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Ancestry and identity in Bronze Age Catacomb culture burials: A meta-tale of graves, skeletons, and DNA
Abstract
After discovering the first kurgans in the steppes, the archaeologists were faced with the need to determine the social status of buried persons and the relationship between people buried within the same necropolis. Archaeology has developed its methods and criteria for assessing the social status of buried persons, such as the size of the burial kurgans, the location of burials in the center or on the periphery of the kurgan, the wealth of implements, etc. With the introduction of paleogenetic methods into archeology, new opportunities for research in this direction are opening up. The analysis of ancient DNA is a tool that allows you not to assume but to establish consanguinity.
This study presents the archaeological and molecular analysis of human remains from the East-Manych variant of the Catacomb culture. Catacomb culture dominated eastern Ukraine and southern Russia in the 3rd millennium BCE. The skeletons were recovered from kurgans of the Ergeninskii kurgan group in Kalmykia (Russia) that were radiocarbon dated the Bronze Age (25th–23rd century BCE). Y-chromosome STR analysis revealed that both individuals belonged to haplogroup R1b. This paternal lineage appears at high frequency in central, western, and northern Europe, and commonly appears among the Yamnaya. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA variation revealed the Catacomb males to belong to haplogroups H and N, respectively, both of which also appeared in the Yamnaya. These genetic data suggest a possible relationship between the Catacomb and Yamnaya cultures and contribute to our understanding of the cultural and historical processes occurring in the steppes of Eastern Europe during the Bronze Age.
... Показательно, что именно в это время происходит становление металлургии бронзы в Европе (Dolfi ni 2013; Artioli et al. 2020). Касательно Юго-Восточной Европы указанные события связаны с распространением ямной и катакомбной культур (Яровой 1985;Ochir-Goryaeva et al. 2021). Их ядро предположительно находилось в причерноморских степях , в то время как ареал охватывал обширные территории вплоть до южного Приуралья и Северо-Западного Казахстана на востоке (Моргунова 2013; Narasimhan et al. 2019), Румынии, Болгарии, Сербии и Венгрии на западе и северо-западе (Kristiansen et al. 2017;Klejn et al. 2018: 10;Frînculeasa 2019;Diaconescu 2020;Preda-Balănică et al. 2020), где вышеупомянутые культуры оказали влияние на развитие культур шнуровой керамики (Ivanova 2013: 98;Sjögren et al. 2016;Linderholm et al. 2020) (рис. ...
The study of the Early Metal Age cultures of Europe has greatly improved during the last decades. New studies have been centered not only on aspects of the material culture and burial rites, but also on the chronology of the different complexes, their spread, eventually genetic evidence, and cultural transmission. Moreover, the study of the steppe zones of
south-eastern Europe has improved thanks to the excavation and publication of new burial grounds and important settlement sites. This paper considers a few cultural aspects that made their appearance around the beginning of the Subboreal climatic period in northern Italy, among which is the so-called Chalcolithic Remedello Culture. As far as we can understand, not only the aDNA evidence, but also the presence of a few unique grave goods, including hammer-headed pins, suggest that some kind of intercultural relationship existed with south-eastern Europe, which the authors think are most probably due to cultural transmission
This paper aims to provide an overview of the current understanding in Yamnaya burials from north of the Lower Danube, particularly focussing on their relationship with supposed local archaeological cultures/socie-ties. Departing from a decades-long research history and latest archaeological finds from Romania, it addresses key research basics on the funerary archaeology of their kurgans and burials; their material culture and chronology; on steppe predecessors and Katakombnaya successors; and links with neighbouring regions as well as the wider southeast European context. Taking into account some reflections from latest ancient DNA revelations, there can be no doubt a substantial migration has taken place around 3000 BC, with Yamnaya populations originating from the Caspian-Pontic steppe pushing westwards. However already the question if such accounts for the term of 'Mass Migrations' cannot be satisfactorily answered, as we are only about to begin to understand the demographics in this process. A further complication is trying to assess who is a newcomer and who is a local in an interaction scenario that lasts for c. 500 years. Identities are not fixed, may indeed transform, as previous newcomers soon turn into locals, while others are just visitors. Nevertheless, this well-researched region of geographical transition from lowland eastern Europe to the hillier parts of temperate Europe provides an ideal starting point to address such questions, being currently also at the heart of the intense discussion about what is identity in the context of the emerging relationship of Archaeology and Genetics. Résumé : Cet article vise à donner un aperçu général de notre connaissance actuelle des sépultures Yamnaya au nord du Bas-Danube, en mettant l'accent sur leurs relations avec les cultures locales. Il aborde les questions élémentaires de la recherche en archéologie funéraire portant sur les tertres et sépultures, leur culture matérielle et leur chronologie, leurs prédécesseurs steppiques et leurs successeurs de la Culture des Catacombes ainsi que les liens avec les régions voisines et le contexte de l'Europe du Sud-Est. À la transition du IV e au III e millénaire av. J.-C., un nouveau rituel funéraire émerge sur de vastes zones : ce sont des tombes recouvertes de tertres appelés kourganes, de mâles adultes allongés sur le dos dans des fosses rectangulaires ou parfois ovales, avec les genoux initialement fléchis, la tête orientée vers l'ouest et souvent parsemés d'ocre rouge. Les fosses funéraires, qui avaient souvent des marches intérieures menant aux chambres funéraires, étaient apparem-ment garnies de nattes, de peaux et de coussins, et étaient recouvertes de poutres en bois et de nattes textiles d'origine végétale. Le mobilier funéraire est très rare et se compose principalement d'anneaux de cheveux en métaux précieux, de colliers de dents animales et/ou de céramique. Ce nouveau rituel funéraire est apparemment une conséquence de la migration des populations Yamnaya de la steppe vers le Sud-Est de l'Europe. Dix milliers de tertres ont été érigés dans les régions ressemblant à la steppe. Ils constituent la seule source de nos connaissances, puisqu'aucune habitation n'a été identifiée dans toute la région occidentale. Au Nord du Bas-Danube, sur le territoire roumain actuel, 177 tertres funéraires ont été fouillés, contenant un nombre total de 714 sépultures. Les recherches archéologiques effectuées au cours des deux dernières décennies (42 tertres) ont permis de mieux comprendre ce phénomène complexe. Malgré certaines variations, la domination de ce rituel funéraire est écrasante. Tous ces paramètres correspondent au standard funéraire Yamnaya connu dans les steppes pontique-caspiennes d'Europe de l'Est, mais d'autres ne sont pas aussi communs ou ne figurent pas dans les recherches archéologiques, comme les stèles en pierre anthropomorphes, les chariots et les roues en bois, les sépultures d'artisans, les poignards à languette au manche ou les haches à emmanche-ment transversal en cuivre. Preda-Bǎlǎnicǎ B., Frînculeasa A., Heyd V. (2020)-The Yamnaya Impact North of the Lower Danube: A Tale of Newcomers and Locals, Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 117, 1, p. 85-101.
