, Boris and Didenko, Serghii and Toshev, Gennadi and Bruyako, Igor and Grechko, Denys and Okatenko, Vitalii and Gorbenko, Kyrylo and Smyrnov, Oleksandr and Heiko, Anatolii and Reida, Roman and Sapiehin, Serheii and Sirotin, Sergey and Tairov, Aleksandr and Beisenov, Arman and Starodubtsev, Maksim and Vasilev, Vitali and Nechvaloda, Alexei and Atabiev, Biyaslan and Litvinov, Sergey and Ekomasova, Natalia and Dzhaubermezov, Murat and Voroniatov, Sergey and Utevska, Olga and Shramko, Irina and Khusnutdinova, Elza and Metspalu, Mait and Savelev, Nikita and Kriiska, Aivar and Kivisild, Toomas and Villems, Richard, Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance (March 5, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3346985 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3346985

This version of the paper has not been formally peer reviewed.