{"id":344298,"date":"2025-08-14T16:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/344298\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T16:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:30:15","slug":"ancient-dna-study-reveals-diverse-origins-of-scythians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/344298\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient DNA study reveals diverse origins of Scythians"},"content":{"rendered":"

A composite image illustrating the various trends in Scythian looks, clothing, weapons, and jewelry inspired by evidence found in Scythian burial sites. (Image via World History Encyclopedia)<\/p>\n

\n August 14, 2025 04:25 PM GMT+03:00\n <\/p>\n

\"Share\"\/<\/p>\n

A large-scale genetic study has provided new insight<\/a> into the origins and diversity of the Scythians\u2014nomadic tribes that dominated the Eurasian steppe between the seventh century B.C. and the early third century B.C.<\/p>\n

Researchers analyzed high-quality genomic data from 131 ancient individuals across the area known to the ancient Greeks as \u201cGreat Scythia,\u201d which stretched from the northern Black Sea coast<\/a> to the Middle Don River.<\/p>\n

Blend of European, Asian ancestry<\/p>\n

The findings show that Scythians were not a single homogeneous group but a mix of populations with major European Bronze Age ancestral components, as well as smaller genetic contributions from Siberian and East Asian sources.<\/p>\n

These eastern genetic traces were absent in earlier European steppe populations and appeared only during the Iron Age, suggesting new migration or contact events.<\/p>\n

Four distinct genetic clusters were identified among Scythian groups in the study area\u2014the Middle Don, North Pontic steppe, Crimea, and pre-Caucasian steppe\u2014each displaying unique genetic profiles.<\/p>\n

Non-Scythian Iron Age populations living within or near Scythian territory, such as the Maeotians and Pyanoborskaya culture, were found to be genetically separate despite adopting elements of Scythian material culture.<\/p>\n

\"Scythians
\n <\/p>\n

\n Scythians shooting with bows, from Kerch, c. 475-450 B.C., photographed in 2007. (Photo via Louvre Museum)\n <\/p>\n

Links to earlier Bronze Age populations<\/p>\n

By sequencing remains from the Middle Bronze Age (Catacomb culture) and Late Bronze Age (Srubnaya culture) in the same region, the team traced a genetic shift before the rise of the Scythians.<\/p>\n

The Catacomb culture population, with dark hair and eyes, was replaced by the Srubnaya culture, in which lighter hair and blue eyes became more common. This change points to large-scale migrations within the Eurasian steppe long before the Scythians emerged.<\/p>\n

Insights into daily life, health<\/p>\n

The research also examined Scythian phenotypes and health-related genetics. Notably, scientists found a mutation associated with hereditary fructose intolerance\u2014a metabolic condition in which the body cannot properly process fructose.<\/p>\n

This mutation, first detected in Scythians, remains the most common genetic cause of fructose intolerance in modern European populations.<\/p>\n

The study emphasizes that while ancient authors such as Herodotus described Scythians as having bronze skin, reddish hair and a meat-heavy diet, these accounts mixed observation with myth.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

August 14, 2025 04:25 PM GMT+03:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A composite image illustrating the various trends in Scythian looks, clothing, weapons, and jewelry inspired by evidence found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-344298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115028074796971893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}