Genomic analysis of an individual from a Polovtsian burial in the "Krasny IV" burial mound cemetery (Rostov region)

Abstract

Introduction. The formation of the historical landscape of the Eurasian steppes during the pre-Mongol period of Ancient Rus' took place under the determining role of the Polovtsians, owing to their demographic dominance in this territory. Despite the historical and archeological study of this era, questions concerning the origins of the Polovtsians remain unresolved. Clarifying these issues is fundamentally important for reconstructing such demographic processes as the origins of Polovtsian groups, their migrations, as well as the nature and extent of their interactions with other peoples. This article presents the results of genomic analysis and the craniometric characteristics of a woman who, based on the funerary inventory, belonged to the elite of Polovtsians society.

Materials and methods. The material for this study consisted of skeletal remains of a woman from a burial discovered excavations of the kurgan cemetery "Krasny IV" and dated to the 12th-13th centuries CE. DNA extracted from a petrous part of the temporal bone was used for whole-genome sequencing and subsequent genetic analysis.

Results. The study established that the skeletal remains in burial 3 kurgan 16 of the "Krasny IV" cemetery belong to a woman aged 25-35 years old. The integrity of the cranial vault allowed for a craniometric study, which revealed a mixed European-Mongoloid ancestry of the examined woman. Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data and the application of population genetics methods demonstrated genetic similarity between the studied individual and nomadic medieval steppe groups, including the early Avars (6th-8th centuries) and medieval populations from the territory of Mongolia. Additionally, the woman's mitochondrial DNA was found to belong to the West Eurasian haplogroup T1A5.

Conclusion. We obtained the results of a whole-genome analysis of a Polovtsians woman from the Lower Don region dated to the 12th-13th centuries. The new data indicated genetic links between the Polovtsians and populations of Central Asia and also demonstrated a significant proportion of Eastern genetic substrate in the examined woman from the elite Polovtsians burial in the Lower Don region of the 12th-13th centuries. Even a single burial substantially enriches our understanding of the genetic landscape of the steppe region of Western Eurasia on the eve of the Mongol invasion. This work contributes to the reconstruction of the local population's gene pool and confirms the close historical ties between the European steppes and the deep interior regions of Asia during the pre-Mongol period.

Funding. This work was supported by a grant from the state program "Sirius" Federal Territory "Scientific and Technological Development of the 'Sirius' Federal Territory", Agreement № 18-03 dated September 10th, 2024, project code GEN-BFT-2407 (H.S.E., Z.A.R., R.E.V., M.A.D., A.T.V.).

Supplementary files are available here

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