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Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Unterländer

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Friso Palstra

    (CNRS UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle)

  • Iosif Lazaridis

    (Harvard Medical School
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Aleksandr Pilipenko

    (Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science
    Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science
    Novosibirsk State University)

  • Zuzana Hofmanová

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Melanie Groß

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Christian Sell

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Jens Blöcher

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Karola Kirsanow

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Nadin Rohland

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Benjamin Rieger

    (Molecular Genetics and Genome Analysis Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Elke Kaiser

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Wolfram Schier

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Dimitri Pozdniakov

    (Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science)

  • Aleksandr Khokhlov

    (Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education)

  • Myriam Georges

    (CNRS UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle)

  • Sandra Wilde

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Adam Powell

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Evelyne Heyer

    (CNRS UMR 7206 Eco-anthropologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle)

  • Mathias Currat

    (Dépt. de Génétique & Evolution, Unité d’anthropologie, Université de Genève)

  • David Reich

    (Harvard Medical School
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Zainolla Samashev

    (Branch of Margulan Institute of Archaeology)

  • Hermann Parzinger

    (Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz)

  • Vyacheslav I. Molodin

    (Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science
    Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science)

  • Joachim Burger

    (Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

Abstract

During the 1st millennium before the Common Era (BCE), nomadic tribes associated with the Iron Age Scythian culture spread over the Eurasian Steppe, covering a territory of more than 3,500 km in breadth. To understand the demographic processes behind the spread of the Scythian culture, we analysed genomic data from eight individuals and a mitochondrial dataset of 96 individuals originating in eastern and western parts of the Eurasian Steppe. Genomic inference reveals that Scythians in the east and the west of the steppe zone can best be described as a mixture of Yamnaya-related ancestry and an East Asian component. Demographic modelling suggests independent origins for eastern and western groups with ongoing gene-flow between them, plausibly explaining the striking uniformity of their material culture. We also find evidence that significant gene-flow from east to west Eurasia must have occurred early during the Iron Age.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Unterländer & Friso Palstra & Iosif Lazaridis & Aleksandr Pilipenko & Zuzana Hofmanová & Melanie Groß & Christian Sell & Jens Blöcher & Karola Kirsanow & Nadin Rohland & Benjamin Rieger & Elke, 2017. "Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14615
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14615
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