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Matrilineal and Patrilineal Genetic Continuity of Two Iron Age Individuals from a Pazyryk Culture Burial

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Matrilineal and Patrilineal Genetic Continuity of Two Iron Age Individuals from a Pazyryk Culture Burial © Kamla-Raj 2019 Int J Hum Genet, 19(1): 29-47 (2019) PRINT: ISSN 0972-3757 ONLINE: ISSN 2456-6330 DOI: 10.31901/24566330.2019/19.01.709 Matrilineal and Patrilineal Genetic Continuity of Two Iron Age Individuals from a Pazyryk Culture Burial Dmitrii G. Tikhonov1, Cemal Gurkan2, 3,*, Gokce Y. A. Peler4 and Victor M. Dyakonov5 1Scientific Research Institute of Health, North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russian Federation 2Turkish Cypriot DNA Laboratory, Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Member Office, Nicosia (North Cyprus), Turkey 3Dr. Fazil Kucuk Faculty of Medicine, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, (North Cyprus), Turkey 4Department of Contemporary Turkic Languages and Literatures, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey 5Archaeology Department, Institute for Humanitarian Research and Problems of Indigenous People of the North, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russian Federation KEYWORDS Ak-Alakha. Ancient DNA. Scythian. Saka. Turkic ABSTRACT In this study, geographic and linguistic distributions of contemporary and ancient matches with the paternal and maternal lineages of two individuals exhumed from the exemplary Pazyryk culture burial site of Ak- Alakha-1 mound 1 were investigated. Using the shared paternal and maternal haplotypes observed in both ancient individuals, extensive database and literature searches were conducted revealing numerous full matches among contemporary Eurasians, majority of whom speak Altaic Languages. Despite the current focus on the two Pazyryk individuals, a rare glimpse into the ancient migrations was gained through the discovery of paternal and maternal haplotype matches across an immense geography that spans from Yakutia to Turkey. In addition to a vast array of archaeological findings in such Scythian “frozen graves” across Central Asia, accumulating archaeogenetic data are expected to shed light on the anthropology of these otherwise mysterious people. INTRODUCTION root to start with. Briefly, the ancient Persian terminology of Saka is reminiscent of the Turkic Scythians were nomadic pastoralists who word yaqa for ‘coast, shore or edge’, of course, lived between the 9th and 1st centuries BCE. They being an Iranized version of the word with a y- inhabited a vast geography spanning the Eur- to s- sound change. Intriguingly, the contempo- asian Steppe, starting from the Vistula River in rary Turkic population of Yakuts also call them- Eastern Europe, through the Central Asia, and selves Sakha, which is seemingly the Yakut finally reaching the Tarim Basin in Northwest equivalent of the general Turkic word yaqa [y- China. Such a spatial and temporal expanse nat- to s- sound change is typical of the Yakut lan- urally entailed contacts with numerous other civ- guage, and one of the characteristics that dif- ilizations of the time, which is reflected by the ferentiate it from the other Turkic languages] different names attributed to the Scythians in (Kiriscioglu 1994; Stachowski and Menz 2006). ancient records such as the Skyth(ai) by the The ancient Greek terminology, which has found Greeks, Saka by the Persians, Sai by the Chi- the most widespread use today, parallels the nese, Asgus(ai) by the Assyrians, and Ishkigu- ancient Persian one. According to Herodotus, lu by the Urartians (King and Thompson 1907; the Skythai and Saka were the same people Herodotus 1920; Luckenbill 1927; Ercilasun 2008; (Herodotus 1920). Curiously, when the Greek Durmus 2012). plurality marker –ai is removed, the remaining From the linguistic perspective alone, the part, Skyt(h), seems to retain the Old Turkic and ethnonyms associated with the Scythians may Mongolic plurality marker –t. Hence, the Greek perhaps have an Old Turkic and/or Mongolic version could be a Grecified version of the orig- inally Turkic-Mongolic Saqat or Saqït (Ercilas- *Address for correspondence: E-mail: [email protected] un 2008). Incidentally, the Scythian tribe names 30 DMITRII G. TIKHONOV, CEMAL GURKAN, GOKCE Y. A. PELER ET AL. Targutae, Skolot and Paralat also end with the it was also apparently used as symbols on ban- sound –t and hence could be interpreted as ners (Roux 1997). Türküt, Sikülüt and Barulat, in turn being the While it was originally thought that the Pon- plural forms of the Turkic tribal names Türk, Çiğ il tic-Caspian Steppe, situated just above the Black and Barula (Zeki Velidi Togan 1981). Sea, was the heartland for the Scythian culture, The debate around the population continu- a more recent hypothesis suggested Central Asia ity associated with the ancient Scythians is still as a more likely