Ancient North Eurasian

In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) is the name given to an ancestral component that represents descent from the people similar to the Mal'ta–Buret' culture or a population closely related to them.

Genetic studies

The ANE lineage is defined by association with MA-1, or "Mal'ta boy", the remains of an individual who lived during the Last Glacial Maximum, 24,000 years ago in central Siberia, discovered in the 1920s.

The ANE population has been described as having been "basal to modern day western Eurasians" but not especially related to east Asians, and is suggested to have perhaps originated in Europe or Western Asia. According to Lazaridis et al. 2014, the common ancestor of ANEs and WHGs (western European hunter-gatherers) separated from eastern Eurasians around 40,000 BC, and ANEs split from WHGs around 22,000 BC (ANE is also described as a lineage "which is deeply related to Paleolithic/Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe..."). According to a study by Kanazawa-Kiriyama et al. (2017), MA-1/Mal'ta have also carried an East Eurasian-related component (around 21% of his ancestry), with the rest being West Eurasian-related.

Populations genetically similar to MA-1 were an important genetic contributor to Native Americans, Europeans, Central Asians, South Asians, and some East Asians, in order of significance. Lazaridis et al. (2016:10) note "a cline of ANE ancestry across the east-west extent of Eurasia." Flegontov et al. (2016) found that the global maximum of ANE ancestry occurs in modern-day Native Americans, Kets and Selkup. Additionally it has been reported in ancient Bronze-age-steppe Yamnaya and Afanasevo cultures. According to Lazaridis between 14% and 38% of Native American ancestry may originate from gene flow from the Mal'ta–Buret' people (ANE). This difference is caused by the penetration of posterior Siberian migrations into the Americas, with the lowest percentages of ANE ancestry found in Eskimos and Alaskan Natives, as these groups are the result of migrations into the Americas roughly 5,000 years ago. Other estimates for ANE ancestry among first wave Native Americans show higher percentages, such as those belonging to the Andean region in South America. The other gene flow in Native Americans (the remainder of their ancestry) appears to have an East Asian origin. Gene sequencing of another south-central Siberian people (Afontova Gora-2) dating to approximately 17,000 years ago, revealed similar autosomal genetic signatures to that of Mal'ta boy-1, suggesting that the region was continuously occupied by humans throughout the Last Glacial Maximum.

Genomic studies also indicate that ANE was introduced to Western Europe by way of the Yamnaya culture, long after the Paleolithic. The ANE genetic component is visible in tests of the Yamnaya people, and seems to make up 50% of their ancestry indirectly. It is also reported in modern-day Europeans (7%–25% ANE admixture directly from Yamnaya), but not of Europeans predating the Bronze Age. Additional ANE ancestry is found in European populations through paleolithic interactions with Eastern Hunter-Gatherers, which resulted in populations such as Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers.

A genetic study by Kanazawa-Kiriyama et al. 2017 found that the ANE consisted of both West-Eurasian (European-related) and East-Eurasian (East Asian-related) genetic components. They also detected geneflow from the "Karitiana component", a Native American sample, into Northeastern Europeans which may be explained by ANE ancestry in Europeans. East-Eurasian "Karitiana ancestry" in Europeans can be estimated at 21% (Fig.4).

Groups partially derived from the Ancient North Eurasians

Eastern European Hunter-Gatherer (EHG) is a lineage derived predominantly (75%) from ANE. It is represented by two individuals from Karelia, one of Y-haplogroup R1a-M417, dated c. 8.4 kya, the other of Y-haplogroup J, dated c. 7.2 kya; and one individual from Samara, of Y-haplogroup R1b-P297, dated c. 7.6 kya. This lineage is closely related to the ANE sample from Afontova Gora, dated c. 18 kya. After the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, the Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG) and EHG lineages merged in Eastern Europe, accounting for early presence of ANE-derived ancestry in Mesolithic Europe. Evidence suggests that as Ancient North Eurasians migrated West from Eastern Siberia, they absorbed Western Hunter-Gatherers and other West Eurasian populations as well.

Caucasian Hunter-Gatherer (CHG) is represented by the Satsurblia individual dated ~13 kya (from the Satsurblia cave in Georgia), and carried 36% ANE-derived admixture. While the rest of their ancestry is derived from the Dzudzuana cave individual dated ~26 kya, which lacked ANE-admixture, Dzudzuana affinity in the Caucasus decreased with the arrival of ANE at ~13 kya Satsurblia.

Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherer (SHG) is represented by several individuals buried at Motala, Sweden ca. 6000 BC. They were descended from Western Hunter-Gatherers who initially settled Scandinavia from the south, and later populations of EHG who entered Scandinavia from the north through the coast of Norway.

