Genetic Genealogy & Ancient DNA (TITLES/ABSTRACTS)

[teepean]

Ancient DNA analysis of elite nomadic warrior

Ancient DNA analysis of elite nomadic warrior from Chinge-Tey I funerary commemorative complex of the Tuvan "Valley of the Kings"

Data is available:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/...JNA1093285

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/?term=PRJNA1093285

[teepean]

Genetic Predisposition of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Ancient Human Remains

Background and aims Several computed tomographic studies have shown the presence of atherosclerosis in ancient human remains. However, despite its importance to understand the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), genetic data concerning the prevalence of the disease associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in our ancestors is scarce. Here we applied an enrichment capture sequencing approach to mummified human remains from different geographic regions and time periods for a better understanding of the role of genetics in the evolution of ASCVD. Methods 22 mummified individuals were analysed for their genetic predisposition of ASCVD. Next-generation sequencing methods were applied to ancient DNA (aDNA) samples, including a novel enrichment approach specifically designed to capture SNPs associated with ASCVD in genome-wide association studies of modern humans. Results Five out of 22 ancient individuals passed all filter steps for calculating a weighted polygenic risk score (PRS) based on 87 SNPs in 56 genes. PRSs were correlated to scores obtained from contemporary people from around the world and cover their complete range. The genetic results of the ancient individuals reflect their phenotypic results, as the only two mummies showing calcified atherosclerotic arterial plaques on computed tomography scans are the ones also exhibiting the highest calculated PRSs. Conclusion We could show that alleles associated to ASCVD have been already widespread within the last 5000 years. Comparing the PRS to the different lifestyles in the past has the potential to lead to a better understanding of the interaction between environmental and genetic influences on the development of ASCVD.

https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/article.../aogh.4366

Data is available:

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB62880

[miquirumba]

A geographic history of human genetic ancestry
Michael C Grundler, Jonathan Terhorst, Gideon S Bradburd
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.27.586858

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/...7.586858v1

Abstract

Describing the distribution of genetic variation across individuals is a fundamental goal of population genetics. In humans, traditional approaches for describing population genetic variation often rely on discrete genetic ancestry labels, which, despite their utility, can obscure the complex, multifaceted nature of human genetic history. These labels risk oversimplifying ancestry by ignoring its temporal depth and geographic continuity, and may therefore conflate notions of race, ethnicity, geography, and genetic ancestry. Here, we present a method that capitalizes on the rich genealogical information encoded in genomic tree sequences to infer the geographic locations of the shared ancestors of a sample of sequenced individuals. We use this method to infer the geographic history of genetic ancestry of a set of human genomes sampled from Europe, Asia, and Africa, accurately recovering major population movements on those continents. Our findings demonstrate the importance of defining the spatial-temporal context of genetic ancestry to describing human genetic variation and caution against the oversimplified interpretations of genetic data prevalent in contemporary discussions of race and ancestry.

[old europe]

Abstracts of the 8th Baltic Genetics Congress, March 2023 "The limited available data for Eastern Europe suggest that demographic processes here may differ substantially from the better-studied western part. To fill the existing gap in the available ancient DNA material from Eastern Europe and contribute to a better understanding of regional human history, we sequenced aDNA from people dating over a time interval of approximately 5000 years (from the first half of the eighth millennium BC to 2500 BC) from the present-day territory of Belarus. We found that the oldest sample from the territory of Belarus had an eastern HG-like (EHG) origin, while the genetic origin changes to western HG-like (WHG) or takes the intermediate form of WHG/EHG in analyzed individuals from subsequent periods (up to 3000 BC). . Individuals dating between 3000-2500 BC had ancestors typical of both Early European Farmers (EEF) and Late Neolithic European populations. Overall, our data (1) extend the spatial range of EHG ancestry westward compared to what was previously known, (2) indicate either a complex genetic structure in Late Stone Age populations in Eastern Europe or suggest multiple waves of migration that resulted in ancestral mixing, and (3) support the spread of EEF-like ancestors northeastward to present-day Belarus." - Translated with DeepL.com
GENETIC ANCESTRY DYNAMICS DURING THE LATE STONE AGE PERIOD IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE EASTERN EUROPEAN PLAIN
Alena Kushniarevich1*, Olga Utevska1, 2, Lehti Saag3, Helja Niinemäe1, Maxim Charniauski, Aliaksandr Vashanau, Mikalai Pamazanau, Martin Malve1, Irina Khrustaleva1, Aivar Kriiska1, Oleg Davydenko, Mait Metspalu1, Kristiina Tambets1
1 University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
2 V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine
3 University College London, London, United Kingdom
* Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Parastais

