SUPR
Western Nomads ancient DNA project
Dnr:

NAISS 2023/23-199

Type:

NAISS Small Storage

Principal Investigator:

Maja Krzewinska

Affiliation:

Stockholms universitet

Start Date:

2023-06-01

End Date:

2024-06-01

Primary Classification:

10615: Evolutionary Biology

Webpage:

Allocation

Abstract

The Bronze Age Great Steppe human migrations have had huge impact on shaping of the present day genetic human variation across Eurasian massive and were additionally accompanied by cultural diffusion as witnessed by the dissemination of technologies and Indo-European languages. Major shifts have been attributed to the spread of Bronze Age Yamnaya cultural complex, but numerous waves of migrations in various directions followed well into the Iron and even the Middle Ages. As nomadic culture often leaves little or no archaeological evidence, ancient genomic analyses prove indispensable. Our own study of steppe nomads has shown that even chronologically ordered steppe nomadic groups do not exhibit direct ancestry despite shared genetic affinities, thus highlighting the dynamic shifts in population makeup and suggesting the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppe was a probable source of western nomadic groups. In this project, we will further explore the origins of various nomadic groups and their genetic affinities based on the analyses of newly generated 130 human genomes from Late Bronze Age and Iron Age nomads of the Pontic-Caspian steppe and elsewhere.