Scythians are known from written sources as horse-riding nomadic peoples who dominated the Eurasian steppe throughout the Iron Age. However, their origins and the exact nature of their social organization remain debated. Three hypotheses prevail regarding their origins that can be summarized as a “western origin”, an “eastern origin” and a “multi-regional origin”. In this work, we first aimed to address the question of the familial and social organization of some Scythian groups (Scytho-Siberians) by testing genetic kinship and, second, to add new elements on their origins through phylogeographical analyses. Twenty-eight Scythian individuals from 5 archeological sites in the Tuva Republic (Russia) were analyzed using autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STR), Y-STR and Y-SNP typing as well as whole mitochondrial (mtDNA) genome sequencing. Familial relationships were assessed using the Likelihood Ratio (LR) method. Thirteen of the 28 individuals tested were linked by first-degree relationships. When related, the individuals were buried together, except for one adult woman, buried separately from her mother and young sister. Y-chromosome analysis revealed a burial pattern linked to paternal lineages, with men bearing closely related Y-haplotypes buried on the same sites. Inversely, various mtDNA lineages can be found on each site. Y-chromosomal and mtDNA haplogroups were almost equally distributed between Western and Eastern Eurasian haplogroups. These results suggest that Siberian Scythians were organized in patrilocal and patrilineal societies with burial practices linked to both kinship and paternal lineages. It also appears that the group analyzed shared a greater genetic link with Asian populations than Western Scythians did.
In an effort to characterize the people who composed the groups known as the Xiongnu, nuclear and whole mitochondrial DNA data were generated from the skeletal remains of 52 individuals excavated from the Tamir Ulaan Khoshuu (TUK) cemetery in Central Mongolia. This burial site, attributed to the Xiongnu period, was used from the first century BC to the first century AD. Kinship analyses were conducted using autosomal and Y-chromosomal DNA markers along with complete sequences of the mitochondrial genome. These analyses suggested close kin relationships between many individuals. Nineteen such individuals composed a large family spanning five generations. Within this family, we determined that a woman was of especially high status; this is a novel insight into the structure and hierarchy of societies from the Xiongnu period. Moreover, our findings confirmed that the Xiongnu had a strongly admixed mitochondrial and Y-chromosome gene pools and revealed a significant western component in the Xiongnu group studied. Using a fine-scale approach (haplotype instead of haplogroup-level information), we propose Scytho-Siberians as ancestors of the Xiongnu and Huns as their descendants.
The nature and distribution of political power in Europe during the Neolithic era remains poorly understood¹. During this period, many societies began to invest heavily in building monuments, which suggests an increase in social organization. The scale and sophistication of megalithic architecture along the Atlantic seaboard, culminating in the great passage tomb complexes, is particularly impressive². Although co-operative ideology has often been emphasised as a driver of megalith construction¹, the human expenditure required to erect the largest monuments has led some researchers to emphasize hierarchy³—of which the most extreme case is a small elite marshalling the labour of the masses. Here we present evidence that a social stratum of this type was established during the Neolithic period in Ireland. We sampled 44 whole genomes, among which we identify the adult son of a first-degree incestuous union from remains that were discovered within the most elaborate recess of the Newgrange passage tomb. Socially sanctioned matings of this nature are very rare, and are documented almost exclusively among politico-religious elites⁴—specifically within polygynous and patrilineal royal families that are headed by god-kings5,6. We identify relatives of this individual within two other major complexes of passage tombs 150 km to the west of Newgrange, as well as dietary differences and fine-scale haplotypic structure (which is unprecedented in resolution for a prehistoric population) between passage tomb samples and the larger dataset, which together imply hierarchy. This elite emerged against a backdrop of rapid maritime colonization that displaced a unique Mesolithic isolate population, although we also detected rare Irish hunter-gatherer introgression within the Neolithic population.
