Sample from Nalchik splits R1b1a2-V1636

[Riverman]

I don't know how old the news are, but the confirmation by FTDNA and adoption of the sample in its time tree is definitely new. From FTDNA-FB group:

A new unpublished aDNA sample from Nalchik in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic of Russia splits R1b1a2-V1636, the cousin clade of R-M269. The sample is said to be Eneolithic and 4800 years old (or 4800 BCE?).

The sample was just recently submitted by the Research Center of Biotechnology RAS.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/biosample/SAMN39854872

From a paper which covers the sites around Nalchik: 

Nalchik in the North Caucasus, approximately contemporary with Khvalynsk, had 121 graves26.

Rassamakin74 proposed that the Dnieper Rapids
region emerged in this era as a secondary center of ‘Ske-
lya-culture’ metalworking between Varna and the North
Caucasus steppes. Most of the Khvalynsk copper is consist-
ent with this kind of secondary source, among local steppe
artisans. This could also be the source of a copper bead
found at Svobodnoe, made of Balkan copper75. Svobodnoe
was one of a series of agricultural settlements established
in the Kuban River drainage after 4700 BCE by immigrant
farmers who crossed the North Caucasus peaks from
Georgia76. They participated in the trading network that
brought Balkan copper into the steppes. Svobodnoe also
produced many polished greenstone axes with faceted
butts, like the axe found at Khvalynsk in grave I:105, prob-
ably made in the North Caucasus. A polished serpentine
bracelet at Khvalynsk found in grave I:8 probably was
made in the North Caucasus (Figure 9: middle panel);
it was like bracelets at Nalchik. The Khvalynsk popula-
tion was active in inter-regional exchange systems (Dan-
ube-Dnieper-Caucasus-Volga) that were stimulated by the
heightened production of Balkan copper after 4500 BCE.

In the North Caucasus steppes at older Eneolithic
cemeteries such as Nalchik (4840–4820 BCE, GrA-24442,
5910 ± 45 BP), the flexed pose, contracted on the side, was
used for most individuals, but even here a few individu-
als were buried on the back with raised knees. When the
first small earthen mounds, or kurgans, began to appear
in the North Caucasus steppes during the Eneolithic, after
4500 BCE, they were erected over graves in which the de-
ceased was positioned supine with raised knees, usually
oriented to the east127. The Eneolithic individuals at Pro-
gress-2 and Vonyuchka in the North Caucasus steppes who
had genetic ancestry similar to Khvalynsk were buried in
the Khvalynsk position, in graves intensely colored with
red ochre, beneath small (less than 1m high, ca. 15 m
diameter) earthen mounds (Figure 16). These mounds
were among the oldest kurgans in the Pontic-Caspian
steppes128; the other region where small kurgans appeared
this early was in the steppes north of the Danube delta, as
at Suvorovo129, again at a cultural, economic, and genetic
border (Figure 2). Although they were small compared
to later Yamnaya kurgans, the Eneolithic kurgans in the
upper Tersek steppes east of the Svobodnoe-Meshoko ag-
riculturalists perhaps were a boundary-marking practice
that emerged during the late fifth millennium BCE. This
was a millennium before the Yamnaya culture made the
kurgan type of funeral monument universal across the
Pontic-Caspian steppes.
The Skelya and Sredni Stog cultures in Ukraine, con-
temporary with Khvalynsk, also used the supine-with-
raised-knee posture, unlike the supine-extended burial
pose in the Dnieper Neolithic cemeteries130. Sredni Stog
individuals also had genetic ancestry more like Khvalynsk
and Progress-2 than the Dnieper Neolithic ancestry type
(see below). Sredni Stog lithics also were similar to Kh-
valynsk, particularly the use of large lanceolate projectile
points and long unifacial lamellar flint blades. Sredni Stog
pottery was tempered with crushed shell, like Khvalynsk
pottery, and unlike the Neolithic pottery of the Dnieper
valley, where sand or mineral temper had been used.

Fig. 16:

Progress-2, near Nalchik, Russia. Kurgan 4, grave 12

https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:452a52...rn870zr45m

From FB comments:

DNA News from Nalchik, Russia, situated at an altitude of 550 meters (1,800 ft) in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains
Quote:
Kristina Zhur , who works in the same laboratory of the Federal Research Center “Fundamental Foundations of Biotechnology” of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about a paleogenetic study that made it possible to test the hypothesis about human migration routes. We examined a tooth from a burial ground dating from 5197–4850 BC. near the city of Nalchik. This burial ground is one of the earliest known burial complexes in the Caucasus. Scientists compared DNA isolated from the tooth with other ancient genomes to choose one of three hypotheses for the origin of man from Nalchik. First hypothesis: this is a descendant of the most ancient population of the Caucasus. Second: this is a representative of the first wave of settlers who have a genetic component of Iranian or Anatolian farmers. Third: this is a representative of the steppe Eneolithic population, mixed with the local Caucasian one.

