 Who were the Scythians and what made up their DNA? Now the Scythians are one of my favourite ancient people who occupied the Eurasian steppe from around the 9th century BC until the 3rd century BC, in particular having a stronghold just north of the Black Sea. Known for being masters of the horse and famous for their skill in mounted warfare, they have left us numerous stunning artefacts, many of which are made from gold, as well as other cultures featuring them in their art, such as this trust and piece of art depicted in a Scythian mounted archer from the early 5th century BC. Now before I get into the ancestry component, I should mention that the Scythians are referenced the many origin stories of different peoples across the world. In Scotland for instance, the Scythians are found in origin stories of both the Scots and the Picts. But who were the Scythians and how did they relate to the various other archaeological cultures from the steppe? While a 2019 study published in Nature looked at the subject in a paper titled Ancestry and Demography and Descendants of Iron Age Nomads of the Eurasian Steppe, the authors begin by noting that there are various other connected cultures of the Scythians from the same general area and the authors in this study decide to collectively group them as the Scythians, as they write. The classical Scythians who had lived in the North Pontic region since the 7th century BC are the most famous among them due to the early reports in the histories of Herodotus, Greek and Persian historians of the 1st millennium BC, chronicle the existence of the Majerte, the Soromations and later the Summations and the Saki. Cultures possessing artefacts similar to those found in classical Scythian monuments, such as weapons, horse harnesses and a distinctive animal-style artistic tradition. Accordingly, these groups are often assigned to the Scythian culture and referred to as Scythians. For simplification, we will use Scythian in the following texts for all groups of Iron Age Steppe nomads commonly associated with the Scythian culture. The study used mitochondrial DNA from 96 individuals associated with the Scythian culture from different geographical regions and time periods and then analysed and sequenced them. Additionally, genomic data from eight of these individuals was obtained and analysed. Those analysed came from different areas across the Steppe, from the Northern Caucasus in the West to Easter in Kazakhstan. Northals note that while the Eastern and Western populations investigated here are separated by a distance of 2,000 to 3,500 kilometres, archaeological evidence indicates that they were strikingly similar regarding the lifestyle and culture. The aims of this study are to investigate the extent to which these groups are genetically related to each other and whether they have a common origin, and to elucidate their demographic history and genetic relationships to modern and living populations. Now very quickly, if you value these videos, please consider supporting my work on Patreon and you'll get exclusive benefits in return. Now on with the video. Firstly, let's look at Haplogroups. The study notes that Haplogroups found in Iron Age nomads are predominant in modern populations in both the West, in the form of HVN1, GytUKWINX, and in Eastern Eurasia, in the form of ACD, FGM, Y and Z. The study then moves on to analyse whether there was a genetic connection between Eastern and Western Scythians. Our results show that the Iron Age groups long believed to be connected through shared cultural artefacts associated with the classical Scythians of the North Pontic region also share a genetic connection. However, ABC analyses that evaluated different models for the origin of the Scythian populations provided the strongest support for a multi-regional origin, with Eastern and Western groups arising independently within their own regions. Despite separate origins in the enormous geographical separation, demographic modelling infers ongoing and substantial gene flow between Eastern and Western groups, which provides a plausible demographic mechanism to explain the general uniformity of the material culture of Scythians right across the Eurasian steppe zone. An interesting finding from the study was the presence of a East Asian component in the ancestry of the Scythians. Our genomic analyses reveal that Western and Eastern steppe inhabitants possess East Eurasian ancestry to varying degrees. In our admixture analyses we find an East Asian ancestry component at K15 and all Iron Age samples that are not being detected in preceding Bronze Age populations and either Western or Eastern parts of the Eurasian steppe. Another ancestral component that is maximised in the North Siberian and Ganassani population becomes visible from the 2nd millennium BC onwards in the Eastern steppe. This component appears later in all Iron Age populations but with significant higher levels in the Eastern and Steppe zone than in the West. The study then goes on to note that there was significant gene flow from Eastern and Scythians into Western and Scythians over the centuries. These findings are consistent with the appearance of East Eurasian mitochondrial lineages in the Western and Scythians during the Iron Age and imply gene flow or migration over the Eurasian steppe belt carrying East Asian North Siberian ancestry from the East to the West as far as the Don Volga region and Southern Russia. In general gene flow between Eastern and Western Eurasia seems to have been more intense during the Iron Age than in modern times which is congruent with the view of the Iron Age populations of the Eurasian steppe being highly mobile semi-nomadic horse riding groups and now for the crux of this study. All Iron Age individuals investigated in this study show genomic evidence for Caucasus hunter-gatherer and East European hunter-gatherer ancestry. This is consistent with the idea that the blend of Eastern and hunter-gatherer and Caucasian elements and carriers of the Yamnaya culture was formed on the European steppe and exported into Central Asia and Siberia. Oliver and Alice's support the hypothesis that the genetic composition of the Scythians can best be described as a mixture of Yamnaya related ancestry and East Asian North Siberian elements. So there you go the genetic composition of the Scythians can best be described as a mixture of the Yamnaya related ancestry the Yamnaya people that occupied a similar region to the Western Scythians and a component of East Asian and Siberian ancestry North Siberian ancestry. Now I've made a few videos on the Yamnaya people before that I suggest you watch them after this video if you haven't seen them already and I'll link them videos above and also in the description below. But here is a general overview of the Yamnaya people just so we have a general understanding. The Yamnaya culture which is also known as the Pitgrave culture existed from around 3300 BC to around 2600 BC in the Pontic Caspian steppe. It was discovered in the early 1900s near the Donets River by a Russian archaeologist erring the name Yamnaya because of the way they buried their dead. In fact Yamnaya is a Russian term that means related to pits. They buried their dead in kurgans a type of tummulus meaning a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave. The dead were often accompanied by animal offerings with the bodies placed facing up with bent knees and covered in ochre. A type of natural clay earth pigment. Status play the role in burials with some of the individuals buried with complete wooden wagons. Now what about the genetic legacy of the Scythians? Well the study found modern and human populations with a close genetic relationship to the Scythian groups are predominantly located in close geographical proximity to the sample burial sites, suggesting a degree of population continuity through historical times. Contemporary descendants of Western and Scythian groups are found among the various groups and the Caucasus in Central Asia. While similarities to Eastern and Scythian are found to be more widespread but almost exclusively among Turkic language speaking formerly nomadic groups, particularly from the Kipchak branch of Turkic languages. So bottom line the Scythians can be modelled as a mixture of Yamnaya related ancestry and a East Asian North Siberian component and the genetic legacy stuff extends today in many of the areas associated with their ancient territory. Now to find out more about the Yamnaya people and whether their expansion across Eurasia resulted in a form of genocide or not please click here. Like say if you would like to support this work please consider supporting me on Patreon you'll get exclusive benefits in return the link will be in the description below. Other ways to support will also be in the description below but thanks for watching please subscribe and hit the bell to tell your friends and family about this channel and I'll see you next time.