The Third Science Revolution described by Kristian Kristiansen (2014) has been openly embraced and is currently underway in archaeology. It has brought considerable improvement in terms of scientific methods and approaches, but at the same time, it brings with it the risk of transforming archaeology into something that is methodologically uniform, inflexible, and oversimplified, or in other words, a methodologically monistic discipline. This is particularly evident when it comes to Big Data: the Third Science Revolution has inaugurated a new understanding of data, one that reduces archaeological reality exclusively to those elements that are quantifiable.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that archaeology needs to go beyond Big Data, and the Third Science revolution in general, and embody qualitative research. This can be done by incorporating methods and theories from history and anthropology that contextualize the purposeful character of past human action. This requires (re)embracing case-study research, but also recognizing a meaning of ‘case-study’ that has been largely ignored: as a paradigmatic example of a Zeitgeist - a context where different institutions, power relations, and ideologies are all entwined.
Over millennia, steppe nomadic tribes raided and sometimes overran settled Eurasian civilizations. Most polities formed by steppe nomads were ephemeral, making it difficult to ascertain their genetic roots or what present-day populations, if any, have descended from them. Exceptionally, the Khazar Khaganate controlled the trade artery between the Black and Caspian Seas in VIII-IX centuries, acting as one of the major conduits between East and West. However, the genetic identity of the ruling elite within the polyglot and polyethnic Khaganate has been a much-debated mystery; a controversial hypothesis posits that post-conversion to Judaism the Khazars gave rise to modern Ashkenazim. We analyzed whole-genome sequences of eight men and one woman buried within the distinctive kurgans of the Khazar upper (warrior) class. After comparing them with reference panels of present-day Eurasian and Iron Age populations, we found that the Khazar political organization relied on a polyethnic elite. It was predominantly descended from Central Asian tribes but incorporated genetic admixture from populations conquered by Khazars. Thus, the Khazar ruling class was likely relatively small and able to maintain a genetic identity distinct from their subjugated populations over the course of centuries. Yet, men of mixed ancestry could also rise into the warrior class, possibly providing troop numbers necessary to maintain control of their large territory. However, when the Khaganate collapsed it left few persistent genetic traces in Europe. Our data confirm the Turkic roots of the Khazars, but also highlight their ethnic diversity and some integration of conquered populations.
Human adaptation to extreme climatic and geographic conditions mediated by natural selection may be one of the major factors for formation of genetic structure in North Eurasian populations. Using data on a genome-wide set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we searched for the signals of positive selection in five populations of Siberia and the Russian European North. From 113 to 185 genomic regions with extended homozygous haplotypes blocks containing altogether 771 genes were found in each of the populations. Cross-population search of the selection targets resulted in about 150 genomic regions, 57 of which overlap with the results of haplotype analysis in individual populations. Genomic loci with the most profound signals of positive selection in northern populations include regions of SLC30A9, CACNA1C, KCNQ5, ABCA1, ALDH1A2, CSMD1, RBFOX1, and WWOX, as well as some other genes. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that major biological processes where selection targets are implicated are those conferring the response to external stimuli, including proteins, nutrients, and glucose, and defense reactions, including inflammatory immune response. The network of protein-protein interactions of genes under positive selection forms distinct clusters related to a number of biological processes indicated above. Results of the study indicate that non-neutral microevolution mechanisms may play a substantial role in genetic structuring of the human populations during long-term adaptation to unfavorable environmental conditions.
The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Aegean ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain circa 4000 bc, a millennium after they appeared in adjacent areas of continental Europe. The pattern and process of this delayed British Neolithic transition remain unclear. We assembled genome-wide data from 6 Mesolithic and 67 Neolithic individuals found in Britain, dating 8500–2500 bc. Our analyses reveal persistent genetic affinities between Mesolithic British and Western European hunter-gatherers. We find overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced to Britain by incoming continental farmers, with small, geographically structured levels of hunter-gatherer ancestry. Unlike other European Neolithic populations, we detect no resurgence of hunter-gatherer ancestry at any time during the Neolithic in Britain. Genetic affinities with Iberian Neolithic individuals indicate that British Neolithic people were mostly descended from Aegean farmers who followed the Mediterranean route of dispersal. We also infer considerable variation in pigmentation levels in Europe by circa 6000 bc.
We assembled genome-wide data from 271 ancient Iberians, of whom 176 are from the
largely unsampled period after 2000 BCE, thereby providing a high-resolution time transect of the Iberian Peninsula.We document high genetic substructure between northwestern and southeastern hunter-gatherers before the spread of farming.We reveal sporadic contacts between Iberia and North Africa by ~2500 BCE and, by ~2000 BCE, the
replacement of 40% of Iberia’s ancestry and nearly 100% of its Y-chromosomes by people
with Steppe ancestry.We show that, in the Iron Age, Steppe ancestry had spread not only
into Indo-European–speaking regions but also into non-Indo-European–speaking ones, and we reveal that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia. Additionally,we document how, beginning at least in the Roman period, the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.
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. The Caucasus mountain range has impacted on the culture and genetics of the wider region. Here, the authors generate genome-wide SNP data for 45 Eneolithic and Bronze Age individuals across the Caucasus, and find distinct genetic clusters between mountain and steppe zones as well as occasional gene-flow.
