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

Martina Unterländer, Friso Palstra, Iosif Lazaridis, Aleksandr Pilipenko, Zuzana Hofmanová, Melanie Groß, Christian Sell, Jens Blöcher, Karola Kirsanow, Nadin Rohland, Benjamin Rieger, Elke Kaiser, Wolfram Schier, Dimitri Pozdniakov, Aleksandr Khokhlov, Myriam Georges, Sandra Wilde, Adam Powell, Evelyne Heyer, Mathias Currat, David Reich, Zainolla Samashev, Hermann Parzinger, Vyacheslav I. Molodin and Joachim Burger ()
Additional contact information
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
Aleksandr Pilipenko: Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science
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
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
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
Joachim Burger: Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14615

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