Ancient DNA reveals the prehistory of the Uralic and Yeniseian peoples

PRJEB86428 Original Paper / DOI2025-07-02181 samples (study)

AI interpretationAI-generated

Ancient DNA maps how Uralic and Yeniseian speakers formed across North Eurasia.

This study analyzed 180 ancient genomes from North Eurasia. Early hunter-gatherers formed a genetic gradient from European-related in the Baltic to East Asian-related in Transbaikal. Two key ancestral populations emerged: Cisbaikal_LNBA, linked to Yeniseian speakers, and Yakutia_LNBA, linked to Uralic migrations. Yakutia_LNBA spread west from the Lena River about 4,000 years ago, reaching the Altai-Sayan and West Siberian Seima-Turbino metallurgy communities. Seima-Turbino individuals were genetically diverse, mixing Indo-Iranian pastoralists and local hunter-gatherers.

A continuous ancestry gradient existed from Baltic hunter-gatherers (European-related) to Transbaikal hunter-gatherers (East Asian-related).
Cisbaikal_LNBA ancestry is associated with Yeniseian-speaking groups and their admixed populations.
Yakutia_LNBA ancestry spread west from the Lena River around 4,000 years ago, driving early Uralic-speaking migrations and Seima-Turbino metallurgy.

Sample interpretation

The dataset includes 175 site samples with 119 resolved Y-chromosomes. Dominant Y haplogroups are Q-YP832 (10), Q-YP849 (8), C-F3918 (7), Q-BZ577 (7), and Q-Y702 (6). Top mitochondrial lineages are U2e1b (8), Z1 (7), A10 (7), R1b1 (7), D4j (6), and U4a1 (6). Cultures range from Neolithic Firsovo (14) and Eneolithic Volosovo (12) to Seima-Turbino (4). This reflects diverse paternal and maternal lineages across hunter-gatherer, pastoralist, and metallurgical communities.

For genealogy enthusiasts

For ancestry enthusiasts, this clarifies that Uralic and Yeniseian language spreads were tied to specific ancient populations, not just culture. Y-haplogroups like Q and C and mtDNA like U2e1b and Z1 can help trace personal connections to these prehistoric migrations.

Abstract

The North Eurasian forest and forest-steppe zones have sustained millennia of sociocultural connections among northern peoples, but much of their history is poorly understood. In particular, the genomic formation of populations that speak Uralic and Yeniseian languages today is unknown. Here, by generating genome-wide data for 180 ancient individuals spanning this region, we show that the Early-to-Mid-Holocene hunter-gatherers harboured a continuous gradient of ancestry from fully European-related in the Baltic, to fully East Asian-related in the Transbaikal. Contemporaneous groups in Northeast Siberia were off-gradient and descended from a population that was the primary source for Native Americans, which then mixed with populations of Inland East Asia and the Amur River Basin to produce two populations whose expansion coincided with the collapse of pre-Bronze Age population structure. Ancestry from the first population, Cis-Baikal Late Neolithic–Bronze Age (Cisbaikal_LNBA), is associated with Yeniseian-speaking groups and those that admixed with them, and ancestry from the second, Yakutia Late Neolithic–Bronze Age (Yakutia_LNBA), is associated with migrations of prehistoric Uralic speakers. We show that Yakutia_LNBA first dispersed westwards from the Lena River Basin around 4,000 years ago into the Altai-Sayan region and into West Siberian communities associated with Seima-Turbino metallurgy—a suite of advanced bronze casting techniques that expanded explosively from the Altai1. The 16 Seima-Turbino period individuals were diverse in their ancestry, also harbouring DNA from Indo-Iranian-associated pastoralists and from a range of hunter-gatherer groups. Thus, both cultural transmission and migration were key to the Seima-Turbino phenomenon, which was involved in the initial spread of early Uralic-speaking communities.

Samples & Data on TheYtree

175samples on site

119Y haplogroup resolved

Paternal (Y-DNA) Haplogroups

Haplogroup	Samples
Q-YP832	10
Q-YP849	8
Q-BZ577	7
C-F3918	7
Q-Y702	6
R-Y13202	6
Q-L712	5
C-Y10418	4
Q-M346	3
Q-L330	3
R-L1432	3
R-M417	2

Maternal (mtDNA) Haplogroups

U2e1b · 8 Z1 · 7 A10 · 7 R1b1 · 7 U2e2a · 6 D4j · 6 U4a1 · 6 C4 · 6 U4a · 6 C4-T152C! · 6

Sample Highlights More samples →

Sample	Y-DNA	mtDNA	Culture / Period
I11742	Q-L712	C4-T152C!	Russia_KuznetskAltai_Firsovo11_MN_possible· 8561-8016 calBCE
I11103	Q-L330	U4a	Russia_UpperYenisei_Krasnoyarsk_EN_7.8kya· 5962-5735 calBCE
I8455	Q-Y702	U5a2b2	Russia_KamaEstuaryEneolithic_C_5.6-6.5kya· 4446-4274 calBCE
I1961.SG	N-Y9022	A10	Russia_MiddleAngara_SerovoIsakovo_SosnovyMys1_LN_6.0kya· 4239-4002 calBCE (5297±25 BP) [R_combine: (5320±40 BP, Poz-82202); (5283±32 BP, OxA-33488)]
I0991	Q-M346	Z1	Russia_Novosibirsk_N· 5206-4799 calBCE (6060±50 BP，Poz-83427)
I0994	C-Y10418	U2e1b	Russia_TuzovskieBugry_Eneolithic· 3946-3659 calBCE (5013±38 BP) [R_Combine: (4914±56 BP，GV-03583)，(5090±50 BP，Poz-83434)]
I0995	C-Y10418	R1b	Russia_TuzovskieBugry_Eneolithic· 3626-3198 calBCE (4649±54 BP，GV-03584) (this is a date of non-sequenced Skeleton 1 from grave 33，other direct dates on human bones affected by the freshwater reservoir effect，skeleton 2 (4937±+56 ±BP，GV-03585)，ID I0995 (5170±50 BP，Poz-83435)，ID I13100 (50
I0996	Q-YP832	C1	Russia_Firsovo_N· 5479-5377 calBCE (6469±18 BP) [R_Combine: (6500±24 BP，MAMS-48706)，(6435±25 (PSUAMS-4214)]
I0997_d	Q-YP849	U2e1b	Russia_Firsovo_N· 4708-4547 calBCE (5778±28 BP，GV-03572) (the direct date obtained from human bones 5617-5479 calBCE (6595±30 BP，PSUAMS-4119) is probably biased by freshwater reservoir effect)
I0998	Q-FT375375	Z1a1	Russia_Serovskaya· 2851-2491 calBCE (4073±29 BP) [R_Combine: (4040±35 BP，Poz-83426)，(4140±50 BP，GIN-4098)]