European population history has been shaped by migrations of people, and their subsequent admixture. Recently, ancient DNA has brought new insights into European migration events linked to the advent of agriculture, and possibly to the spread of Indo-European languages. However, little is known about the ancient population history of north-eastern Europe, in particular about populations speaking Uralic languages, such as Finns and Saami. Here we analyse ancient genomic data from 11 individuals from Finland and north-western Russia. We show that the genetic makeup of northern Europe was shaped by migrations from Siberia that began at least 3500 years ago. This Siberian ancestry was subsequently admixed into many modern populations in the region, particularly into populations speaking Uralic languages today. Additionally, we show that ancestors of modern Saami inhabited a larger territory during the Iron Age, which adds to the historical and linguistic information about the population history of Finland.
The beginning of civilization was a turning point in human evolution. With increasing separation from the natural environment, mankind stimulated new adaptive reactions in response to new environmental factors. In this paper, we describe direct signs of these reactions in the European population during the past 6,000 years. By comparing whole-genome data between Late Neolithic/Bronze Age individuals and modern Europeans, we revealed biological pathways that are significantly differently enriched in non-synonymous SNPs in these two groups and which therefore could be shaped by cultural practices during the past six millennia. They include metabolic transformations, immune response, signal transduction, physical activity, sensory perception, reproduction, and cognitive functions. We demonstrated that these processes were influenced by different types of natural selection. We believe that our study opens new perspectives for more detailed investigations about when and how civilization has been modifying human genomes.
Ancient steppes for human equestrians
The Eurasian steppes reach from the Ukraine in Europe to Mongolia and China. Over the past 5000 years, these flat grasslands were thought to be the route for the ebb and flow of migrant humans, their horses, and their languages. de Barros Damgaard et al. probed whole-genome sequences from the remains of 74 individuals found across this region. Although there is evidence for migration into Europe from the steppes, the details of human movements are complex and involve independent acquisitions of horse cultures. Furthermore, it appears that the Indo-European Hittite language derived from Anatolia, not the steppes. The steppe people seem not to have penetrated South Asia. Genetic evidence indicates an independent history involving western Eurasian admixture into ancient South Asian peoples.
Science , this issue p. eaar7711
Background:
The history of human populations occupying the plains and mountain ridges separating Europe from Asia has been eventful, as these natural obstacles were crossed westward by multiple waves of Turkic and Uralic-speaking migrants as well as eastward by Europeans. Unfortunately, the material records of history of this region are not dense enough to reconstruct details of population history. These considerations stimulate growing interest to obtain a genetic picture of the demographic history of migrations and admixture in Northern Eurasia.
Results:
We genotyped and analyzed 1076 individuals from 30 populations with geographical coverage spanning from Baltic Sea to Baikal Lake. Our dense sampling allowed us to describe in detail the population structure, provide insight into genomic history of numerous European and Asian populations, and significantly increase quantity of genetic data available for modern populations in region of North Eurasia. Our study doubles the amount of genome-wide profiles available for this region. We detected unusually high amount of shared identical-by-descent (IBD) genomic segments between several Siberian populations, such as Khanty and Ket, providing evidence of genetic relatedness across vast geographic distances and between speakers of different language families. Additionally, we observed excessive IBD sharing between Khanty and Bashkir, a group of Turkic speakers from Southern Urals region. While adding some weight to the "Finno-Ugric" origin of Bashkir, our studies highlighted that the Bashkir genepool lacks the main "core", being a multi-layered amalgamation of Turkic, Ugric, Finnish and Indo-European contributions, which points at intricacy of genetic interface between Turkic and Uralic populations. Comparison of the genetic structure of Siberian ethnicities and the geography of the region they inhabit point at existence of the "Great Siberian Vortex" directing genetic exchanges in populations across the Siberian part of Asia. Slavic speakers of Eastern Europe are, in general, very similar in their genetic composition. Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians have almost identical proportions of Caucasus and Northern European components and have virtually no Asian influence. We capitalized on wide geographic span of our sampling to address intriguing question about the place of origin of Russian Starovers, an enigmatic Eastern Orthodox Old Believers religious group relocated to Siberia in seventeenth century. A comparative reAdmix analysis, complemented by IBD sharing, placed their roots in the region of the Northern European Plain, occupied by North Russians and Finno-Ugric Komi and Karelian people. Russians from Novosibirsk and Russian Starover exhibit ancestral proportions close to that of European Eastern Slavs, however, they also include between five to 10 % of Central Siberian ancestry, not present at this level in their European counterparts.
Conclusions:
Our project has patched the hole in the genetic map of Eurasia: we demonstrated complexity of genetic structure of Northern Eurasians, existence of East-West and North-South genetic gradients, and assessed different inputs of ancient populations into modern populations.
The emergence of Corded Ware Groups throughout Europe in the 3rd millennium BC is one of the most defining events in European history. From the Wolga to the Rhine communities start to speak Indo-European languages and bury their dead in an extremely similar fashion. Recent ancient DNA-analyses identify a massive migration from the Eurasian steppe as the prime cause for this event. However, there is a fundamental difference between expressing a Corded Ware identity—the sharing of world views and ideas—and having a specific DNA-profile. Therefore, we argue that investigating the exchange of cultural information on burial rites between these communities serves as a crucial complement to the exchange of biological information. By adopting a practice perspective to 1161 Corded Ware burials throughout north-western Europe, combined with similarity indexes and network representations, we demonstrate a high degree of information sharing on the burial ritual between different regions. Moreover, we show that male burials are much more international in character than female burials and as such can be considered as the vector along which cultural information and Corded Ware identity was transmitted. This finding highlights an underlying complex societal organization of Corded Ware burial rites in which gender roles had a significant impact on the composition and transmission of cultural information. Our findings corroborate recent studies that suggest the Corded Ware was a male focused society.
