The genetic origin of the Indo-Europeans
Iosif Lazaridis, Nick Patterson, David Anthony et al.
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Abstract
Summary of the research findings
This ancient-DNA population-genetic study analyzes hundreds of ancient individuals (many newly reported) to identify the ancestral sources and geographic origins of the Yamnaya and related Eneolithic populations. The authors describe three previously unrecognized genetic clines — including a Caucasus–Lower Volga (CLV) cline — and document admixture events that produced intermediate populations on both sides of the Caucasus and along major river systems (Volga, Dnipro). They show that CLV-related ancestry contributed the majority of the Yamnaya gene pool and that movements of CLV-descended groups also contributed ancestry to Bronze Age Anatolia. The results support a model in which a CLV-rich population between ~4400–4000 BCE played a central role in the formation of Proto-Indo-Anatolian/Proto-Indo-European ancestral populations and the subsequent rapid expansion associated with the Yamnaya.
Analysis
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