[J Man]

Ancient DNA analysis of elite nomadic warrior

Ancient DNA analysis of elite nomadic warrior from Chinge-Tey I funerary commemorative complex of the Tuvan "Valley of the Kings"

Data is available:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/...JNA1093285

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/?term=PRJNA1093285

Is it possible to check this sample for Y-DNA?

[teepean]

Unveiling Hunnic Legacy: Decoding Elite Presence in Poland through a Unique Child's Burial with Modified Cranium

This study presents a double burial from Czulice indicating elements of the Hunnic culture. Individual I, aged 7-9, and Individual II, aged 8-9 with a skull deformation, were both genetically identified as boys. Individual II, who exhibited genetic markers of Asian ancestry, was equipped with gold and silver items. In contrast, Individual I displayed European ancestry. The application of strontium isotope analysis shed light on the origins of the individuals. Individual I was non-local, while Individual II was identified as a local, but also falling within the range commonly associated with the Pannonian Plain. Stable isotope analysis suggested a diet consisting of inland resources. Through radiocarbon dating, this burial was determined to date back to the years 395-418 CE, making it the earliest grave of its kind discovered in Poland. The analyses have provided new insights into the nature of the relationship between the Huns and the local inhabitants.

No data available:

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB73826

[pegasus]

Novel 4,400-year-old ancestral component in a tribe speaking a Dravidian language

Research has shown that the present-day population on the Indian subcontinent derives its ancestry from at least three components identified with pre-Indo-Iranian agriculturalists once inhabiting the Iranian plateau, pastoralists originating from the Pontic-Caspian steppe and ancient hunter-gatherer related to the Andamanese Islanders. The present-day Indian gene pool represents a gradient of mixtures from these three sources. However, with more sequences of ancient and modern genomes and fine structure analyses, we can expect a more complex picture of ancestry to emerge. In this study, we focus on Dravidian linguistic groups to propose a fourth putative source which may have branched out from the basal Middle Eastern component that gave rise to the Iranian plateau farmer related ancestry. The Elamo-Dravidian theory and the linguistic phylogeny of the Dravidian family tree provide chronological fits for the genetic findings presented here. Our findings show a correlation between the linguistic and genetic lineages in language communities speaking Dravidian languages when they are modelled together. We suggest that this source, which we shall call 'Proto- Dravidian' ancestry, emerged around the dawn of the Indus Valley civilisation. This ancestry is distinct from all other sources described so far, and its plausible origin not later than 4,400 years ago on the region between the Iranian plateau and the Indus valley supports a Dravidian heartland before the arrival of Indo-European languages on the Indian subcontinent. Admixture analysis shows that this Proto-Dravidian ancestry is still carried by most modern inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent other than the tribal populations. This momentous finding underscores the importance of population-specific fine structure studies. We also recommend informed sampling strategies for biobanks and to avoid oversimplification of ancestral reconstruction. Achieving this requires interdisciplinary collaboration.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/...1.587466v2

[AimSmall]

Genomic analyses correspond with deep persistence of peoples of Blackfoot Confederacy from glacial times
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adl6595

Mutually beneficial partnerships between genomics researchers and North American Indigenous Nations are rare yet becoming more common. Here, we present one such partnership that provides insight into the peopling of the Americas and furnishes another line of evidence that can be used to further treaty and Indigenous rights. We show that the genomics of sampled individuals from the Blackfoot Confederacy belong to a previously undescribed ancient lineage that diverged from other genomic lineages in the Americas in Late Pleistocene times. Using multiple complementary forms of knowledge, we provide a scenario for Blackfoot population history that fits with oral tradition and provides a plausible model for the evolutionary process of the peopling of the Americas.

[pelop]

Preprint:

Identification of the 18 World War II Executed Citizens of Adele, Rethymnon, Crete Using an Ancient DNA Approach and Low Coverage Genomes

Nikolaos Psonis, Despoina Vassou, Argyro Nafplioti, Eugenia Tabakaki, Pavlos Pavlidis, Alexandros Stamatakis, Nikos Poulakakis

Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) - Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB)
(Heraklion, Crete, Greece)

Abstract

In the Battle of Crete during the World War II occupation of Greece, the German forces faced substantial civilian resistance. To retribute the numerous German losses, a series of mass executions took place in numerous places in Crete; a common practice reported from Greece and elsewhere. In Adele, a village in the regional unit of Rethymnon, 18 male civilians were executed and buried in a burial pit at the Sarakina site. In this study, the first one conducted for a conflict that occurred in Greece, we identified for humanitarian purposes the 18 skulls of the Sarakina victims, following a request from the local community of Adele. The molecular identification of historical human remains via ancient DNA approaches and low coverage whole genome sequencing has only recently been introduced. Here, we performed genome skimming on the living relatives of the victims, as well as high throughput historical DNA analysis on the skulls to infer the kinship degrees among the victims via genetic relatedness analyses. We also conducted targeted anthropological analysis to successfully complete the identification of all Sarakina victims. We demonstrate that our methodological approach constitutes a potentially highly informative forensic tool to identify war victims. It can hence be applied to analogous studies on degraded DNA, thus, paving the path for systematic war victim identification in Greece and beyond.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?...id=4647981

[corrigendum]

Genetic History of Human Populations Along the Ancient Silk Road
Shaoqing Wen, Horolma Pamjav, Maxat Zhabagin
Frontiers Media SA, Apr 5, 2024

[miquirumba]

Preprint:

Identification of the 18 World War II Executed Citizens of Adele, Rethymnon, Crete Using an Ancient DNA Approach and Low Coverage Genomes

Nikolaos Psonis, Despoina Vassou, Argyro Nafplioti, Eugenia Tabakaki, Pavlos Pavlidis, Alexandros Stamatakis, Nikos Poulakakis

Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) - Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB)
(Heraklion, Crete, Greece)

Abstract

In the Battle of Crete during the World War II occupation of Greece, the German forces faced substantial civilian resistance. To retribute the numerous German losses, a series of mass executions took place in numerous places in Crete; a common practice reported from Greece and elsewhere. In Adele, a village in the regional unit of Rethymnon, 18 male civilians were executed and buried in a burial pit at the Sarakina site. In this study, the first one conducted for a conflict that occurred in Greece, we identified for humanitarian purposes the 18 skulls of the Sarakina victims, following a request from the local community of Adele. The molecular identification of historical human remains via ancient DNA approaches and low coverage whole genome sequencing has only recently been introduced. Here, we performed genome skimming on the living relatives of the victims, as well as high throughput historical DNA analysis on the skulls to infer the kinship degrees among the victims via genetic relatedness analyses. We also conducted targeted anthropological analysis to successfully complete the identification of all Sarakina victims. We demonstrate that our methodological approach constitutes a potentially highly informative forensic tool to identify war victims. It can hence be applied to analogous studies on degraded DNA, thus, paving the path for systematic war victim identification in Greece and beyond.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?...id=4647981

pàpèr mentioned a sup. table with haplogroups. Hpwever I cannot find link to download this table. Have you reached the data?
Supplementary Table S5. Genetic sex estimation and haplogroup assignments (mtDNA and
Y-chromosome) for both the victims and the living relatives

[JMcB]

Genomic analyses correspond with deep persistence of peoples of Blackfoot Confederacy from glacial times.

