The Yamnaya Legacy: Genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

During the Bronze Age, Eurasia's genetic, cultural, and linguistic landscape underwent profound changes, driven by migrations and innovations. The Yamnaya culture, originating around 3000 BC in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, played a pivotal role in these transformations. This society, characterized by a nomadic pastoralist lifestyle, introduced significant advancements such as wheeled vehicles, horse domestication, and arsenical bronze metallurgy. The Yamnaya migrations contributed to the spread of Indo-European languages. They reshaped the genetic composition of Europe and Central Asia, giving rise to cultures like the Corded Ware in Europe and the Afanasievo in Siberia.
The Yamnaya genome blended two primary ancestral groups: Eastern Hunter-Gatherers (EHG) and Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers (CHG). These groups introduced paternal haplogroups like R1b and R1a, which are prevalent in modern European populations. Minor genetic contributions also came from Western Hunter-Gatherers and Early European Farmers, reflecting interactions with neighboring populations. By the end of the Bronze Age, Northern Europe exhibited higher Yamnaya ancestry than Southern Europe, highlighting regional variations in admixture.
Cultural transformations during this period were equally significant. The Yamnaya culture's influence on Indo-European language spread was particularly pronounced in Northern and Central Europe. The Corded Ware culture, for example, emerged through a mix of Yamnaya ancestry and Neolithic European traits, becoming a cornerstone of Northern European development. The Sintashta and Andronovo cultures, descendants of Yamnaya, advanced chariot warfare and metallurgy, shaping civilizations across Eurasia. The "Steppe Hypothesis" strongly associates the Yamnaya with the spread of Proto-Indo-European languages, though alternative theories propose earlier origins during the Mesolithic or Neolithic.
Biological changes accompanied these cultural shifts. Traits such as lighter skin pigmentation and lactose tolerance became more prevalent, driven by environmental pressures and social changes. Male-biased migration patterns were evident, reflected in genetic markers and burial practices that underscored patrilocality and emerging social stratification. These migrations brought about not only genetic turnovers but also widespread cultural and technological exchanges.
Despite the Yamnaya's central role, the broader story of Indo-European origins remains complex and debated. Some scholars argue that Proto-Indo-European languages may have emerged earlier than the Yamnaya culture, involving a longer timeline of interaction across Eurasia. Nonetheless, the Bronze Age stands as a transformative era that shaped the genetic, linguistic, and cultural foundations of modern Europe and Central Asia, with the Yamnaya serving as a key catalyst in these changes.

[@pomicultorul]

Such a wonderful gift for this time of the year! This marathon must have required great efforts on your side and I/we are tremendously grateful for enabling novices (such as myself) to begin understanding this fascinating field. I am eternally grateful for your efforts and I will save and watch this again and again for it packs so much essential information. Thank you once again and I wish you much health!

[@PueMonTen]

You were fooled by ai.... This is so generated content. Timelimes are off and poorly presents human history. The ai just "speaks well" but I wouldn't personally give it that

[@minochenkovatn]

20:30 The Botai culture (in Northern Kazakhstan) has nothing to do with modern horses. They are related to Przewalski's horse. All genetic lines of modern horses date back to the Pribel culture of Mulino 2 and Davlekanovo 2 (Southern Urals, Russia).

[@RamZar50]

@@minochenkovatn In the research paper “The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes” from October 2021 they pinpoint (from horse remains) the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses from around 2000 BCE. Before that horses were used for meat and milk (dairy products). The nomadic Eurasian Steppe Pastorialists didn’t change much from 4000 BCE to when the Mongols rose up in the early 13th Century CE. Excellent horse riders, shooting arrows in full gallop, oxen wagons, meat, milk, fermented milk, burial mounds, tents, etc.