The position of the genome from Nalchik in the space of principal components turned out to be intermediate between the steppe and the Caucasus, which indicates contacts with the population of the steppe. The authors suggested that by about 5000 BC. (and perhaps earlier), a population appeared in the North Caucasus that combined the gene pool of Caucasian hunter-gatherers with the gene pool of the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic, probably from the territory of Northern Mesopotamia - Zagros, and this population subsequently interacted with eastern hunter-gatherers from the steppe. This assumption fits into the pattern of the major migration flows that brought agriculture from the Middle East to Europe. Genetics have shown that migrations of farmers could also spread through the Caucasus. They emphasize that this assumption does not contradict archaeological data.

https://pcr.news/novosti/md-2023-paleoge...ZRIj_xDtZk

[teepean]

I am not sure if this is related to the Nalchik sample but Research Center of Biotechnology RAS published also this one yesterday.

"Ancient DNA Grave Treugol'naya"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/?term=PRJNA1074693

[jdean]

It's not on Discovery yet, Progress-2001 & 2004 are both from Stavropol Krai whilst this sample is from Nalchik which is about 75 miles south.

Possibly the sample is causing this in the Block Diagram though ?

[teepean]

NL122_scaled,0.104717,0.107646,-0.00528,0.043928,-0.028005,0.022311,0.007755,0.002308,-0.051131,-0.044101,0.002761,-0.001798,-0.009812,-0.005092,0.008958,-0.004641,-0.004433,0.000633,-0.004274,0.000375,0.007736,0.001113,0.011462,-0.000602,-0.002395

NL122,0.0092,0.0106,-0.0014,0.0136,-0.0091,0.008,0.0033,0.001,-0.025,-0.0242,0.0017,-0.0012,-0.0066,-0.0037,0.0066,-0.0035,-0.0034,0.0005,-0.0034,0.0003,0.0062,0.0009,0.0093,-0.0005,-0.002


P50_2_scaled,0.021626,-0.451911,0.084475,-0.045866,-0.069551,-0.053268,0.020211,0.026999,0.008181,0.023873,-0.038161,0.003597,-0.004906,0.012111,-0.003664,-0.001724,-0.008475,0.001647,0.013827,0.013381,0.012478,-0.024978,-0.023417,0.010122,-0.015208

P50_2,0.0019,-0.0445,0.0224,-0.0142,-0.0226,-0.0191,0.0086,0.0117,0.004,0.0131,-0.0235,0.0024,-0.0033,0.0088,-0.0027,-0.0013,-0.0065,0.0013,0.011,0.0107,0.01,-0.0202,-0.019,0.0084,-0.0127

[jdean]

NL122_scaled,0.104717,0.107646,-0.00528,0.043928,-0.028005,0.022311,0.007755,0.002308,-0.051131,-0.044101,0.002761,-0.001798,-0.009812,-0.005092,0.008958,-0.004641,-0.004433,0.000633,-0.004274,0.000375,0.007736,0.001113,0.011462,-0.000602,-0.002395

NL122,0.0092,0.0106,-0.0014,0.0136,-0.0091,0.008,0.0033,0.001,-0.025,-0.0242,0.0017,-0.0012,-0.0066,-0.0037,0.0066,-0.0035,-0.0034,0.0005,-0.0034,0.0003,0.0062,0.0009,0.0093,-0.0005,-0.002


P50_2_scaled,0.021626,-0.451911,0.084475,-0.045866,-0.069551,-0.053268,0.020211,0.026999,0.008181,0.023873,-0.038161,0.003597,-0.004906,0.012111,-0.003664,-0.001724,-0.008475,0.001647,0.013827,0.013381,0.012478,-0.024978,-0.023417,0.010122,-0.015208

P50_2,0.0019,-0.0445,0.0224,-0.0142,-0.0226,-0.0191,0.0086,0.0117,0.004,0.0131,-0.0235,0.0024,-0.0033,0.0088,-0.0027,-0.0013,-0.0065,0.0013,0.011,0.0107,0.01,-0.0202,-0.019,0.0084,-0.0127

And in English ?