Despite the fact that greater part of ingredients, such as dairy products or alcoholic drinks, were known already
in the Neolithic, food technology of the Bronze Age changed significantly. This paper aims to investigate prehistoric dietary habits and comment on the stable isotope values (13C/15N) of human/faunal remains from several large Bronze Age cemeteries in Europe and beyond. The human skeletal material derives from Early Bronze Age Iberia (2300–2000 BC), mainland Greece (Late Helladic Period III), Bronze Age Transcaucasia (the Kura-Araxes culture 3400–2000 BC), steppes of Kazakhstan (1800 BC), and Early Bronze Age China in Shang period (1523–1046 BC). The aim of this study is to determine distinctive features of food practice in the Bronze Age with an overview of economy and consumer behaviour in relation to religion and state formation processes.
Diagnostic features of a catastrophic aridization of climate, desertification, and paleoecological crisis in steppes of the Lower Volga region have been identified on the basis of data on the morphological, chemical, and microbiological properties of paleosols under archeological monuments (burial mounds) of the Middle Bronze Age. These processes resulted in a certain convergence of the soil cover with transformation of zonal chestnut (Kastanozems) paleosols and paleosolonetzes (Solonetz Humic) into specific chestnut-like eroded saline calcareous paleosols analogous to the modern brown desert-steppe soils (Calcisols Haplic) that predominated in this region 4300–3800 years ago.¹ In the second millennium BC, humidization of the climate led to the divergence of the soil cover with secondary formation of the complexes of chestnut soils and solonetzes. This paleoecological crisis had a significant effect on the economy of the tribes in the Late Catacomb and Post-Catacomb time stipulating their higher mobility and transition to the nomadic cattle breeding.
During the 1 st 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.
The term 'ancient DNA' (aDNA) is coming of age, with over 1,200 hits in the PubMed database, beginning in the early 1980s with the studies of 'molecular paleontology'. Rooted in cloning and limited sequencing of DNA from ancient remains during the pre-PCR era, the field has made incredible progress since the introduction of PCR and next-generation sequencing. Over the last decade, aDNA analysis ushered in a new era in genomics and became the method of choice for reconstructing the history of organisms, their biogeography, and migration routes, with applications in evolutionary biology, population genetics, archaeogenetics, paleo-epidemiology, and many other areas. This change was brought by development of new strategies for coping with the challenges in studying aDNA due to damage and fragmentation, scarce samples, significant historical gaps, and limited applicability of population genetics methods. In
The Kets, an ethnic group in the Yenisei River basin, Russia, are considered the last nomadic huntergatherers of Siberia, and Ket language has no transparent affiliation with any language family. We investigated connections between the Kets and Siberian and North American populations, with emphasis on the Mal’ta and Paleo-Eskimo ancient genomes, using original data from 46 unrelated samples of Kets and 42 samples of their neighboring ethnic groups (Uralic-speaking Nganasans,Enets, and Selkups). We genotyped over 130,000 autosomal SNPs, identified mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups, and performed high-coverage genome sequencing of two Ket individuals. We established that Nganasans, Kets, Selkups, and Yukaghirs form a cluster of populations most closely related to Paleo-Eskimos in Siberia (not considering indigenous populations of Chukotka and Kamchatka). Kets are closely related to modern Selkups and to some Bronze and Iron Age populations of the Altai region, with all these groups sharing a high degree of Mal’ta ancestry. Implications of these findings for the linguistic hypothesis uniting Ket and Na-Dene languages into a language macrofamily are discussed.
Questions concerning mobility and migration as well as subsistence strategies of past societies have always been of major importance in archaeological research. The West Eurasian steppes in the Eneolithic, the Early Bronze and the Iron Age were largely inhabited by cultural communities believed to show an elevated level of spatial mobility, often linked to their subsistence economy. In this volume, questions concerning the mobility and potential migration as well as the diet and economy of the West Eurasian steppes communities during the 4th, the 3rd and the 1st Millennia BC are approached by applying isotope analysis, specifically 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ15N and δ13C analyses. Adapting a combination of different isotopic systems to a study area of vast spatial and chronological dimension allowed a wide variety of questions to be answered and establishes the beginning of a database of biogeochemical data for the West Eurasian steppes. Besides the characterisation of mobility and subsistence patterns of the archaeological communities under discussion, attempts to identify possible Early Bronze Age migrations from the steppes to the steppe-like plains in parts of Eastern Europe were made, alongside an evaluation of the applicability of isotope analysis to this context.
Nonmetric traits are frequently analyzed in the field of anthropology to measure genetic relatedness, or biodistance within or between populations. These studies are performed under the assumption that nonmetric traits are inherited genetically. Historically, interpretations of both biological and cultural change within the Armenian Highlands, have cited large-scale population movements. Biological estimates of these changes have traditionally relied upon biodistance estimates, using odontologic, craniofacial measures of both deformed and nondeformed skulls. In order to evaluate whether large-scale prehistoric and historic migrations occurred in the Armenian Highlands, we examine the biodistance results from nonmetric cranial traits for 19 mortuary samples that represented all time periods on the Armenian Highlands. None of the distances between each pair of mortuary samples examined in this study was significant. These results suggest biological continuity in the populations of Armenia. The biodistance results also suggest endogamy within inland populations. The broader implications of these results are also discussed.
Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.
The Kets, an ethnic group in the Yenisei River basin, Russia, are considered
the last nomadic hunter-gatherers of Siberia, and Ket language has no
transparent affiliation with any language family. We investigated connections
between the Kets and Siberian and North American populations, with emphasis on
the Mal'ta and Paleo-Eskimo ancient genomes using original data from 46
unrelated samples of Kets and 42 samples of their neighboring ethnic groups
(Uralic-speaking Nganasans, Enets, and Selkups). We genotyped over 130,000
autosomal SNPs, determined mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups, and
performed high-coverage genome sequencing of two Ket individuals. We
established that the Kets belong to the cluster of Siberian populations related
to Paleo-Eskimos. Unlike other members of this cluster (Nganasans, Ulchi,
Yukaghirs, and Evens), Kets and closely related Selkups have a high degree of
Mal'ta ancestry. Implications of these findings for the linguistic hypothesis
uniting Ket and Na-Dene languages into a language macrofamily are discussed.
Haplogroup H dominates present-day Western European mitochondrial DNA variability (440%), yet was less common (B19%) among Early Neolithic farmers (B5450 BC) and virtually absent in Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Here we investigate this major component of the maternal population history of modern Europeans and sequence 39 complete haplogroup H mitochondrial genomes from ancient human remains. We then compare this 'real-time' genetic data with cultural changes taking place between the Early Neolithic (B5450 BC) and Bronze Age (B2200 BC) in Central Europe. Our results reveal that the current diversity and distribution of haplogroup H were largely established by the Mid Neolithic (B4000 BC), but with substantial genetic contributions from subsequent pan-European cultures such as the Bell Beakers expanding out of Iberia in the Late Neolithic (B2800 BC). Dated haplogroup H genomes allow us to reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of haplogroup H and reveal a mutation rate 45% higher than current estimates for human mitochondria.
The Bronze Age of Eurasia (around 3000-1000 BC) was a period of major cultural changes. However, there is debate about whether these changes resulted from the circulation of ideas or from human migrations, potentially also facilitating the spread of languages and certain phenotypic traits. We investigated this by using new, improved methods to sequence low-coverage genomes from 101 ancient humans from across Eurasia. We show that the Bronze Age was a highly dynamic period involving large-scale population migrations and replacements, responsible for shaping major parts of present-day demographic structure in both Europe and Asia. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized spread of Indo-European languages during the Early Bronze Age. We also demonstrate that light skin pigmentation in Europeans was already present at high frequency in the Bronze Age, but not lactose tolerance, indicating a more recent onset of positive selection on lactose tolerance than previously thought.
The origin and development of wheeled vehicles continues to fascinate today no less than when Stuart Piggott (1974) first wrote about the subject in Antiquity 40 years ago. A growing number of examples from the steppes of southern Russia and Ukraine are providing new insights into the design and construction of these complex artefacts. A recent example from the Ulan IV burial mound illustrates the techniques employed and the mastery of materials, with careful selection of the kinds of wood used for the wheels, axles and other elements. Stable isotope analysis of the individual interred in this grave showed that he had travelled widely, emphasising the mobility of steppe populations. Supplementary material is provided online at
Significance
Eye, hair, and skin pigmentation are highly variable in humans, particularly in western Eurasian populations. This diversity may be explained by population history, the relaxation of selection pressures, or positive selection. To investigate whether positive natural selection is responsible for depigmentation within Europe, we estimated the strength of selection acting on three genes known to have significant effects on human pigmentation. In a direct approach, these estimates were made using ancient DNA from prehistoric Europeans and computer simulations. This allowed us to determine selection coefficients for a precisely bounded period in the deep past. Our results indicate that strong selection has been operating on pigmentation-related genes within western Eurasia for the past 5,000 y.
The main subject of this study is the geochemical and isotope characterization of Armenian Early Bronze Age copper-based artefacts and their possible relation to regional copper ores. This study represents new analyses (chemical and lead isotope composition) of Armenian Early Bronze Age metal artefacts (Kura-Araxes culture) and some typical samples of main copper deposits. Altogether 52 RFA, 36 NAA and 91 ICP-MS analyses of Armenian Early Bronze Age metal artefacts and representative samples of main copper deposits were performed. Enrichment of arsenic and antimony in the artefacts relative to the composition of copper ores is shown, along with a possible explanation of this feature. The majority of the analysed artefacts turned out to consist of Cu+As alloys, some pure Cu, Cu+As+Sn, Cu+As+Pb, and Cu+Sn are also present. The spiral ring from the Talin cemetery (late fourth millennium BC) represents one of the earliest known and well dated tin bronzes with a lead isotope signature unusual for Armenian copper ores. Lead isotope abundance ratios of Armenian ores show wide variations. Inhomogeneity of lead isotope composition can be found not only within metallogenic zones and age groups, but even within some single ore deposits. Such a situation makes difficult the interpretation of lead isotope data of artefacts in comparison with ores. But it is noteworthy that wide variations of Pb isotope ratios are typical also for the artefacts. Comparative analyses of geochemical and isotope data point to some ore deposits which could represent the sources of copper for Kura-Araxes settlements of Ararat Valley, Shirak Plateau and North Armenia.
