Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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Scythian DNA: What was the Genetic Makeup of the Horse Lords of the Eurasian Steppe?
Chapters:
0:00 Scythians
2:17 Scythian DNA
6:24 Yamnaya
7:45 Genetic Legacy of the Scythians?
8:49 Support on Patreon
Who were the Scythians and what made up their DNA? Now the Scythians are one of my favourite ancient peoples, a people who occupied the Eurasian Steppe from around the 9th century BC to the 3rd century BC, particularly the region just north of the Black Sea. Known for being masters of the horse and famous for their skill in mounted warfare, they have left us numerous stunning artifacts.
Now before we get into the ancestry component of the Scythians themselves, I should mention that the Scythians also feature in the origin stories of various other peoples. In Scotland for instance, Scythia is mentioned as being the origin of both the Scots and the Picts. But who were the Scythians and how do they relate to other archaeological cultures from the Steppe?
“The classical Scythians, who had lived in the North Pontic region since the seventh century BCE, are the most famous among them due to the early reports in the Histories of Herodotus. Greek and Persian historians of the 1st millennium BCE chronicle the existence of the Massagetae and Sauromatians, and later, the Sarmatians and Sacae: cultures possessing artefacts similar to those found in classical Scythian monuments, such as weapons, horse harnesses and a distinctive ‘Animal Style’ artistic tradition. Accordingly, these groups are often assigned to the Scythian culture and referred to as ‘Scythians’. For simplification we will use ‘Scythian’ in the following text for all groups of Iron Age steppe nomads commonly associated with the Scythian culture.”
Sources:
Celtic History Decoded: Yamnaya Culture: The Most Powerful Culture You May Not Know About... Yamnaya Culture: The Most Powerful Culture You May Not Know About... (youtube.com)
Celtic History Decoded: The Origins of Indo-European DNA and the Yamnaya Culture… The Origins of Indo-European DNA and the Yamnaya Culture… (youtube.com)
Unterländer, M., Palstra, F., Lazaridis, I. et al. Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe. Nat Commun 8, 14615 (2017). doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14615 Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe | Nature Communications
British Museum, Introducing the Scythians britishmuseum.org/blog/introducing-scythians
Turkic languages en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_languages
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Janmad commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warrior_of_Scithians.png Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. CC BY 3.0 Deed | Attribution 3.0 Unported | Creative Commons
XVodolazx commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamna_culture_tomb.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Wojciech Pędzich, Robert Molyneaux commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_phenotype,_Reconstruction,_male,_grave_Novooleksiivka;_Ukraine.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Sayenko Valeriy commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tomb_of_Yamnaya_(Ochre_Grave)_culture_4.jpg
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
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Алексей commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Afanasievo_-_Yamnaya_culture_illustration.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
HistoryMaker18 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_Expansion_Map.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_pastoralists,_main_genetic_ancestry.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
#scythian #ancestry #history
Please support this channel on Patreon and get ad-free videos and other benefits: patreon.com/historydecoded
Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded: youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA?sub_confirmation=1
Please Buy Me a Coffee - buymeacoffee.com/celtichistory
Check out my merch store and please help support this channel - celtic-history-decoded.creator-spring.com - Full terms and conditions can be found on Spring’s website.
Follow Celtic History Decoded on Instagram - instagram.com/celtichistorydecoded
Follow Celtic History Decoded on Tik Tok - tiktok.com/@celtichistorydecoded
Scythian DNA: What was the Genetic Makeup of the Horse Lords of the Eurasian Steppe?
Chapters:
0:00 Scythians
2:17 Scythian DNA
6:24 Yamnaya
7:45 Genetic Legacy of the Scythians?
8:49 Support on Patreon
Who were the Scythians and what made up their DNA? Now the Scythians are one of my favourite ancient peoples, a people who occupied the Eurasian Steppe from around the 9th century BC to the 3rd century BC, particularly the region just north of the Black Sea. Known for being masters of the horse and famous for their skill in mounted warfare, they have left us numerous stunning artifacts.
Now before we get into the ancestry component of the Scythians themselves, I should mention that the Scythians also feature in the origin stories of various other peoples. In Scotland for instance, Scythia is mentioned as being the origin of both the Scots and the Picts. But who were the Scythians and how do they relate to other archaeological cultures from the Steppe?
“The classical Scythians, who had lived in the North Pontic region since the seventh century BCE, are the most famous among them due to the early reports in the Histories of Herodotus. Greek and Persian historians of the 1st millennium BCE chronicle the existence of the Massagetae and Sauromatians, and later, the Sarmatians and Sacae: cultures possessing artefacts similar to those found in classical Scythian monuments, such as weapons, horse harnesses and a distinctive ‘Animal Style’ artistic tradition. Accordingly, these groups are often assigned to the Scythian culture and referred to as ‘Scythians’. For simplification we will use ‘Scythian’ in the following text for all groups of Iron Age steppe nomads commonly associated with the Scythian culture.”
Sources:
Celtic History Decoded: Yamnaya Culture: The Most Powerful Culture You May Not Know About... Yamnaya Culture: The Most Powerful Culture You May Not Know About... (youtube.com)
Celtic History Decoded: The Origins of Indo-European DNA and the Yamnaya Culture… The Origins of Indo-European DNA and the Yamnaya Culture… (youtube.com)
Unterländer, M., Palstra, F., Lazaridis, I. et al. Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe. Nat Commun 8, 14615 (2017). doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14615 Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe | Nature Communications
British Museum, Introducing the Scythians britishmuseum.org/blog/introducing-scythians
Turkic languages en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_languages
Creative Commons Imagery:
Janmad commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warrior_of_Scithians.png Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. CC BY 3.0 Deed | Attribution 3.0 Unported | Creative Commons
XVodolazx commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamna_culture_tomb.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Wojciech Pędzich, Robert Molyneaux commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_phenotype,_Reconstruction,_male,_grave_Novooleksiivka;_Ukraine.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Sayenko Valeriy commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tomb_of_Yamnaya_(Ochre_Grave)_culture_4.jpg
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
Koba-chan. पाटलिपुत्र commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_Steppe_Pastoralists.jpg creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
Алексей commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Afanasievo_-_Yamnaya_culture_illustration.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
HistoryMaker18 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_Expansion_Map.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yamnaya_pastoralists,_main_genetic_ancestry.png Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
#scythian #ancestry #history
