RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A dynamic 6,000-year genetic history of Eurasia’s Eastern Steppe
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.03.25.008078
DO 10.1101/2020.03.25.008078
A1 Choongwon Jeong
A1 Ke Wang
A1 Shevan Wilkin
A1 William Timothy Treal Taylor
A1 Bryan K. Miller
A1 Sodnom Ulziibayar
A1 Raphaela Stahl
A1 Chelsea Chiovelli
A1 Jan H. Bemmann
A1 Florian Knolle
A1 Nikolay Kradin
A1 Bilikto A. Bazarov
A1 Denis A. Miyagashev
A1 Prokopiy B. Konovalov
A1 Elena Zhambaltarova
A1 Alicia Ventresca Miller
A1 Wolfgang Haak
A1 Stephan Schiffels
A1 Johannes Krause
A1 Nicole Boivin
A1 Erdene Myagmar
A1 Jessica Hendy
A1 Christina Warinner
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/03/25/2020.03.25.008078.abstract
AB The Eastern Eurasian Steppe was home to historic empires of nomadic pastoralists, including the Xiongnu and the Mongols. However, little is known about the region’s population history. Here we reveal its dynamic genetic history by analyzing new genome-wide data for 214 ancient individuals spanning 6,000 years. We identify a pastoralist expansion into Mongolia ca. 3000 BCE, and by the Late Bronze Age, Mongolian populations were biogeographically structured into three distinct groups, all practicing dairy pastoralism regardless of ancestry. The Xiongnu emerged from the mixing of these populations and those from surrounding regions. By comparison, the Mongols exhibit much higher Eastern Eurasian ancestry, resembling present-day Mongolic-speaking populations. Our results illuminate the complex interplay between genetic, sociopolitical, and cultural changes on the Eastern Steppe.