A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia’s Eastern Steppe

Choongwon Jeong,Elena Zhambaltarova,Dorjpurev Khatanbaatar,Shevan Wilkin,Ayudai Ochir,Sodnom Ulziibayar,Johannes Krause,Diimaajav Erdenebaatar,Chuluunbat Munkhbayar,Raphaela Stahl,Wolfgang Haak,Battuga Ochir,Ke Wang,Christina Warinner,Bilikto A Bazarov,Ganbold Ankhsanaa,Myagmar Erdene,Stephan Schiffels,Jessica Hendy,Chuluunkhuu Vanchigdash,Chelsea Chiovelli,Nikolay Kradin,Nicole Boivin,Bryan K Miller,Ulambayar Erdenebat,Prokopiy B Konovalov,Florian Knolle,D A Miyagashev ,Jan Bemmann ,Alicia R Ventresca Miller ,Alexey A Kovalev ,William Taylor ,Dashtseveg Tumen

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015

Abstract

SummaryThe 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.

Highlights

Recent paleogenomic studies have revealed a dynamic population history on the Eurasian Steppe, with continental-scale migration events on the Western Steppe coinciding with BronzeAge transformations of Europe, the Near East, and the Caucasus (Allentoft et al, 2015; Damgaard et al, 2018a; 2018b; Haak et al, 2015; Mathieson et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2019)
Recent paleogenomic studies suggest that the eastern Eurasian forest steppe zone was genetically structured during the Pre-Bronze and Early Bronze Age periods, with a strong west-east admixture cline of ancestry stretching from Botai in central Kazakhstan to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia to Devil’s Gate Cave in the Russian Far East (Damgaard et al, 2018a; Jeong et al, 2018; Sikora et al, 2019; Siska et al, 2017)
BCE), and four from the eastern Baikal region (‘‘Fofonovo_EN’’). By comparing these genomes to previously published ancient and modern data across Eurasia (Figure 2; Table S3C), we found that they are most closely related to contemporaneous huntergatherers from the western Baikal region (‘‘Baikal_EN,’’ 5200– 4200 BCE) and the Russian Far East (‘‘DevilsCave_N,’’ ca. 5700 BCE), filling in the geographic gap in the distribution of this genetic profile (Figure 3A). We refer to this profile as ‘‘Ancient Northeast Asian’’ (ANA) to reflect its geographic distribution relative to another widespread mid-Holocene genetic profile known as ‘‘Ancient North Eurasian’’ (ANE), which is found among the Pleistocene hunter-gatherers of the Mal’ta and Afontova Gora sites in Siberia (Fu et al, 2016; Raghavan et al, 2015) and the horse-herders of Botai, Kazakhstan (Damgaard et al, 2018a)

Summary

Introduction

Recent paleogenomic studies have revealed a dynamic population history on the Eurasian Steppe, with continental-scale migration events on the Western Steppe coinciding with BronzeAge transformations of Europe, the Near East, and the Caucasus (Allentoft et al, 2015; Damgaard et al, 2018a; 2018b; Haak et al, 2015; Mathieson et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2019). Recent paleogenomic studies have revealed a dynamic population history on the Eurasian Steppe, with continental-scale migration events on the Western Steppe coinciding with Bronze. Article ll the Eastern Steppe remain poorly understood (Damgaard et al, 2018a; Jeong et al, 2018; Rogers, 2016). Recent paleogenomic studies suggest that the eastern Eurasian forest steppe zone was genetically structured during the Pre-Bronze and Early Bronze Age periods, with a strong west-east admixture cline of ancestry stretching from Botai in central Kazakhstan to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia to Devil’s Gate Cave in the Russian Far East (Damgaard et al, 2018a; Jeong et al, 2018; Sikora et al, 2019; Siska et al, 2017)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion