Koban culture genome-wide and archeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2024 Nov;32(11):1483-1491.

doi: 10.1038/s41431-023-01524-4. Epub 2024 Jan 4.

Fedor S Sharko # 1 2 [ 3](#full-view-affiliation-3 "National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Kurchatov sq. 1, Moscow, 123182, Russia."), Svetlana V Tsygankova [ 3](#full-view-affiliation-3 "National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Kurchatov sq. 1, Moscow, 123182, Russia."), Natalia V Slobodova [ 3](#full-view-affiliation-3 "National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Kurchatov sq. 1, Moscow, 123182, Russia.") 4, Sergey M Rastorguev 5, Anna A Krasivskaya 6, Andrej B Belinsky 7, Heinrich Härke 8 9, Anna A Kadieva 10, Sergej V Demidenko 11, Vladimir Yu Malashev 11, Tatiana Yu Shvedchikova 12, Maria V Dobrovolskaya 12, Irina K Reshetova 12, Dmitry S Korobov 13, Artem V Nedoluzhko 14

Affiliations

Koban culture genome-wide and archeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus

Fedor S Sharko et al. Eur J Hum Genet. 2024 Nov.

Abstract

The North Caucasus played a key role during the ancient colonization of Eurasia and the formation of its cultural and genetic ancestry. Previous archeogenetic studies described a relative genetic and cultural continuity of ancient Caucasus societies, since the Eneolithic period. The Koban culture, which formed in the Late Bronze Age on the North Caucasian highlands, is considered as a cultural "bridge" between the ancient and modern autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus. Here, we discuss the place of this archeological culture and its representatives in the genetic orbit of Caucasian cultures using genome-wide SNP data from five individuals of the Koban culture and one individual of the early Alanic culture as well as previously published genomic data of ancient and modern North Caucasus individuals. Ancient DNA analysis shows that an ancient individual from Klin-Yar III, who was previously described as male, was in fact a female. Additional studies on well-preserved ancient human specimens are necessary to determine the level of local mobility and kinship between individuals in ancient societies of North Caucasus. Further studies with a larger sample size will allow us gain a deeper understanding of this topic.

© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Society of Human Genetics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval This research was carried out under the ethics guidelines for DNA research on human remains described previously: Alpaslan-Roodenberg S, Anthony D, Babiker H, Bánffy E, Booth T, Capone P et al. Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines. Nature 2021; 599: 41–46.

Figures

Fig. 1

Fig. 1. Geographical map of the Caucasus showing the archeological sites (red circles—Koban culture: Zayukovo-3 and Klin-Yar III burial sites; blue circle—early stage of Alanic culture: “Bratskiye 1-ye Kurgany” barrow cemetery) where human samples were collected for the ancient DNA analysis.

Koban culture distribution in the Caucasus between 1100 and 400 BC marked by yellow area.

Fig. 2

Fig. 2. Koban culture.

A Zayukovo-3 burial ground, burial 72. Scabbard chape, 5th century BC. Photo by A.A. Kadieva. B Zayukovo-3 cemetery, burial 33. Photo by A.A. Kadieva.

Fig. 3

Fig. 3. Principal component analysis (PCA) of Koban culture individuals.

Genetic structure of Koban culture bearers (green squares highlighted by green sphere) compared to those of other archeological cultures of the North Caucasus: Alans (Russia)—navy blue rhombs and grey square highlighted by blue sphere; Cimmerian (Moldova and Ukraine)—blue circles and orange triangles; Sarmatians (Russia)—red triangles, red rhombuses, orange squares, and orange rhombuses; Scythians (Moldova and Ukraine)—blue squares, yellow triangles, and yellow squares.

Fig. 4

Fig. 4. ADMIXTURE profiles (k = 12) of ancient humans inhabiting the Caucasus and adjacent regions during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, Bronze and Iron Ages (Kura-Araxes, Maykop, Koban, and Alanic culture bearers from foothills, Yamnaya culture bearers, Scythians, and Sarmatians).

Ancient data projected onto the modern population genetic data.

Fig. 5

Fig. 5. f-statistics for Koban and Alanic culture bearers.

A F3-statistics for Koban and Alanic populations. The genetic component associated with Sarmatians and Koban culture bearers is also possessed in Alanic culture individuals. F3 (Koban; Source2; Russia_Alan). The statistically significant genetic influence from the Koban and Alanic individuals (Z score < −3) is marked in blue. Target populations are on the Y-axis. B Results of f4-statistics. F4 (Koban; Test; Russian_Alan; Yoruba). Significant Z-scores are highlighted in blue. Target populations are on the Y-axis.

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