DorothyFirst Rider, Annabel Crop Eared Wolf, John Murray, Alida de Flamingh,  Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos,François Lanoë, Maria N. Zedeño, Michael DeGiorgio,  John Lindo, Ripan S. Malhi

Mutually beneficial partnerships between genomics researchers and North American Indigenous Nations are rare yet becoming more common. Here, we present one such partnership that provides insight into the peopling of the Americas and furnishes another line of evidence that can be used to further treaty and Indigenous rights. We show that the genomics  of  sampled  individuals  from  the  Blackfoot  Confederacy  belong  to  a  previously  undescribed  ancient lineage that diverged from other genomic lineages in the Americas in Late Pleistocene times. Using multiple  complementary  forms  of  knowledge,  we  provide  a  scenario  for  Blackfoot  population  history  that  fits  with  oral tradition and provides a plausible model for the evolutionary process of the peopling of the America


https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.adl6595


and an article on the same:

Ancient Indigenous lineage of Blackfoot Confederacy goes back 18,000 years to last ice age, DNA reveals

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/...-nSNxpxH9I

[pelop]

Some new abstracts (no papers yet)

Source: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h5ZbEQ7...LCVJO/view
https://www.transformeurope2budapest2024.com/

The Genetic Origin and Linguistic Expansion of the Indo-Europeans
David Reich, David W. Anthony and Dorcas R. Brown

Part 1 David Reich: The Genetic Origin of the Indo-Europeans

The Yamnaya archaeological complex appeared around 3300 BCE across the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and by 3000 BCE reached its maximal extent from Hungary in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. To localize the ancestral and geographical origins of the Yamnaya among the diverse Eneolithic people that preceded them, we studied ancient DNA data from 428 individuals of which 299 are reported for the first time, demonstrating three previously unknown Eneolithic genetic clines. First, a “Caucasus-Lower Volga” (CLV) Cline suffused with Caucasus hunter-gatherer (CHG) ancestry extended between a Caucasus Neolithic southern end including people from Neolithic Armenia, and a steppe northern end including Eneolithic people from Berezhnovka in the lower Volga. Bidirectional gene flow across the CLV cline created admixed intermediate populations in both the north Caucasus, such as the Maikop people, and on the steppe, such as those at the site of Remontnoye north of the Manych depression. CLV people also helped form two major riverine clines by admixing with distinct groups of European hunter-gatherers. A “Volga Cline” was formed as lower Volga people mixed with upriver populations that had more Eastern hunter-gatherer (EHG) ancestry, creating genetically hyper-variable populations as at Khvalynsk
in the Middle Volga. A “Dnipro Cline” was formed as CLV people bearing both Caucasus Neolithic and lower Volga ancestry moved west and acquired Ukraine Neolithic hunter-gatherer (UNHG) ancestry to establish the population of the Serednii Stih culture from which the direct ancestors of the Yamnaya themselves were formed around 4000 BCE. This population grew rapidly after 3750–3350 BCE, precipitating the expansion of people of the Yamnaya culture who totally displaced previous groups on the Volga and further east, while admixing with
more sedentary groups in the west. CLV cline people with lower Volga ancestry contributed four fifths of the ancestry of the Yamnaya, but also, entering Anatolia from the east, contributed at least a tenth of the ancestry of Bronze Age Central Anatolians, where the Hittite language, related to the Indo-European languages spread by the Yamnaya, was spoken. We thus propose that the final unity of the
speakers of the “Proto-Indo-Anatolian” ancestral language of both Anatolian and Indo-European languages can be traced to CLV people living in the north Caucasus, lower Don and lower Volga sometime between 4400–4000 BCE.