[@RamZar50]

Agriculture started simultaneously in three separate regions of the Fertile Cresent around 9500 BCE: Levant, Zagros and Anatolia. Without agriculture there would be no civilization. Neolithic farmers moved to Europe around 6000 BCE mostly from Anatolia (Sardinians today are closest to that). The ancestors of the Yamnaya were the Serednii Stih culture around 4000 BCE along the Dnipro River near the current Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The general area of the Pontic-Caspian Eurasian Steppe region is also where horse domestication first took place (initially for meat and milk and later for herding) and the Proto Indo-European languages. Sintashta culture of 2000 BCE (southern tip of Ural Mountains) were the Aryans and the descendants of Yamnaya and Corded Ware with industrial compounds of metallurgy, horse riding and spoked wheel chariots (before that wheels were solid in Yamnaya and Sumeria) Some moved south and eventually landed in Iran and India. Bronze Age was 3200 BCE to 1200 BCE and thereafter it was the Iron Age. There’s a great research paper from April 2024: The Genetic Origin of the Indo-Europeans.

[@PedagogicalAnt]

You nailed it

[@AbrahamSheikh-m8w]

Agriculture also started independently in Mehrgrah present day Pakistan. People started to cultivate and domesticate animals

[@gyulaerdei3180]

​​@@PedagogicalAnt Az első búzát... a Szkitak - Nimród népe...nemesiti... ie - 12 000 ! ! ! 😊

[@RamZar50]

@ Farming spread eastward from the Zagros region and westward from the Anatolia region sometime after 7000 BCE.

[@johnl5316]

But, we should never have had agriculture or domesticated animals since all of that produces global warming.

[@bogdancrnokrak74]

The video is called Genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia. The problem is that the genome is missing from the video. The mens who inhabited Europe were carriers of a haplogroup that can clearly identify them. From the oldest C and K, through I and G, to younger R, E and N. Every nation in Europe is a mixture of these haplogroups. It is known when a single group of carriers of a haplogroup arrived in Europe. It is unclear why the author did not use science but terms like Western hunter gatherers, Eastern hunter gatherers, Anatolian farmers?

[@mikep6499]

Which are the scientific terms if they're not EHG, WHG, ANF etc?

[@gyulaerdei3180]

A sötétség - "dagonyázik ! 😢 Kever - kavar...nehogy ráismerj ! ! ! ..... 😂

[@billybobwombat2231]

The aboriginal folks of Australia have been here for approx 65,000 years

[@kf1000]

Wow! Excellent information!

[@PeloquinDavid]

Well done, but there are a few things you might want to consider in any future videos you may make on this topic. First: the map you show early on suggests the major out-of-Africa/SW Asia migration of homo sapiens (of circa 50kya) into Eastern Eurasia went via Central Asia - i.e. in the lead-up to the glacial maximum over what is even today very challenging terrain and what would have been particularly forbidding terrain back then. While it is possible that some did so, it's far more likely that most of them took the coastal/South Asian route. Indeed, modern settlement patterns of the sequentially evolved Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups strongly suggest that the vast majority of easterly sapiens migration went via the south. Similarly, very recent (pre-)published findings point to a much greater diversity of archaic (both Neanderthal and Denisovan) DNA in South Asian populations than elsewhere, suggesting their earliest sapiens ancestors came across multiple isolated groups of hitherto undocumented archaic populations in the course of reaching South Asia (and probably on the Subcontinent itself). Onward migrations into SE Asia seem to have picked up even more Denisovan DNA (in some trajectories) but don’t seem to have brought more than a "founding population" subsample of Neanderthal DNA with them on their way down into Australia, Micronesia, East Asia and (eventually) North Eurasia and the Americas. It may be only the relative scarcity of ancient DNA from South Asia during the period in question (a sampling bias that looks likely to attract a lot more attention to overcome it in coming years) that makes the northern route look more likely - i.e. given that the relatively few ancient DNA samples we have in eastern Eurasia were mostly found in its steppes and high plateaus. The other thing I'd mention is that there's a lot of evidence of significant population replacement as different waves of sapiens populations unfurled upon previously settled populations. You did note the major replacement of European hunter-gatherers by Anatolian farmers in Southern Europe during the Holocene. But other, later waves were at least as dramatic in some cases. In particular, the arrival of the Yamnaya-derived steppe-herder populations in Northern Europe seems to have involved significant population replacements of up to 90% (in Britain) - and virtually 100% for males. (There is some relatively new evidence suggesting a plague spreading west from the steppes may have been at least partly responsible.) But the same influx of Yamnaya-derived populations in southern Europe (the proto-Greek, proto-Italic and proto-Celtic migrations) resulted in much smaller replacements (especially among females). And the similarly Yamnaya-derived population migrations of the Indo-Iranians left an even smaller genetic imprint on South Asia, Iran and Mesopotamia. So there are a lot of interesting questions about how these things came about...