Iran Neolithic (Iran_N) individuals dated ~8.5 kya carried 50% ANE-derived admixture and 50% Dzudzuana-related admixture, marking them as different from other Near-Eastern and Anatolian Neolithics who didn't have ANE admixture. Iran Neolithics were later replaced by Iran Chalcolithics, who were a mixture of Iran Neolithic and Near Eastern Levant Neolithic.

Ancient Beringian/Ancestral Native American are specific archaeogenetic lineages, based on the genome of an infant found at the Upward Sun River site (dubbed USR1), dated to 11,500 years ago. The AB lineage diverged from the Ancestral Native American (ANA) lineage about 20,000 years ago.

West Siberian Hunter-Gatherer (WSG) are a specific archaeogenetic lineage, first reported in a genetic study published in Science in September 2019. WSGs were found to be of about 30% EHG ancestry, 50% ANE ancestry, and 20% East Asian ancestry.

Evolution of blond hair

The derived allele of the KITLG SNP rs12821256 is associated with, and likely causal for, blond hair in Europeans. The earliest known individual with this allele is the Siberian ANE individual Afontova Gora 3, which is dated to 16130-15749 BCE. This allele is also present in one hunter-gatherer each from Samara, Motala and Ukraine (I0124, I0014 and I1763), as well as several later individuals with Steppe ancestry. Since the allele is found in populations with EHG but not Western Hunter-Gatherer ancestry, it suggests that its origin is in the Ancient North Eurasian population.

Geneticist David Reich said that the KITLG gene for blond hair entered continental Europe in a massive population migration from the Eurasian steppe, by a people who had Ancient North Eurasian ancestry.

Comparative mythology

Since the term 'Ancient North Eurasian' refers to a genetic bridge of connected mating networks, scholars of comparative mythology have argued that they probably shared myths and beliefs that could be reconstructed via the comparison of stories attested within cultures that were not in contact for millennia and stretched from the Pontic-Caspian steppe to the American continent.

For instance, the mytheme of the dog guarding the Otherworld possibly stems from an older Ancient North Eurasian belief, as suggested by similar motifs found in Indo-European, Native American and Siberian mythology. In Siouan, Algonquian, Iroquoian, and in Central and South American beliefs, a fierce guard dog was located in the Milky Way, perceived as the path of souls in the afterlife, and getting past it was a test. The Siberian Chukchi and Tungus believed in a guardian-of-the-afterlife dog and a spirit dog that would absorb the dead man's soul and act as a guide in the afterlife. In Indo-European myths, the figure of the dog is embodied by Cerberus, Sarvarā, and Garmr. Anthony and Brown note that it might be one of the oldest mythemes recoverable through comparative mythology.

A second canid-related series of beliefs, myths and rituals connected dogs with healing rather than death. For instance, Ancient Near Eastern and Turkic-Kipchaq myths are prone to associate dogs with healing and generally categorised dogs as impure. A similar myth-pattern is assumed for the Eneolithic site of Botai in Kazakhstan, dated to 3500 BC, which might represent the dog as absorber of illness and guardian of the household against disease and evil. In Mesopotamia, the Nintinugga Gula, associated with healing, was symbolized by a dog. Similar absorbent-puppy healing and sacrifice rituals were practiced in Greece and Italy, among the Hittites, again possibly influenced by Near Eastern traditions.

Philologist Aleksandar Loma argues that parts of Native American and Indo-European concepts connecting wolves with ritual knowledge and magic may represent a common Ancient North Eurasian heritage. The word mai-coh means both 'wolf' and 'witch' among Navajos, and shunk manita tanka a 'doglike powerful spirit' among Sioux. The Proto-Indo-European root *ṷeid ("knowledge, clairvoyance") designated the wolf in both Hittite (ṷetna) and Old Norse (witnir), and a "werewolf" in Slavic languages (Serbian vjedo-gonja, Slovenian vedanec, Ukrainian viščun). Historian Michael P. Speidel has compared the fighting madness and dancing frenzy of the Aztec Quachics wolf-warriors with the Germanic mad wolf-warriors (Berserks), and has argued that this could be due to shared historical origins–or perhaps a feature common to warrior societies: the more willing a warrior is to attack recklessly, the more useful he may be in battle.

According to comparative mythologist Bernard Sergent, the Lithuanian myth of Eglė the Queen of Serpents shares similar motifs with stories found among Native American peoples (Wayampi, Yahgan and Coos), which may be explained by an inherited Ancient North Eurasian motif featuring a woman marrying an aquatic animal, violating human laws on exogamy and connecting the terrestrial and aquatic worlds. Sergent reminds however that the precise time and place of origin of the myth cannot be settled with certainty.

