Genetic kinship and admixture in Iron Age Scytho-Siberians (Tuva, Russia)

Twenty-eight Scythian individuals from 5 archeological sites in the Tuva Republic (Russia) were analyzed using autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STR), Y-STR and Y-SNP typing as well as whole mitochondrial (mtDNA) genome sequencing. Familial relationships were assessed using the Likelihood Ratio (LR) method. Thirteen of the 28 individuals tested were linked by first-degree relationships. When related, the individuals were buried together, except for one adult woman, buried separately from her mother and young sister. Y-chromosome analysis revealed a burial pattern linked to paternal lineages, with men bearing closely related Y-haplotypes buried on the same sites.