[VladMC]

P50_2_scaled Ancient DNA Grave Treugol'naya"

NEW CAVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF PRIMORYE (FIRST RESULTS OF RESEARCH)

The article describes the first results of research of new archaeological sites in Primorye — in the Triangular cave and the Perspective cave. The works were carried out in 2021—2022. In the Triangular cave, the burial of a man of the paleometal era was discovered. This is the first such find in Primorye. The skull and part of the skeleton of the buried were found. The preservation of the skull will allow you to recreate the appearance of a deceased person. Next to the deceased there was a funeral inventory — two polished axes, a polished knife and a bone puncture. The buried one was lying with his head towards the entrance of the cave. Stone axes were located on both sides of the skull, a polished knife broken in half was at the parietal part of the skull. The bone puncture was located on the left side of the bone remains, not far from one of the axes. When stripping the bones of the right hand, a fragment of hand-made pottery was found to the right of the remains. The nature of the finds leaves no doubt that a burial was found in the cave, conducted in compliance with a certain ritual, as evidenced by the composition and location of the accompanying tool kit. According to the typology of the inventory and the technical and technical characteristics of the fragment of pottery, the burial was tentatively attributed to the paleometal era. The burial studies have not been completed yet and will continue. The site of an ancient man of the Middle Neolithic period was discovered in the Perspektivnaya cave. Ceramics and stone products were found. Their analysis showed that they were made by representatives of the Rudninskaya archaeological culture. Osteological material was also obtained in the cave, part of which was connected with the vital activity of the ancient inhabitants of the cave.

[VladMC]

NL122_scaled

A tooth from the burial ground 5197-4850 was examined.. BC in the area of Nalchik. This burial ground is one of the earliest known burial complexes in the Caucasus. The DNA extracted from the tooth was compared by scientists with other ancient genomes in order to choose one of three hypotheses of the origin of man from Nalchik. The first hypothesis: This is a descendant of the most ancient population of the Caucasus. The second: This is a representative of the settlers of the first wave, who have a genetic component of Iranian or Anatolian farmers. Third: This is a representative of the steppe Eneolithic population, mixed with the local Caucasian.

The position of the Nalchik genome in the space of the main components turned out to be intermediate between the steppe and the Caucasus, which indicates contacts with the steppe population. The authors suggested that by about 5000 BC (and maybe even earlier), a population appeared in the North Caucasus that combined the gene pool of Caucasian hunter-gatherers with the gene pool of the early Preceramic Neolithic, probably from the territory of Northern Mesopotamia — Zagros, and this population further interacted with eastern hunter-gatherers from the steppe. This assumption is embedded in the scheme of the main migration flows that brought agriculture from the Middle East to Europe. Geneticists have shown that migrations of farmers could spread through the Caucasus. They emphasize that this assumption does not contradict the archaeological data.

[Codaman]

I haven't had much time to look at these but NL122 doesn't look strongly ancestral to Steppe Eneolithic due to higher Anatolian/South Caucasus

Target: NL122_scaled
Distance: 3.6102% / 0.03610206
35.0 Russia_Samara_HG:I0124
31.8 Georgia_Kotias_Mesolithic:NEO281
23.4 Turkey_N_noUDG:I3121_noUDG
9.8 IRN_Wezmeh_N:WC1

Target: RUS_Progress_En:PG2004
Distance: 4.9280% / 0.04928040
37.2 Russia_Samara_HG:I0124
28.6 Georgia_Kotias_Mesolithic:NEO281
18.4 NL122_scaled
15.8 RUS_AfontovaGora3:AfontovaGora3

and neither do later steppe populations mandate it with the Anatolian increase in Yamnaya possibly originating from the west instead but this still does leave some ambiguity.

Target: Russia_Samara_EBA_Yamnaya
Distance: 3.4316% / 0.03431632
78.4 RUS_Progress_En:PG2004
10.8 Russia_EN_Srednestogovskaya:NEO170
10.8 Ukraine_VertebaCave_MLTrypillia:VERT033
...
0.0 NL122_scaled

[VladMC]

Target: NL122_scaled
Distance: 3.0665% / 0.03066532
42.4 ARM_Aknashen_N
42.4 Russia_N_Golubaya_Krinitsa_Lower_Don
8.2 ROU_Trestiana_N
7.0 IRN_Hajji_Firuz_N

[Kale]

If it's on G25 I assume there is genotype data available?

[Riverman]

If it's on G25 I assume there is genotype data available?

Yes, its in the first link I posted.

[Kale]

I see the raw data, but not plink/eigenstrat data?

[teepean]

If it's on G25 I assume there is genotype data available?

Here you go.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing

[old europe]

Target: NL122_scaled
Distance: 3.0665% / 0.03066532
42.4 ARM_Aknashen_N
42.4 Russia_N_Golubaya_Krinitsa_Lower_Don
8.2 ROU_Trestiana_N
7.0 IRN_Hajji_Firuz_N

Very interesting but IIRC Golubaya krinitsa is a middle Don sample. Not a Lower Don one

[Kale]

The Don samples' Euro-HG ancestry was less ANE-rich than EHG correct? More like Ukraine-HG?