Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 48 (4) 2020   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.4.146-154

Annotation:  Early Middle Paleolithic Industries in Southeastern Dagestan Middle Paleolithic Bone Retouchers: Size or Proportions Shulbinka Paleolithic Site, Eastern Kazakhstan, Revisited Con Moong Cave: A Stratifi ed Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Site in Northern Vietnam Novopetrovka III—an Early Neolithic Site in the Western Amur Basin and Its Chronology Peculiarities of Using 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography in Caves Elk Figurine from Tourist-2, Novosibirsk: Technological and Stylistic Features Foundries at Stary Tartas-5—an Early Bronze Age Site in the Baraba Forest-Steppe Wells as a Source of Cultural and Chronological Information: The Case of Kamennyi Ambar, Southern Tr Mobility of the Suzdal Opolye Settlers in 900–1150 AD Descendants of Eleudei: The Problem of Oirat-Buryat Ethnic Contacts Floral Designs on Sacrifi cial Towels from an Old Believers’ Prayer House The Origin of the Okunev Population, Southern Siberia: The Evidence of Physical Anthropology and Gen The Paleogenetic Study of Bertek-33, an Afanasyevo Cemetery on the Ukok Plateau, the Altai Mountains   

The Paleogenetic Study of Bertek-33, an Afanasyevo Cemetery
on the Ukok Plateau, the Altai Mountains

A.S. Pilipenko¹, R.O. Trapezov¹, S.V. Cherdantsev¹, I.V. Pilipenko¹, A.A. Zhuravlev¹, M.S. Pristyazhnyuk¹, and V.I. Molodin^{2, 3}

¹Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 10, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

³Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

We present the results of a paleogenetic analysis of bone samples representing seven adult individuals from Bertek-33—an Afanasyevo cemetery on the Ukok plateau, in the Altai Republic, Russia. The findings are interpreted with reference to archaeological and anthropological data. Four systems of genetic markers were analyzed: mitochondrial DNA, polymorphic fragment of the amelogenin gene, autosomal STR-loci, and Y-chromosomal STR-loci. Genetic results indicate the dominance of Western Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups (T, J, U5a, K, H) and the homogeneity of the male gene-pool represented by variants of the Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1b. Data on mtDNA, Y-chromosome, and individual autosomal markers attest to the Western Eurasian affinities of this group. The sample falls within the mtDNA and Y-chromosomal diversity of the Afanasyevo population of southern Siberia. Possible kinship between the individuals buried at Bertek-33 is discussed. Also, we address theoretical issues such as the accuracy of comparisons and the interpretation of genetic data with regard to cultural features.

Keywords: Paleogenetics, Afanasyevo culture, mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome, Altai Mountains, Bronze Age