Part 2 David Anthony and Dorcas R. Brown: The Yamnaya Origins and the Expansion of Late PIE Languages

The origin and expansion of the Yamnaya culture is difficult to understand without adequate aDNA sampling of populations from the Pontic-Caspian steppes. A new study from the David Reich lab of aDNA from more than 400 Eneolithic and Bronze Age individuals from the Pontic-Caspian steppes reveals a complex chronological layering and admixture of multiple ancestries that contributed to Yamnaya genetic origins, probably within the eastern range of Seredni Stih populations in the early to mid-4th millennium BCE. As the Yamnaya population
expanded, after about 3000 BCE, people who shared steppe genetic ancestry innovated to create new material (archaeological) cultures on both the eastern (Afanasievo) and western (Corded Ware) wings of the expansion, creating what archaeologists often regard as independent cultural entities that obscured a shared genetic and perhaps linguistic heritage. It seems that people who shared genetic ancestry often created distinct material cultures, and occasionally people with similar material cultures had distinct genetic ancestries (Lower Don and Core Yamnaya). Genes and material culture can follow different trajectories, and the comparison of aDNA & archaeology provides a tool to explore their complex relationship.

Bioarchaeology of Innovations — The 4th/3rd Millennium BC in the Caucasus and Beyond
Sabine Reinhold, Wolfgang Haak, Ayshin Ghalichi, and Christina Warinner

The 4th and 3rd millennia BC witnessed an acceleration of cultural interaction, which included the rapid spread of new technologies and social concepts at an unprecedented rate across much of Eurasia. In recent years, bioarchaeological research in the wider Caucasus region has revolutionised the understanding of the emergence of the Eurasian interaction sphere by revealing several key factors that were fundamental to a technological, economic and social framework that enabled life in the largely hostile environments of the steppe.
Ancient DNA of humans revealed highly dynamic trajectories in the formation of biological populations, among them the ‘steppe genetic ancestry’, later prominent in Yamnaya and other steppe populations. It also revealed a complex biological demarcation between people in the steppe and the mountains and piedmonts with a ‘Caucasus genetic ancestry’ that lasted for about 3,000 years from the 5th to the late 2nd millennium BCE. We find identical cultural formations, such as the Early Bronze Age Maykop culture, associated with several different genetic ancestry profiles, as well as different archaeological cultures of the Middle Bronze Age associated with identical genetic ancestry profiles. Technologies like the development of wheeled vehicles and drought animals crossed this boundary, as did the technology that probably was crucial to the development of the steppe as a permanent human habitat – dairy farming. Palaeoproteomics specifies the first
consumers of dairy products in steppe peoples of the late 5th and 4th millennium BCE. The first steps towards the domestication of the horse were taken in the late 4th millennium BC north of the Caucasus, and the decisive steps in the breeding of woolly sheep can probably also be dated to this time. The multiproxy bioarcheological perspective does not only elucidate these processes but is fundamental to understand the cultural fabric emerging across the Eurasian steppes in the late 4th and 3rd millennia BCE.

Human Genetics Perspective of the Carpathian Basin at the Dawn of the 3rd Millennium BCE
Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, János Dani, Gabriella Kulcsár, Dániel Gerber, Tamás Hajdu, Alena Šefčáková, Ron Pinhasi, Balázs Gusztáv Mende, Mária Bondár, David Reich

This paper explores the archaeogenomic landscape of the Carpathian Basin around the transition from the 3rd millennium BCE, leveraging both published and new ancient DNA data. During the final phase of the Late Copper Age, archaeological cultures such as the Baden Complex and the Coţofeni culture witnessed the emergence of kurgan burials from the westernmost communities related to the Yamnaya culture across the Pannonian Plain and Transylvania. The arrival of these communities is traced back to the northeast Balkans around 3100/3000 BCE. Our analyses indicate that Yamnaya-associated individuals from Hungary and certain burials of the so-called
‘East Slovakian Mound cultures’ are genetically indistinguishable, reflecting the genetic makeup of the Yamnaya group from the Samara region in Russia. Interestingly, the introgression of additional farmer ancestry within the Yamnaya sample set appears sporadic, while dating of these introgressions reveals local contributions in only a few instances. Our paper presents evidence of potential sex-biased diffusion of Yamnaya-related ancestry into the Carpathian Basin and the dynamics of the early 3rd millennium BCE spread of steppe components in
the area. Concurrent with the cultural and genetic impacts of the Yamnaya and Corded Ware, the Vučedol culture of Slavonia/north Balkans emerged, significantly influencing the Early Bronze Age community formation in southern Transdanubia. The Vučedol culture was noted for introducing steppe-related genetic ancestry into their region in the early 3rd millennium BCE, thereby diversifying ancestry
proportions within the population. These new findings provide significant insight into the complex genetic and cultural transformations within East-Central Europe during this pivotal era, directly contributing to our understanding of Early Bronze Age population formations.

