Postglacial genomes from foragers across Northern Eurasia reveal prehistoric mobility associated with the spread of the Uralic and Yeniseian languages

Abstract

The North Eurasian forest and forest-steppe zones have sustained millennia of sociocultural connections among northern peoples. We present genome-wide ancient DNA data for 181 individuals from this region spanning the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age. We find that Early to Mid-Holocene hunter-gatherer populations from across the southern forest and forest-steppes of Northern Eurasia can be characterized by a continuous gradient of ancestry that remained stable for millennia, ranging from fully West Eurasian in the Baltic region to fully East Asian in the Transbaikal region. In contrast, cotemporaneous groups in far Northeast Siberia were genetically distinct, retaining high levels of continuity from a population that was the primary source of ancestry for Native Americans. By the mid-Holocene, admixture between this early Northeastern Siberian population and groups from Inland East Asia and the Amur River Basin produced two distinctive populations in eastern Siberia that played an important role in the genetic formation of later people. Ancestry from the first population, Cis-Baikal Late Neolithic–Bronze Age (Cisbaikal_LNBA), is found substantially only among Yeniseian-speaking groups and those known to have admixed with them. Ancestry from the second, Yakutian Late Neolithic–Bronze Age (Yakutia_LNBA), is strongly associated with present-day Uralic speakers. We show how Yakutia_LNBA ancestry spread from an east Siberian origin ∼4.5kya, along with subclades of Y-chromosome haplogroup N occurring at high frequencies among present-day Uralic speakers, into Western and Central Siberia in communities associated with Seima-Turbino metallurgy: a suite of advanced bronze casting techniques that spread explosively across an enormous region of Northern Eurasia ∼4.0kya. However, the ancestry of the 16 Seima-Turbino-period individuals—the first reported from sites with this metallurgy—was otherwise extraordinarily diverse, with partial descent from Indo-Iranian-speaking pastoralists and multiple hunter-gatherer populations from widely separated regions of Eurasia. Our results provide support for theories suggesting that early Uralic speakers at the beginning of their westward dispersal where involved in the expansion of Seima-Turbino metallurgical traditions, and suggests that both cultural transmission and migration were important in the spread of Seima-Turbino material culture.

Y chromosome sequencing data suggests dual paths of haplogroup N1a1 into Finland

“…Within Finland, the highest frequencies of N1a1 are observed in the eastern regions of the country 7,10 , suggesting eastern introduction of this haplogroup into the country. This aligns with the postulated Siberian origin of the haplogroup 11,12 . The frequency of N1a1 in Europe diminishes rapidly towards the west and south, and it is observed with very low frequencies in Central Europe 13 .…”

“…Within Finland, haplogroup N1a1a1a1a2a1a1a (Z1926) further divides into two main lineages, with a “Savonian” sublineage N1a1a1a1a2a1a1a1b (Z4878) enriched in the northeast, and a “Karelian” sublineage N1a1a1a1a2a1a1a1a (CTS1950) displaying a more dispersed enrichment pattern in the southeast. A possible source of haplogroup N1a1a1a1a2a1a1a (Z1926) into the country could be through migrations from Siberia 12 that started to arrive in Northeastern Europe around 3,500 years ago 40 . According to our estimate the “Savonian” and “Karelian” sublineages share a common ancestor approximately 3,200 years ago, which could indicate the split of these two groups occurred in the close proximity of Finland.…”

Long shared haplotypes identify the Southern Urals as a primary source for the 10th century Hungarians

“…The genetic gradients displayed on the PCA by the Volga-Ural region groups (Fig. 2B) align with the modern genetic variation found in Eurasia's forest and forest-steppe zones (the northern one) and the steppe zone (the southern one), respectively (68). The Asian end of the northern gradient is linked to the Yakutian LNBA population, which is a genetic "tracer dye" for Uralic speakers in North Eurasia (68).…”

“…Our findings reveal a widespread yet varying presence of Early Bronze Age Yamnaya-related ancestry across the region. This persistent Yamnaya-related ancestry (30), contrasted with the fluctuating levels of other ancestries, such as the Yakutia LNBA or Altai Neolithic (68), reflecting a patchwork of local genetic influences in the region.…”

Improved detection of methylation in ancient DNA

“…In order to test various methylation protocols, we chose two samples for which high-coverage data exists as part of the Allen Ancient Genome Diversity Project (https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/ancient-genome-diversity-project). The two samples, Zvej16 (I4438 from [30]) and SP75 (I3957 from [31])), have previously had double stranded libraries produced from cochlea powder DNA extracts with a USER pre-treatment to remove Uracils (Us). The libraries were then shotgun sequenced to a depth of 28.98X and 28.53X, respectively.…”