[@gyulaerdei3180]

A járványok...mindíg - nyugatról terjednek keletre ! ! ! *

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Mezopotámiában pedig - nincs Yamnaja ! ! ! * Ott - Szkiták vannak...és Mahgarok ! *

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Peloqin : - Érdeklődj a Szkitáknál ... Többet fogsz megtudni..... ! * 😊

[@psychedelicfoundry]

It's not accurate to portray WHG as dark skinned as subsaharan africans. They had similar pigmentation to modern middle easterners, which is pretty clear when actually looking at their alleles. Also, while the majority of Yamnaya did not have blue eyes, there are some 15% of them that did. The same is true for lighter hair colors too, while the majority didn't have blonde or red hair, we do find them in a minority of samples.

[@ernietbone4168]

Exactly. Andrei DNA has an excellent video on this -kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWTaq52Jdpilqbc The WHG lacked alleles for dark skin on MFSD12 and DDB1.

[@BommiLvo]

Great video 5 start

[@DrakeMayeGlazer]

this is an amazing video

[@jefferybeach8198]

Thank you. Excellent presentation.

[@Andy_Babb]

Awesome episode!!! So glad you’re not using that AI narration

[@PueMonTen]

It is ai voice... And it's false info throughout... Hey it fooled me for a moment too.

[@laszlohentes61]

Thanks!Very good job!The first yamnaya wawe the balkan peninsula and first langues -illiric - alban langue, second wawe archaic greek langue. ilias ánd odysseia writing mixed old-greek and alban langue. the albanians tribles only roman empire long wars later romanized-mixed archaic albanian peoples high mountains,little fortress a survivor people. i am hungarian man,only little speak english,sorry.

[@mver191]

Maybe the Germanic myths were right about the Aesir - Vanir war. "As the Vanir are often considered fertility gods, the Æsir-Vanir War has been proposed as a reflection of the invasion of local fertility cults somewhere in regions inhabited by the Germanic peoples by a more aggressive, warlike cult. This has been proposed as an analogy of the invasion of the Indo-Europeans. Georges Dumézil stated that the war need not necessarily be understood in terms of historicity more than any other myth. However scholars have cited parallels between the Æsir-Vanir War, The Rape of the Sabine Women from Roman mythology, and the battle between Devas and Asuras from Hindu mythology, providing support for a Proto-Indo-European "war of the functions." Explaining these parallels, J. P. Mallory states: "Basically, the parallels concern the presence of first-(magico-juridical) and second-(warrior) function representatives on the victorious side of a war that ultimately subdues and incorporates third function characters, for example, the Sabine women or the Norse Vanir. Indeed, the Iliad itself has also been examined in a similar light. The ultimate structure of the myth, then, is that the three estates of Proto-Indo-European society were fused only after a war between the first two against the third.""

[@SeamanX-qh9bw]

One correction - Dacian -Thracian language is no longer counted among the early/proto Indo_Europeans languages according to the last studies of Reich/Anthony/Brown . And if we have very little information about Thracian language (4 undeciphered inscriptions remained) , there is nothing about Dacian language to be considered early IE language or even Thracian like . It was just a nationalistic construction typical to the Balkans , Getae being assimilated with Thracians by Herodotus and Dacians being assimilated with Getae , 400 years later , by Strabo .

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Mert,hogy - mindkettő a Szkiták közé tartozik .... ! Dák - Parthus - Trach ..... (Scythes..... 😊 *

[@buttercxpdraws8101]

Fantastic! So much information made so easy to absorb. Love your work ❤

[@Anthromedia_asia]

I’m glad you found it helpful.