Pandemics and Migration: The Neolithic–Corded Ware Transition in Northern Europe
Kristian Kristiansen
Co-authors: Frederik Valeur Seersholm, Martin Sikora, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe,
Jialu Cao (aDNA analyses), Karl-Goran Sjogren, Laurę Salanova and Philippe Chambon
(archaeology), Morten Fischer Mortensen, Ralph Fyfe (pollen summaries), Torben Dehn
and Svend Hansen (megalith end-dates)

Recent genetic evidence on the spread of the Neolithic plague indicates that it was a ’global’ pandemic covering large tracts of the Eurasian continent. It demands that we re-evaluate its demographic impact on late Neolithic populations, which has been questioned. We present new evidence from two megaliths in respectively western Sweden and NW France, where the effects of the plague can be documented. To this we add new independent evidence from pollen diagrams, as well as 14C dates of the end of megalithic architecture. It all supports a major demographic decline from northwestern France to South Scandinavia. It also adds a new perspective on the 14C sum curves as parameters of demography, which has been debated, but which can be correlated in time with the genetic and environmental results. Taken together they provide a new prelude to the onset of steppe migrations and their geographical expansion. This is followed by an interpretation of the migratory processes, their social and environmental impact in Denmark.

[teepean]

A genomic history of the North Pontic Region from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age

Abstract

The north Black Sea (Pontic) Region was the nexus of the farmers of Old Europe and the foragers and pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe, and the source of waves of migrants that expanded deep into Europe. We report genome-wide data from 78 prehistoric North Pontic individuals to understand the genetic makeup of the people involved in these migrations and discover the reasons for their success. First, we show that native North Pontic foragers had ancestry not only from Balkan and Eastern hunter-gatherers but also from European farmers and, occasionally, Caucasus hunter-gatherers. More dramatic inflows ensued during the Eneolithic, when migrants from the Caucasus-Lower Volga area moved westward, bypassing the local foragers to mix with Trypillian farmers advancing eastward. People of the Usatove archaeological group in the Northwest Pontic were formed ca. 4500 BCE with an equal measure of ancestry from the two expanding groups. A different Caucasus-Lower Volga group, moving westward in a distinct but temporally overlapping wave, avoided the farmers altogether, and blended with the foragers instead to form the people of the Serednii Stih archaeological complex. A third wave of expansion occurred when Yamna descendants of the Serednii Stih forming ca. 4000 BCE expanded during the Early Bronze Age (3300 BCE). The temporal gap between Serednii Stih and the Yamna expansion is bridged by a genetically Yamna individual from Mykhailivka in Ukraine (3635-3383 BCE), a site of uninterrupted archaeological continuity across the Eneolithic-Bronze Age transition, and the likely epicenter of Yamna formation. Each of these three waves propagated distinctive ancestries while also incorporating outsiders during its advance, a flexible strategy forged in the North Pontic region that may explain its peoples' outsized success in spreading their genes and culture across Eurasia.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/...89600v1?ct=

[pelop]

