Xiongnu R1b-BY14355

[rmstevens2]

From Britannica:

Xiongnu, nomadic pastoral people who at the end of the 3rd century BCE formed a great tribal league that was able to dominate much of Central Asia for more than 500 years. China’s wars against the Xiongnu, who were a constant threat to the country’s northern frontier throughout this period, led to the Chinese exploration and conquest of much of Central Asia.

The Xiongnu threat was also an impetus for the Chinese wall building that eventually led to the construction of the Great Wall of China.

A number of ancient Xiongnu samples belong to subclades of R1b-BY14355. Here are four I could find fairly easily in FTDNA Discover's Ancient Connections and in its Time Tree. There may be more there that I did not see. All of these are from Mongolia.

1. Hovsgol 41, 351 - 54 BC. Hovsgol, Grave #14, Tungus & Eastern Steppe, Mongolia. DA41 from Damgaard et al, 2018 Nat. R1b-Y33147, mtDNA G3a3.
 
2. Salkhityn 2, 204 - 96 BC. Salkhityn Am, Khuvsgul, Mongolia. SKT002 from Jeong et al, 2020. R1b-Y207441, mtDNA G2a1e.
 
3. Salkhityn 5, 150 BC – 120 AD. Salkhityn Am, Khuvsgul, Mongolia. SKT005 from Jeong et al, 2020. R1b-FTB336, mtDNA F1b1f.
 
4. Takhiltiin 8, 40 BC – 50 AD. Takhiltiin Khotgor, Khovd, Mongolia. TAK008 from J. Lee et al, 2023. R1b-FT187346, mtDNA D4e1.

[rmstevens2]

Spotted a fifth one. He's in the Time Tree but, as far as I can see, does not have a separate Ancient Connections entry, so I looked him up in the original paper.

5. Salkhityn 6, 168 BC – 52 BC. Salkhityn Am, Khuvsgul, Mongolia. SKT006 from Jeong et al, 2020. R1b-PH155, mtDNA G2a1e.

In terms of chronology, he should be between 2 and 3 in the list above.

There may be more.

[rmstevens2]

Graphic from Jeong et al 2020, "A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia’s Eastern Steppe".



Notice the Sagly/Uyuk (also known as Chandman) input from the northwest.

Here is Figure 4 from Jeong et al.

[rmstevens2]

An interesting sample in FTDNA Discover's Time Tree, but not, that I can see, in its Ancient Connections, is "Bulgan 13175", who was R1b-BY86775 (BY14355>PH155>PH2274>PH200>BY86775), dated 408-537 AD. He belonged to the Xianbei people, a nomadic Mongolian group who often fought with the Xiongnu. His remains were recovered at Khovd, Mongolia.

The Northern Qi Dynasty painting below is of Xianbei warriors with longbows from Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, 550-577 AD.

[rmstevens2]

The Xiongnu are also known as the Hsiung-nu. Here is a web site with some interesting Xiongnu/Hsiung-nu photos.