A new study on ancient genomes reveals insights on the genetic events that signaled the rise, peak, and decline of the Scythians - an ancient civilization known as fearsome warriors on horseback that dominated the Eurasian steppes.
The team, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, examined the genomes from remains of 111 ancient individuals spanning the steppes of Central Asia dated back to the first millennia BCE and CE. They published their report in the recent Science Advances journal, in an article titled "Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythian."
The Scythians of the Steppes
The legendary Scythians actually included a variety of nomadic tribes that occupied the Eurasian steppes, getting their modern name from Greek documents referring to the nomads on the north-eastern parts of Europe and along the northern coast of the Black Sea.
These people have appeared in the historical records of other civilizations they have interacted with - including the Persians, Romans, and the Chinese in addition to the Greeks - and have shared technologies such as horse husbandry and saddles. These foreign records on the Scythians have remained the mostly-used references about their customs and practices.
However, a lot remains unknown regarding the Iron Age civilization. There has been much speculation and dispute about their history, culture, language, and origins, with this gap in understanding attributed to the Scythians' lack of written language and internal records.
Examining the Scythian Genetic Profile
According to the genomes analyzed in the study, substantial genetic turnovers have been associated with the decline of the enduring Bronze Age - lasting for more than 2,000 years before the Iron Age - as well as the rise of Scythian nomadic cultures in the Eurasian steppes.
Researchers additionally report that the genomes suggest that, after the mostly homogenous ancestry of late Bronze Age herders from the first millennium BCE, an influx of different peoples from the east, west, and south into the Eurasian steppes paved the way for a more heterogeneous gene pool among Scythians.
The study continues in identifying at least two main points of origin for the mixed nomad Scythians in the Iron Age. From the East, researchers are pointing out the native populations in the Altai Mountains that later migrated to the south and west. This is supported with matching traits on the genomes in terms of timing and locations already available in the archaeological records. Also, the earliest discovered Scythian burials have been found in the Altai area.
Surprisingly, the gene pool that later contributed to the Scythian genomes traced back to the western Ural Mountains belongs to a separate lineage that existed at around the same time. Contrary to the eastern gene pool, this one was found to be analogous to the early Sauromatian-Sarmatian cultures.
Also, the decline of the Scythians has also been marked by a series of genetic turnovers, which intensified at the turn of the first millennium CE. This corresponds to the recorded decline of Scythian cultures in the Central Asian steppes. Researchers suggest that this point in history is caused by the expansion of nomadic tribes from the far east, including the Xiongnu and Xianbei nomad confederations.
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