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

Unterländer, Martina; Palstra, Friso; Lazaridis, Iosif; Pilipenko, Aleksandr; Hofmanová, Zuzana; Groß, Melanie; Sell, Christian; Blöcher, Jens; Kirsanow, Karola; Rohland, Nadin; Rieger, Benjamin; Kaiser, Elke; Schier, Wolfram; Pozdniakov, Dimitri; Khokhlov, Aleksandr; Georges, Myriam; Wilde, Sandra; Powell, Adam; Heyer, Evelyne; Currat, Mathias; Reich, David; Samashev, Zainolla; Parzinger, Hermann; Molodin, Vyacheslav I.; Burger, Joachim

doi:10.1038/ncomms14615

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Title		Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe
Authors		Unterländer, Martina Palstra, Friso Lazaridis, Iosif Pilipenko, Aleksandr Hofmanová, Zuzana Groß, Melanie Sell, Christian Blöcher, Jens Kirsanow, Karola Rohland, Nadin Rieger, Benjamin Kaiser, Elke Schier, Wolfram Pozdniakov, Dimitri Khokhlov, Aleksandr Georges, Myriam Wilde, Sandra Powell, Adam Heyer, Evelyne Currat, Mathias Reich, David Samashev, Zainolla Parzinger, Hermann Molodin, Vyacheslav I. Burger, Joachim show all authors [1 - 25]
Published in		Nature communications. 2017, vol. 8, 14615
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.
Keywords		Biological anthropology — Population genetics
Identifiers		DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14615
Full text		Article (Published version) (1.1 MB) - Free access
Structures		Faculté des sciences / Section de biologie / Département de génétique et évolution
Research groups		Groupe Currat Unité d'anthropologie
Project		Swiss National Science Foundation: 31003A_156853
Citation (ISO format)		UNTERLÄNDER, Martina et al. Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe. In: Nature communications, 2017, vol. 8, p. 14615. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14615 https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:92416