The Genetic Origin of the Indo-Europeans

Iosif Lazaridis,  Nick Patterson,  David Anthony,  Leonid Vyazov,  Romain Fournier,  Harald Ringbauer, Iñigo Olalde, Alexander A. Khokhlov, Egor P. Kitov,  Natalia I. Shishlina, Sorin C. Ailincăi, Danila S. Agapov, Sergey A. Agapov,  Elena Batieva, Baitanayev Bauyrzhan,  Zsolt Bereczki,  Alexandra Buzhilova,  Piya Changmai, Andrey A. Chizhevsky,  Ion Ciobanu, Mihai Constantinescu, Marietta Csányi, János Dani, Peter K. Dashkovskiy, Sándor Évinger, Anatoly Faifert, Pavel N. Flegontov, Alin Frînculeasa, Mădălina N. Frînculeasa, Tamás Hajdu,  Tom Higham, Paweł Jarosz, Pavol Jelínek, Valeri I. Khartanovich, Eduard N. Kirginekov, Viktória Kiss, Alexandera Kitova, Alexeiy V. Kiyashko, Jovan Koledin, Arkady Korolev,  Pavel Kosintsev, Gabriella Kulcsár, Pavel Kuznetsov,  Rabadan Magomedov, Mamedov Aslan Malikovich,  Eszter Melis,  Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Erika Molnár, Janet Monge, Octav Negrea, Nadezhda A. Nikolaeva,  Mario Novak,  Maria Ochir-Goryaeva, György Pálfi,  Sergiu Popovici,  Marina P. Rykun, Tatyana M. Savenkova, Vladimir P. Semibratov, Nikolai N. Seregin, Alena Šefčáková, Mussayeva Raikhan Serikovna,  Irina Shingiray, Vladimir N. Shirokov,  Angela Simalcsik,  Kendra Sirak,  Konstantin N. Solodovnikov, Judit Tárnoki,  Alexey A. Tishkin, Viktov Trifonov, Sergey Vasilyev, Ali Akbari,  Esther S. Brielle, Kim Callan,  Francesca Candilio,  Olivia Cheronet, Elizabeth Curtis, Olga Flegontova,  Lora Iliev,  Aisling Kearns,  Denise Keating,  Ann Marie Lawson,  Matthew Mah,  Adam Micco,  Megan Michel,  Jonas Oppenheimer,  Lijun Qiu,  J. Noah Workman,  Fatma Zalzala, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy,  Pier Francesco Palamara,  Swapan Mallick,  Nadin Rohland,  Ron Pinhasi,  David Reich

Abstract

The Yamnaya archaeological complex appeared around 3300BCE across the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and by 3000BCE reached its maximal extent from Hungary in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. To localize the ancestral and geographical origins of the Yamnaya among the diverse Eneolithic people that preceded them, we studied ancient DNA data from 428 individuals of which 299 are reported for the first time, demonstrating three previously unknown Eneolithic genetic clines. First, a "Caucasus-Lower Volga" (CLV) Cline suffused with Caucasus hunter-gatherer (CHG) ancestry extended between a Caucasus Neolithic southern end in Neolithic Armenia, and a steppe northern end in Berezhnovka in the Lower Volga. Bidirectional gene flow across the CLV cline created admixed intermediate populations in both the north Caucasus, such as the Maikop people, and on the steppe, such as those at the site of Remontnoye north of the Manych depression. CLV people also helped form two major riverine clines by admixing with distinct groups of European hunter-gatherers. A "Volga Cline" was formed as Lower Volga people mixed with upriver populations that had more Eastern hunter-gatherer (EHG) ancestry, creating genetically hyper-variable populations as at Khvalynsk in the Middle Volga. A "Dnipro Cline" was formed as CLV people bearing both Caucasus Neolithic and Lower Volga ancestry moved west and acquired Ukraine Neolithic hunter-gatherer (UNHG) ancestry to establish the population of the Serednii Stih culture from which the direct ancestors of the Yamnaya themselves were formed around 4000BCE. This population grew rapidly after 3750-3350BCE, precipitating the expansion of people of the Yamnaya culture who totally displaced previous groups on the Volga and further east, while admixing with more sedentary groups in the west. CLV cline people with Lower Volga ancestry contributed four fifths of the ancestry of the Yamnaya, but also, entering Anatolia from the east, contributed at least a tenth of the ancestry of Bronze Age Central Anatolians, where the Hittite language, related to the Indo-European languages spread by the Yamnaya, was spoken. We thus propose that the final unity of the speakers of the "Proto-Indo-Anatolian" ancestral language of both Anatolian and Indo-European languages can be traced to CLV cline people sometime between 4400-4000 BCE.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/...7.589597v1