This paper is based on the trace element and lead
isotope analyses of Armenian Early Bronze Age
copper-based artefacts and copper ores. Some of this
data and discussion were reported in brief earlier.1
Metallurgy appears at an early time in the southern
Caucasus, and it has long been assumed that this
may be related to the presence of dozens of large and
small copper deposits. Numerous Eneolithic and
Early Bronze Age finds of copper-based artefacts and
especially the abundance of arsenical copper and
some early tin bronzes have supported this assumption.
Trace element concentrations and lead isotope
ratios of copper ores and copper-based artefacts are
important methods to fill gaps in our knowledge
concerning the origin of copper smelted at the beginnings
of metallurgy in the territory of Armenia and
the southern Caucasus region. They may reveal the
dissemination paths of raw materials, particularly
copper ores, and/or smelted metal. At the same time
the lead isotope abundance ratios in ores also contribute
significant information concerning the genesis
of some Armenian ore deposits.
Many of the large copper deposits in Armenia
were exploited from antiquity until the 19th century.
2 Some of the deposits (Alaverdi, Shamlug, Kapan,
Kadjaran, Agarak) are still in operation today.
Therefore, in most cases the oxidation zones of the
deposits as well as any remains of ancient workings
were destroyed. In such a situation geochemical investigations,
especially the lead isotope analysis of
copper-based artefacts and their comparison with
copper ores, are the only reliable methods to identify
the early exploitation of these deposits.
All analyses presented in this article were performed
in the Institut für Archäometrie at the Technische
Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany
Haplogroup H dominates present-day Western European mitochondrial DNA variability (>40%), yet was less common (~19%) among Early Neolithic farmers (~5450 BC) and virtually absent in Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Here we investigate this major component of the maternal population history of modern Europeans and sequence 39 complete haplogroup H mitochondrial genomes from ancient human remains. We then compare this ‘real-time’ genetic data with cultural changes taking place between the Early Neolithic (~5450 BC) and Bronze Age (~2200 BC) in Central Europe. Our results reveal that the current diversity and distribution of haplogroup H were largely established by the Mid Neolithic (~4000 BC), but with substantial genetic contributions from subsequent pan-European cultures such as the Bell Beakers expanding out of Iberia in the Late Neolithic (~2800 BC). Dated haplogroup H genomes allow us to reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of haplogroup H and reveal a mutation rate 45% higher than current estimates for human mitochondria.
In 2005 four outstanding multiple burials were discovered near Eulau, Germany. The 4,600-year-old graves contained groups
of adults and children buried facing each other. Skeletal and artifactual evidence and the simultaneous interment of the individuals
suggest the supposed families fell victim to a violent event. In a multidisciplinary approach, archaeological, anthropological,
geochemical (radiogenic isotopes), and molecular genetic (ancient DNA) methods were applied to these unique burials. Using
autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y-chromosomal markers, we identified genetic kinship among the individuals. A direct child-parent
relationship was detected in one burial, providing the oldest molecular genetic evidence of a nuclear family. Strontium isotope
analyses point to different origins for males and children versus females. By this approach, we gain insight into a Late Stone
Age society, which appears to have been exogamous and patrilocal, and in which genetic kinship seems to be a focal point of
social organization.
Recent studies of early Bronze Age human genomes revealed a massive population expansion by individuals-related to the Yamnaya culture, from the Pontic Caspian steppe into Western and Eastern Eurasia, likely accompanied by the spread of Indo-European languages [1-5]. The south eastern extent of this migration is currently not known. Modern-day human populations from the Xinjiang region in northwestern China show a complex population history, with genetic links to both Eastern and Western Eurasia [6-10]. However, due to the lack of ancient genomic data, it remains unclear which source populations contributed to the Xinjiang population and what was the timing and the number of admixture events. Here, we report the first genome-wide data of 10 ancient individuals from northeastern Xinjiang. They are dated to around 2,200 years ago and were found at the Iron Age Shirenzigou site. We find them to be already genetically admixed between Eastern and Western Eurasians. We also find that the majority of the East Eurasian ancestry in the Shirenzigou individuals is-related to northeastern Asian populations, while the West Eurasian ancestry is best presented by ∼20% to 80% Yamnaya-like ancestry. Our data thus suggest a Western Eurasian steppe origin for at least part of the ancient Xinjiang population. Our findings furthermore support a Yamnaya-related origin for the now extinct Tocharian languages in the Tarim Basin, in southern Xinjiang.
The beginning of civilization was a turning point in human evolution. With increasing separation from the natural environment, mankind stimulated new adaptive reactions in response to new environmental factors. In this paper, we describe direct signs of these reactions in the European population during the past 6,000 years. By comparing whole-genome data between Late Neolithic/Bronze Age individuals and modern Europeans, we revealed biological pathways that are significantly differently enriched in non-synonymous SNPs in these two groups and which therefore could be shaped by cultural practices during the past six millennia. They include metabolic transformations, immune response, signal transduction, physical activity, sensory perception, reproduction, and cognitive functions. We demonstrated that these processes were influenced by different types of natural selection. We believe that our study opens new perspectives for more detailed investigations about when and how civilization has been modifying human genomes.
The article is based on the results of a planigraphic examination of Scythian barrows implemented by the author in order to explore the social and clan relations within the Scythian society. The planigraphic analysis is a study of the arrangement and depth of burial construction components within a single kurgan. This kind of analysis has shown that there is a strict pattern in the arrangement of graves within a kurgan depending on their depth and, also, on their placement: either in the same row with the principal kurgan tomb or in the next row, in the eastern part of the kurgan; or in the western part of the kurgan 'behind' the main inhumation. The western half of the kurgan contained the shallowest graves of servants and horses, farthest from the center. Of the graves located in the same row with the principal ones those in the south (and on the right) had a higher status than those in the north (on the left). Like principal burials, the southern ones had accompanying horse graves; they were also marked by funerary feasts and additional earthwork of a large-scale. The female graves were predominantly placed in the eastern part of kurgans, in the second row. There were exceptional female burials marked by all the accoutrements of prestigious male graves that seem to indicate the ambivalent position of women, recorded in the ethnographic data.
We used Y-chromosome DNA typing data from 342 unrelated individuals from the Czech Republic to obtain the Y-STR haplotypes and haplogroup-defining single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The resulting Y-STR haplotypes were subsequently entered into 5 different Y-haplogroup predictors (Vadim Urasin, Nevgen, Hapest, Jim Cullen, and Felix Immanuel), and the results were compared. We also evaluated the influence of the number of STRs used (12 vs. 19 loci) on the accuracy of the Y-haplogroup predictions.
Significance
Studies of differing female and male demographic histories on the basis of ancient genomes can provide insight into the social structures and cultural interactions during major events in human prehistory. We consider the sex-specific demography of two of the largest migrations in recent European prehistory. Using genome-wide ancient genetic data from multiple Eurasian populations spanning the last 10,000 years, we find no evidence of sex-biased migrations from Anatolia, despite the shift to patrilocality associated with the spread of farming. In contrast, we infer a massive male-biased migration from the steppe during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. The contrasting patterns of sex-specific migration during these two migrations suggest that different sociocultural processes drove the two events.
This book provides an overview of Bronze Age societies of Western Eurasia through an investigation of the archaeological record. Philip L. Kohl outlines the long-term processes and patterns of interaction that link these groups together in a shared historical trajectory of development. Interactions took the form of the exchange of raw materials and finished goods, the spread and sharing of technologies, and the movements of peoples from one region to another. Kohl reconstructs economic activities from subsistence practices to the production and exchange of metals and other materials. He also examines long-term processes, such as the development of more mobile forms of animal husbandry, which were based on the introduction and large-scale utilization of oxen-drive wheeled wagons and, subsequently, the domestication and riding of horses; the spread of metalworking technologies and exploitation of new centers of metallurgical production; changes in systems of exchange from those dominated by the movement of luxury goods to those in which materials essential for maintaining and securing the reproduction of the societies participating in the exchange network accompanied and/or supplanted the trade in precious materials; and increasing evidence for militarism and political instabilities as reflected in shifts in settlement patterns, including increases in fortified sites, and quantitative and qualitative advances in weaponry. Kohl also argues forcefully that the main task of the archaeologist should be to write culture-history on a spatially and temporally grand scale in an effort to detect large, macrohistorical processes of interaction and shared development.
Roughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race.The Horse, the Wheel, and Languagelifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization. David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony describes his discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding. And he introduces a new approach to linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language. The Horse, the Wheel, and Languagesolves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries--the source of the Indo-European languages and English--and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.
This article summarizes the changes in sea level and salinity of the Black Sea during the Holocene epoch. Paleogeographical reconstructions are based on detailed geological surveys of the shelf and Holocene terraces in the Kerch-Taman region and the Caucasus littoral, as well as the northwestern Pontic area. The chronological framework derives from the comprehensive database of radiocarbon dates obtained from Black Sea sediments in the USSR and Russia. These data are presented systematically here for the first time in Appendix I at the back of the volume.
This paper details a new approach to the study of the Scythian burial mounds—the ‘planigraphy’ (or spatial analysis) of the mound and its burials, which follows two lines of enquiry that have so far been largely overlooked. Firstly, the statistics concerning the depth of all types of graves, such as primary and secondary burials, servants’ and horse graves, have been closely examined and compared because this parameter is an important mark of the social status and hierarchy of the deceased and their burials in Scythian funeral ceremonies. Secondly, grave locations within the mounds have been analysed with regard to their arrangement in relation to the ideal latitudinal and meridian axis of the Scythian mound. This analysis has led to the discovery of new facts concerning the planigraphy of the Scythian burial mound, which contribute to a more detailed understanding of the spatial representation of kinship and family hierarchy in Scythian society. The new evidence also sheds light on their system of geographical orientation in terms of cardinal points.
This paper presents a review of the numerous copper-zinc alloys (e.g. brass, gunmetal) that have been found in prehistoric contexts from the Aegean to India in the 3rd to the 1st millennium BC. Through a preliminary analysis of the available data, it is argued that there is a noticeable geographical and chronological correlation between early occurrences of copper-zinc alloys, tin-bronze, and rare examples of tin and tin-based metals. This association may have important implica- tions not only for research into the great 'tin question' of Southwest Asia, but also for research into ancient technologies in general. It is here proposed that brass may have been confused with tin-bronze by local consumers ignorant of or ambivalent about the very different mechanical properties of these two alloys, and that the linguistic separation of these two metals in the 1st millennium BC may reflect larger changes in the sociocultural categorisation of materials.