origin (Bashilov and Yablonsky an unsettled one. Minns could not have been 2000; Yablonsky 2000). The strongest support more correct in stating more than a century ago for a Central Asiatic origin stems from the dis- that “Perhaps no question touching the eth- covery of the earliest Scythian kurgan in Tuva nography of the ancient world has been more from Southern Siberia (Grjaznov 1984). Potential disputed than that of the affinities of the Scyth- Asiatic origins for “the animal style” artistic tra- ians” (Minns 1913; Kristiansen 1998; Damgaard ditions also provide further support for the Cen- et al. 2018). Indeed, more than a few different tral/East Asian origin of this culture (Bashilov ethnic affinities were proposed for the Scyth- and Yablonsky 2000). Fortunately, special envi- ians, such as Iranian, Uralic-Altaic (proto-Turkic) ronmental circumstances associated with the and Slavonic being the most prominent and per- Siberian permafrost provided a unique opportu- sistent ones (Denis 1990; Mallory and Adams nity for the recovery of highly preserved Scyth- 1997; Findley 2004; Beckwith 2009; Cynarski ian human remains and associated organic arti- facts, as part of “frozen grave” burials that are 2018). The most convincing proposal for the eth- th rd nic origins of the ancient Scythians remains the dated between 6 and 3 centuries BCE. Scyth- possibility that “They were not a specific peo- ian burials, such as those associated with the ple”, but rather one that comprised a variety of Pazyryk culture, were found at numerous sites ethnicities “referred to at variety of times in across the Altai Mountains, modern-day Kaza- history, and in several places, none of which khstan and Mongolia. Along with these unique was their original homeland” (Kristiansen archaeological findings, an increasing amount 1998). of anthropological and archaeogenetic data col- lectively suggest an admixed genetic and cul- The Scythian cultural heritage is evident from tural character for the Scythians comprising west the legacy of an immense array of artifacts left and east Eurasian influences (Alekseev 1986; behind, such as those recovered at numerous Voevoda et al. 1998; Voevoda et al. 2000; Clisson kurgan burials across the Eurasian Steppe. At et al. 2002; Chikisheva 2003; Lalueza-Fox et al. least in the archaeological context, the terms 2004; Ricaut et al. 2004a; Ricaut et al. 2004b; Scythian and Scythic are used interchangeably Pilipenko et al. 2010; Pilipenko et al. 2015; Gubi- without a specific linguistic or ethnic connota- na et al. 2016; Juras et al. 2017; Movsesian and tion to imply a broader display of mounted no- Bakholdina 2017; Damgaard et al. 2018). madic characteristics associated with the Scy- Of particular interest to the current study are tho-Siberian culture, such as the presence of the archaeogenetic investigations associated special weapons, horse gear and of course “the with the exemplary mound 1 from the Ak-Ala- animal style” artwork (Davis-Kimball 1995; Di kha-1 site on the Ukok Plateau in the Altai Re- Cosimo 1999). Among these, the most notable is public (Polosmak 1994a; Pilipenko et al. 2015). “the animal style”, the development of which This typical Pazyryk “frozen grave” was dated was seemingly influenced by two important pro- around 2268±39 years before present (Bln-4977) gressive steps in human civilization: the emer- (Gersdorff and Parzinger 2000). Initial anthropo- gence of metal processing and progress in ani- logical findings suggested an undisturbed dual mal husbandry. In the Scythian period, “the an- inhumation comprising “a middle-aged Europe- imal style” had become an integral art form used an-type man” and “a young European-type for decorating everyday objects such as horse woman”, both of whom presumably had a high gears, jewelry, weapons, mirrors, handled wine social status among the Pazyryk elite (Polosmak jugs, cups, vases, batons, calyptras, appliqués, 1994a). In contrast, recent archaeogenetic inves- shields, plaques, saddlery, belts etc. Furthermore, tigations revealed somewhat contradicting re- Int J Hum Genet, 19(1): 29-47 (2019) A CASE STUDY ON THE GENETIC CONTINUITY OF THE PAZYRYK CULTURE 31 sults since analyses at both the amelogenin gene investigated based on already available archaeo- and Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) genetic data for two individuals exhumed from loci clearly established that both Scythians were the Ak-Alakha-1 Pazyryk burial site (Pilipenko actually males and had paternal and maternal et al. 2015). Y-STR haplotypes matching with or lineages that are typically associated with east- having only a few allelic variations from that ern Eurasians (Pilipenko et al. 2015). Through observed in the two Scythians from Ak-Alakha- the use of mitochondrial, autosomal and Y-chro- 1 were compiled through searches at the Y-Chro- mosomal DNA typing systems, it was possible mosome STR Haplotype
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