Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance

Järve, Mari; Saag, Lehti; Scheib, Christiana L.; Pathak, Ajai Kumar; Montinaro, Francesco; Pagani, Luca; Flores, Juanita; Guellil, Meriam; Tambets, Kristiina; Kushniarevich, Alena; Solnik, Anu; Varul, Liivi; Zadnikov, Stanislav; Petrauskas, Oleg; Avramenko, Maryana; Magomedov, Boris; Didenko, Serghii; Toshev, Gennadi; Bruyako, Igor; Grechko, D. S.; Okatenko, Vitalii; Horbenko, Kyrylo; Smyrnov, Oleksandr; Heiko, Anatolii; Рейда, Роман; Sapiehin, Serheii; Sirotin, Sergey; Tairov, Alexander; Beisenov, Àrman Z.; Starodubtsev, Maksim; Vasil'ev, V. N.; Nechvaloda, Alexei; Atabiev, Biyaslan; Litvinov, Sergey; Ekomasova, Natalia; Dzhaubermezov, Murat; Voroniatov, Sergey; Utevska, Olga; Shramko, Iryna; Khusnutdinova, Elza; Metspalu, Mait; Savelev, Nikita; Крийска, Айвар; Kivisild, Toomas; Villems, Richard

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3346985

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Then, the samples were combusted to CO 2 in an elemental analyzer, and CO 2 was converted to graphite via catalysis. The 14 C/ 12 C ratio was obtained using a mini radiocarbon dating system-accelerator mass spectrometry. The resulting 14 C ages were normalized to  13 C = −25 per mil (30).…”

Section: Radiocarbon Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three competing hypotheses have been debated regarding the origins of the Scythians: a Pontic-Caspian origin, supported by their assumed Iranian languages, a Kazakh Steppe origin supported by the archaeological findings, and a multiple independent origin from genetically distinct groups that adopted common cultural traits (2). The limited number of genomes so far retrieved from the IA steppe nomads provides a glimpse of their genetic diversity but is far from being sufficient to characterize complex patterns of admixture between various eastern and western Eurasian gene pools (9)(10)(11)(12).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians

Gnecchi‐Ruscone

Khussainova²,

Kahbatkyzy³

et al. 2021

Sci. Adv.

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The Scythians were a multitude of horse-warrior nomad cultures dwelling in the Eurasian steppe during the first millennium BCE. Because of the lack of first-hand written records, little is known about the origins and relations among the different cultures. To address these questions, we produced genome-wide data for 111 ancient individuals retrieved from 39 archaeological sites from the first millennia BCE and CE across the Central Asian Steppe. We uncovered major admixture events in the Late Bronze Age forming the genetic substratum for two main Iron Age gene-pools emerging around the Altai and the Urals respectively. Their demise was mirrored by new genetic turnovers, linked to the spread of the eastern nomad empires in the first centuries CE. Compared to the high genetic heterogeneity of the past, the homogenization of the present-day Kazakhs gene pool is notable, likely a result of 400 years of strict exogamous social rules.

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Section: Radiocarbon Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians

Gnecchi‐Ruscone

Khussainova²,

Kahbatkyzy³

et al. 2021

Sci. Adv.

Self Cite

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“…The problems with Scythian skeletal remains have forced researchers to use more advanced methods (other than morphological studies), which allow to deal with poorly preserved and incomplete osteological material, including ancient DNA analysis used for study the origin of Scythians (see de Barros Damgaard et al, 2018; Järve et al, 2019; Juras et al, 2017; Krzewińska et al, 2018) or their kinship patterns (see Mary et al, 2019). Paleodemographic analysis of Scythian remains also requires other approach than the traditional one, based on deterministic life tables functions alone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleodemographic analysis of age at death for a population of Black Sea Scythians: An exploration by using Bayesian methods

Łukasik

Bijak

Krenz‐Niedbała

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Studies of the demography of past populations involving deterministic life tables can be criticized for ignoring the errors of estimation. Bayesian methods offer an alternative, by focusing on the uncertainty of the estimates, although their results are often sensitive to the choice of prior distributions. The aim of this study is to explore a range of Bayesian methods for estimating age at death for a population of nomadic warriors-Scythians from the Black Sea region. Materials and methods: In total, skeletons of 312 individuals (93 children and 219 adults) from Glinoe (Moldova), dated to the 5th-2nd century BCE, were examined. We unified the age categories corresponding to different aging methods, allowing an application of a probabilistic assessment of the age categorization. A hierarchical Bayesian multinomial-Dirichlet-Dirichlet model was applied, with a hypothetical, subjective reference population, a real reference population, and no reference. Results: Stationary-population life expectancy was estimated as 27.7 years (95% CI: 25.1-30.3) for a newborn (e 0), and 16.4 years (14.0-19.0) for 20-year-olds (e 20), although with high uncertainty, and sensitive to the model specification. Slight differences in longevity between different social strata and between the Classical and Late chronological periods were found, although with high estimation errors. A more robust finding, confirming earlier studies, was a high probability of death in young adulthood, which could depend on Scythian lifestyle (conflicts, wars). Discussion: Our study shows a way to overcome some limitations of broad age categorization by using the Bayesian approach with alternative model specifications, allowing to assess the impact of reference populations.

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Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance

Cited by 2 publications

References 42 publications

Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians

Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians

Paleodemographic analysis of age at death for a population of Black Sea Scythians: An exploration by using Bayesian methods

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