1.1. Our article, first summary of this source, says:
Close genetic relations to populations of Iron Age Scandinavia and modern Norwegians and Swedes were detected,[89]
Our footnote 89 quotes: Stolarek 2018. "Kow-OVIA was most closely linked to the Jutland Iron Age (JIA) population... in close proximity to the present Scandinavian populations (Norwegian and Swedish)."
Note: The article defines Kow-OVIA as "a bi-ritual cemetery of the Iron Age (IA) Wielbark culture, located between the Oder and Vistula rivers". Also, this is the only place in the article's main body which uses words derived from Norway or Sweden.
The 2 parts of the footnote 89 quote, separated by "...", are from 2 different parts of the article! Fuller versions:
Source of first part of our quote: The collected data revealed high genetic diversity of Kow-OVIA, suggesting that it was not a small isolated population. Analyses of mtDNA haplogroup frequencies and genetic distances performed for Kow-OVIA and other ancient European populations showed that Kow-OVIA was most closely linked to the Jutland Iron Age (JIA) population. However, the relationship of both populations to the preceding Late Neolithic (LN) and EBA populations were different. We found that this phenomenon is most likely the consequence of the distinct genetic history observed for Kow-OVIA women and men. Females were related to the Early-Middle Neolithic farmers, whereas males were related to JIA and LN Bell Beakers. In general, our findings disclose the mechanisms that could underlie the formation of the local genetic substructures in the South Baltic region during the IA.
The point is that there is something complicated happening here which they find difficult to explain, but which might be interesting to future researchers. Note that the Bell Beaker culture was all over Europe.
Source of second part of our quote. Kow-OVIA was located within a range of European genetic diversity, in close proximity to the present Scandinavian populations (Norwegian and Swedish).
Note: this is commentary on tables and graphic representations (Supplementary Fig. S3a and Table S10, Supplementary Material Text) which we do not show. In that context it is 100% clear that the authors ARE NOT claiming that Scandinavian populations are closest, and are this is only one among many remarks about possible interpretations of the data. In fact, they explain it with S3b, splitting the two sexes, which shows that all modern populations are closer to each other than to either the male or female Kow-OVIA groups (and the two sexes are stunningly different from each other).
1.2. Our article, second commentary on this source, says:
A genetic study published in Scientific Reports in 2018 examined the mtDNA of 60 individuals buried at the Wielbark cemetery of Kowalewko in the 1st and 2nd centuries. The majority of the individuals carried types of haplogroup H and U, and notably displayed higher frequencies of U5b (a typically Western Hunter-Gatherer lineage) than preceding and succeeding populations in the area. They were found to be most closely related to Iron Age Scandinavian populations and the Bell Beaker culture. Strong genetic similarities with modern Scandinavians, such as Norwegians and Swedes, were detected. The males and females of Kowalewko were found to be of significantly different origins, with males displaying closer links to Iron Age Scandinavia and carrying higher amounts of steppe ancestry and hunter-gatherer ancestry than the females.[197]
Notably, most of this is irrelevant to Goths. But for completeness:
Haplogroups H and U are 2 of the most common among all populations in Eurasia.
For "Western Hunter-Gatherer lineage" the article instead says during the IA, haplogroup U5b, typical for the populations from the western glacial refugia, was more frequent. At present, haplogroup U5a is again more often found in the CEM [Central Europe Metapopulation].
2.1. In our first genetics section, a sentence about this article is added together with commentary on the first article:
The authors of the study cited this as supporting the theory of a Scandinavian origin of the Goths.[36]
Our footnote 36: Stolarek 2019. "The collected results seem to be consistent with the historical narrative that assumed that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia... [T]he genetic relationships reported here between the Mas-VBIA and both earlier characterized IA populations (the Kow-OVIA and JIA) support the opinion that southern Scandinavia was the homeland of the Goths."
[IA is Iron Age. Mas-VBIA is the set of mitochondrial DNA isolated from 27 individuals from an Iron Age cemetery, 2nd-4th century A.D., attributed to Goths and located near Masłomęcz, eastern Poland.]
Note: The 2 parts of the footnote 36 quote, separated by "...", are (once again) from 2 different parts of the article. Also, the collected results" required to make this comment are from both articles, not only the old 2018 one. A fuller quote:
Our studies revealed close genetic links between the Mas-VBIA and two other Iron Age populations from the Jutland peninsula and from Kowalewko, located in western Poland. We disclosed the genetic connection between the Mas-VBIA and ancient Pontic-Caspian steppe groups. Similar connections were absent in the chronologically earlier Kowalewko and Jutland peninsula populations. The collected results seem to be consistent with the historical narrative that assumed that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia; then, at least part of the Goth population moved south through the territory of contemporary Poland towards the Black Sea region, where they mixed with local populations and formed the Chernyakhov culture.
So Jutland is being used as a proxy for "southern Scandinavia" in this conclusion.
2.2. Our article, in the second genetics section, says:
A genetic study published in Scientific Reports in 2019 examined the mtDNA of 27 Goths buried at a Wielbark cemetery in Masłomęcz from the 2nd to the 4th centuries. They were found to be mostly carriers of haplogroup H and U. The individuals displayed even closer genetic links to Iron Age Scandinavian populations than did those of Kowalewko. Males and females at Masłomęcz were found to be more closely related to each other than those at Kowalewko. They also carried fewer samples of U5b, and displayed fewer strong genetic links to the steppe populations than earlier Wielbark samples from Kowalewko. The results appeared to support the theory that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia and expanded southwards through the Wielbark culture towards the Black Sea, where they mixed with local populations and established the Chernyakhov culture.[198]
3.1. Our article, first summary of this source, says:
In 2019, a genetic study of various cultures of the Eurasian Steppe was published in Current Biology. Samples from three individuals thought to belong to the Gothic component of the Chernyakhov culture were analyzed. The results appeared to confirm the theory that the Chernyakhov culture emerged as a result of a Gothic migration from the north.[90]
Our footnote 90: Järve 2019. "The genetic makeup of post-Scythian Chernyakhiv individuals agrees with their Gothic source."
The abstract says: On the other hand, samples of the Chernyakhiv culture postdating the Scythians in Ukraine have a significantly higher proportion of Near Eastern ancestry than other samples of this study. Our results agree with the Gothic source of the Chernyakhiv culture and support the hypothesis that the Scythian dominance did involve a demic component.
In other words: there is some evidence for the Goths being descended from real immigrants. The Goths were more Near Eastern than the Scythians before them.
3.2. Our article, second summary of this source:
A genetic study published in Scientific Reports in 2019 examined the mtDNA of three Gothic females from the Chernyakhov culture. They carried haplogroup H1n6, H1c and T2g1 respectively. The genetic makeup of these individuals differed significantly from that of previous populations of the area, being distinguished by showing a higher amount of ancestry from western and northern Europe. The results appeared to confirm the theory that the Chernyakhov culture emerged as a result of a Gothic migration from the north.[199]
