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Ancient North Eurasian

— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

Ancient North Eurasian is the name geneticists gave to a genetic lineage first identified through a single skeleton. The remains belonged to a boy who died around 24,000 years ago in central Siberia. He was unearthed in the 1920s and became known as the Mal'ta boy. A deer tooth pendant recovered from Siberia's Denisova Cave belonged to a woman from the same lineage, dated to around 24,700 years before the present. Traces of this ancestry now surface in Native Americans, in Europeans, in South Asians, and in the peoples of Siberia itself.

How did the bloodline of one small Ice Age population end up scattered across two continents its own people never crossed? What happened when its descendants collided with a different lineage moving in from the east? And why do some researchers argue this same population left behind more than genes? They point to myths that still echo across cultures separated by thousands of miles and years. The chapters ahead trace the Ancient North Eurasians outward from Siberia, following their blood and, perhaps, their beliefs.

Updated

Common questions

What is the Ancient North Eurasian genetic component and where was it discovered?

The Ancient North Eurasian genetic component is defined by the Mal'ta boy skeleton labeled MA-1, which was discovered during excavations in the 1920s near the Mal'ta site in central Siberia. This individual lived approximately 24,000 years ago and represents one of the earliest known populations carrying this specific lineage.

When did the Ancient North Eurasian gene pool form and what were its ancestral proportions?

Scientists model that the Ancient North Eurasian gene pool formed roughly 38,000 years before present when an early West Eurasian population mixed with an Ancient East Eurasian group. The resulting ancestry consists of approximately 65% West Eurasian components and 35% East Eurasian components.

How does the Ancient North Eurasian population relate to Native American ancestry?

Between 20,000 and 25,000 years ago a branch of Ancient North Eurasian people mixed with Ancient East Asians to lead to the emergence of Ancestral Native American populations. Estimates show that between 14% and 38% of Native American ancestry may originate from gene flow from the Mal'ta-Buret' population.

Which Bronze Age Tarim mummies are considered primary descendants of the Ancient North Eurasian population?

A genomic study published in 2021 identified early Bronze Age Tarim mummies dating from 2,135 to 1,623 BCE as primary descendants of a population represented by the Afontova Gora 3 specimen. These individuals show high genetic affinity with AG3 which accounts for about 72% of their ancestry.

Did the Ancient North Eurasian population have blond hair or other specific physical features?

The earliest known individual with the specific mutated allele rs12821256 of the KITLG gene is a female south-central Siberian ANE individual from the Afontova Gora 3 site who lived around 10,000 BP. Geneticist David Reich stated that the KITLG gene for blond hair probably entered continental Europe via a population migration wave from the Eurasian steppe.

All sources

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