The genetic legacy of legendary and historical Siberian chieftains

• Published in: Communications Biology
• Main Authors: Zvénigorosky, Vincent, Duchesne, Sylvie, Romanova, Liubomira, Gérard, Patrice, Petit, Christiane, Petit, Michel, Alexeev, Anatoly, Melnichuk, Olga, Gonzalez, Angéla, Fausser, Jean-Luc, Solovyev, Aisen, Romanov, Georgii, Barashkov, Nikolay, Fedorova, Sardana, Ludes, Bertrand, Crubezy, E., Keyser, Christine
• Other Authors: Université de Strasbourg - Institut de Médecine Légale, Biologie, anthropologie, biométrie, épigénétique, lignées : De la diversité des populations à l'individu, de l'identification à l'identité (BABEL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Centre d'anthropologie et de génomique de Toulouse (CAGT), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), Missions Archéologiques Françaises de Sibérie Orientale (MAFSO), Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS), North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5 (UPD5)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Archaeology; Haplotypes; Population genetics; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Sakha; Sakha Republic; Yakut; Yakutia; Yakuts; Siberia
• Online Access: https://inrap.hal.science/hal-03227922; https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01307-3

International audience Seventeen years of archaeological and anthropological expeditions in North-Eastern Siberia (in the Sakha Republic, Yakutia) have permitted the genetic analysis of 150 ancient (15th-19th century) and 510 modern individuals. Almost all males were successfully analysed (Y-STR) and this allowed us to identify paternal lineages and their geographical expansion through time. This genetic data was confronted with mythological, historical and material evidence to establish the sequence of events that built the modern Yakut genetic diversity. We show that the ancient Yakuts recovered from this large collection of graves are not representative of an ancient population. Uncommonly, we were also able to demonstrate that the funerary preference observed here involved three specific male lineages, especially in the 18th century. Moreover, this dominance was likely caused by the Russian conquest of Siberia which allowed some male clans to rise to new levels of power. Finally, we give indications that some mythical and historical figures might have been the actors of those genetic changes. These results help us reconsider the genetic dynamics of colonization in some regions, question the distinction between fact and myth in national histories and provide a rare insight into a funerary ensemble by revealing the biased process of its composition.