See also

• Western Hunter-Gatherer
• Caucasian Hunter-Gatherer

Bibliography

• Anthony, David W.; Brown, Dorcas R. (2019). "Late Bronze Age midwinter dog sacrifices and warrior initiations at Krasnosamarskoe, Russia". In Olsen, Birgit A.; Olander, Thomas; Kristiansen, Kristian (eds.). Tracing the Indo-Europeans: New evidence from archaeology and historical linguistics. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78925-273-6.
• Dolitsky, Alexander B.; Ackerman, Robert E.; Aigner, Jean S.; et al. (June 1985). "Siberian Paleolithic Archaeology: Approaches and Analytic Methods [and Comments and Replies]". Current Anthropology. 26 (3): 361–378. doi:10.1086/203280. S2CID 147371671.
• Flegontov, Pavel; Changmai, Piya; Zidkova, Anastassiya; et al. (11 February 2016). "Genomic study of the Ket: a Paleo-Eskimo-related ethnic group with significant ancient North Eurasian ancestry". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 20768. arXiv:1508.03097. Bibcode:2016NatSR...620768F. doi:10.1038/srep20768. PMC 4750364. PMID 26865217.
• Günther, Thorsten (January 1, 2018). "Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia: Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation". PLOS Biology. 16 (1). PLOS: e2003703. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2003703. PMC 5760011. PMID 29315301.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
• Haak, Wolfgang; Lazaridis, Iosif; Patterson, Nick; et al. (2 March 2015). "Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe". Nature. 522 (7555): 207–211. arXiv:1502.02783. Bibcode:2015Natur.522..207H. doi:10.1038/nature14317. PMC 5048219. PMID 25731166.
• Lazaridis, Iosif; Nadel, Dani; Rollefson, Gary; et al. (25 July 2016). "Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East". Nature. 536 (7617): 419–424. Bibcode:2016Natur.536..419L. doi:10.1038/nature19310. PMC 5003663. PMID 27459054.
• Lazaridis, Iosif; Patterson, Nick; Mittnik, Alissa; et al. (17 September 2014). "Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans". Nature. 513 (7518): 409–413. arXiv:1312.6639. Bibcode:2014Natur.513..409L. doi:10.1038/nature13673. hdl:11336/30563. PMC 4170574. PMID 25230663.
• Loma, Aleksandar (2019). Problems of chronological and social stratification in the historical anthroponomastics: The case of "lupine" and "equine" proper names among the Indo-European peoples (PDF). Personal Names and Cultural Reconstruction. University of Helsinki.
• Mathieson, Iain; Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Songül; Posth, Cosimo; et al. (21 February 2018). "The genomic history of southeastern Europe" (PDF). Nature. 555 (7695): 197–203. Bibcode:2018Natur.555..197M. doi:10.1038/nature25778. PMC 6091220. PMID 29466330.
• Mathieson, Iain (November 23, 2015). "Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians". Nature. 528 (7583). Nature Research: 499–503. Bibcode:2015Natur.528..499M. doi:10.1038/nature16152. PMC 4918750. PMID 26595274.
• Mittnik, Alisa (January 30, 2018). "The genetic prehistory of the Baltic Sea region". Nature Communications. 9 (1). Nature Research: 442. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9..442M. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02825-9. PMC 5789860. PMID 29382937.
• Narasimhan, Vagheesh M. (September 6, 2019). "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia". Science. 365 (6457). American Association for the Advancement of Science: eaat7487. bioRxiv 10.1101/292581. doi:10.1126/science.aat7487. PMC 6822619. PMID 31488661.
• Raghavan, Maanasa; Skoglund, Pontus; Graf, Kelly E.; et al. (20 November 2013). "Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans". Nature. 505 (7481): 87–91. Bibcode:2014Natur.505...87R. doi:10.1038/nature12736. PMC 4105016. PMID 24256729.
• Sergent, Bernard (1999). "Un mythe lithuano-amérindien". Dialogues d'Histoire Ancienne. 25 (2): 9–39. doi:10.3406/dha.1999.1536.
• Speidel, Michael P. (2002). "Berserks: A History of Indo-European Mad Warriors". Journal of World History. 13 (2): 253–290. doi:10.1353/jwh.2002.0054. ISSN 1045-6007. JSTOR 20078974. S2CID 162397267.
• Lazaridis; Belfer-Cohen, Anna; Mallick, Swapan; et al. (2018). "Paleolithic DNA from the Caucasus reveals core of West Eurasian ancestry". bioRxiv. doi:10.1101/423079.