Ancient human genome-wide data from a 3000-year interval in the Caucasus corresponds with eco-geographic regions

Chuan-Chao Wang (), Sabine Reinhold, Alexey Kalmykov, Antje Wissgott, Guido Brandt, Choongwon Jeong, Olivia Cheronet, Matthew Ferry, Eadaoin Harney, Denise Keating, Swapan Mallick, Nadin Rohland, Kristin Stewardson, Anatoly R. Kantorovich, Vladimir E. Maslov, Vladimira G. Petrenko, Vladimir R. Erlikh, Biaslan Ch. Atabiev, Rabadan G. Magomedov, Philipp L. Kohl, Kurt W. Alt, Sandra L. Pichler, Claudia Gerling, Harald Meller, Benik Vardanyan, Larisa Yeganyan, Alexey D. Rezepkin, Dirk Mariaschk, Natalia Berezina, Julia Gresky, Katharina Fuchs, Corina Knipper, Stephan Schiffels, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Iain Mathieson, Thomas Higham, Yakov B. Berezin, Alexandra Buzhilova, Viktor Trifonov, Ron Pinhasi, Andrej B. Belinskij, David Reich, Svend Hansen (), Johannes Krause () and Wolfgang Haak ()
Additional contact information
Chuan-Chao Wang: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Sabine Reinhold: German Archaeological Institute, Eurasia Department
Alexey Kalmykov: ’Nasledie’ Cultural Heritage Unit
Antje Wissgott: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Guido Brandt: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Choongwon Jeong: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Olivia Cheronet: Earth Institute, University College Dublin
Matthew Ferry: Harvard Medical School
Eadaoin Harney: Harvard Medical School
Denise Keating: Earth Institute, University College Dublin
Swapan Mallick: Harvard Medical School
Nadin Rohland: Harvard Medical School
Kristin Stewardson: Harvard Medical School
Anatoly R. Kantorovich: Lomonosov Moscow State University
Vladimir E. Maslov: Institute of Archaeology RAS
Vladimira G. Petrenko: Institute of Archaeology RAS
Vladimir R. Erlikh: State Museum of Oriental Art
Biaslan Ch. Atabiev: Ltd. Institute for Caucasus Archaeology
Rabadan G. Magomedov: Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography DNC RAS
Philipp L. Kohl: Department of Anthropology, Wellesley College
Kurt W. Alt: Danube Private University
Sandra L. Pichler: University of Basel
Claudia Gerling: University of Basel
Harald Meller: State Heritage Museum, Saxony-Anhalt
Benik Vardanyan: Martin-Luther-Universität
Larisa Yeganyan: Shirak Center for Armenological Studies of National Academy of Science RA
Alexey D. Rezepkin: Russian Academy of Sciences
Dirk Mariaschk: German Archaeological Institute, Eurasia Department
Natalia Berezina: Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University
Julia Gresky: German Archaeological Institute, Department of Natural Sciences
Katharina Fuchs: CRC 1266 “Scales of Transformation”, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-Universität
Corina Knipper: Curt Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry gGmbH
Stephan Schiffels: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Elena Balanovska: Research Centre for Medical Genetics
Oleg Balanovsky: Research Centre for Medical Genetics
Iain Mathieson: University of Pennsylvania
Thomas Higham: RLAHA, University of Oxford
Yakov B. Berezin: Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University
Alexandra Buzhilova: Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University
Viktor Trifonov: Russian Academy of Sciences
Ron Pinhasi: University of Vienna
Andrej B. Belinskij: ’Nasledie’ Cultural Heritage Unit
David Reich: Harvard Medical School
Svend Hansen: German Archaeological Institute, Eurasia Department
Johannes Krause: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Wolfgang Haak: Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Archaeogenetic studies have described the formation of Eurasian ‘steppe ancestry’ as a mixture of Eastern and Caucasus hunter-gatherers. However, it remains unclear when and where this ancestry arose and whether it was related to a horizon of cultural innovations in the 4th millennium BCE that subsequently facilitated the advance of pastoral societies in Eurasia. Here we generated genome-wide SNP data from 45 prehistoric individuals along a 3000-year temporal transect in the North Caucasus. We observe a genetic separation between the groups of the Caucasus and those of the adjacent steppe. The northern Caucasus groups are genetically similar to contemporaneous populations south of it, suggesting human movement across the mountain range during the Bronze Age. The steppe groups from Yamnaya and subsequent pastoralist cultures show evidence for previously undetected farmer-related ancestry from different contact zones, while Steppe Maykop individuals harbour additional Upper Palaeolithic Siberian and Native American related ancestry.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08220-8

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