[@synaestesia-bg3ew]

This is so beautifully explained. I have to save it to listen maybe two more times.

[@Anthromedia_asia]

I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@acolus3413]

Hi, what book do you use for this video? may i have your reading list. thanks

[@Anthromedia_asia]

doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.17.589597 Anthony, D. (2023). The Yamnaya culture and the invention of nomadic pastoralism in the Eurasian steppes. Cambridge Univ. Press. dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14507 doi.org/10.1038/nature14317 www.jstor.org/stable/45211580 Study research by Lazardis, Allentof, Anthony and Patterson

[@acolus3413]

@@Anthromedia_asia ty and thanks so much for the video! these kind of information is so scarce and you are making them available to the wider public. Merry Christmas!

[@SocialStudi]

Information is great

[@JeffersonDavid-i9y]

Any particular book other than Anthony

[@johnl5316]

2:20 When speaking of the migration into the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africans are shown. Why?

[@davidkidd4713]

Excellent video. Really well researched and clearly presented. Thanks

[@Anthromedia_asia]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@frank-y8n]

People crossed the open seas more than 15000 years ago to the Americas.

[@PeloquinDavid]

Not quite. Some (possibly most) could have (and did) walk over the Beringian land bridge that existed then because of much lower sea levels of the ice age. Others did probably follow the coast in small craft - hopping past dangerous cordilleran glaciers that spilled out over the coast - but to say they "crossed the open seas" is a bit of a stretch.

[@DrakeMayeGlazer]

@@PeloquinDavid yep!!

[@Baryshx]

They reached America via Siberia.

[@WarAndFame]

Genetics the mammoth in the room. Solutrean hypothesis. Biface tech. Atlatl. Ice age writing in Europe’s similarities to Mayan writing. Preclovis there before the ice age corridor was open. Boomerang. You guys need to stop parroting and actually do research if you want to have an opinion. Many times things are said to be refuted when they weren’t really. Biface is a big ol stupid one. Same unique technology but it’s not related because one has a rounded bottom? Ridiculous.

[@VonAggelby]

What's the name of this theory?

[@johnl5316]

min 5:33 He speaks of western hunter gatherers and shows subsaharan Africans? Because?

[@gladysseaman4346]

This was an interesting compilation of information about the Yamanya culture. I would like an expansion on the offshoots of this culture. In the west information on the ancestry of the peoples of Asia is in short supply on a lay person's level, and I would appreciate more.

[@nukhetyavuz]

I agree w the end…

[@AbrahamSheikh-m8w]

Do you agree that yamnaya didn't speak indo European

[@mitkodimitrov8396]

weird,check the lands of Old Bulgaria,Volga Bulgaria and Bulgaria,why are so the same borders and kurgans,with horses?

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Mert - Bolgar = Szkyta ... !!! no slav ..... 😊 Lovakkal és kurgánokkal ! *

[@ericesper348]

Your timelines are way off.

[@Vazgen_Ghazaryan]

13:19 Why did you remove Armenian and Anatolian from the map?

[@ralphstern2845]

I had been tought the Yamnaya existed millenia before bronze age. How can nomads make bronze?

[@Learntube2023]

Doesn't use the turkish word kurgan

[@JeffersonDavid-i9y]

What's wrong with the kurgan word

[@BommiLvo]

Yes pit grave culture is more apt

[@AlexJeffrey-iq5rp]

I heard Yamnaya is a RUSSIAN TERM used for Ukrainian culture

[@JeffersonDavid-i9y]

@@AlexJeffrey-iq5rp The term Yamnaya can be problematic because it often oversimplifies complex prehistoric histories. It refers to an archaeological culture from the Pontic-Caspian steppe (ca. 3300-2600 BCE), but is frequently conflated with genetic and linguistic phenomena, such as the spread of Indo-European languages. This can lead to confusion and reductive interpretations of the diverse and dynamic interactions among ancient populations. Additionally, overemphasis on genetic data risks ignoring cultural, social, and ecological complexities. Misuse of Yamnaya research by nationalist or supremacist ideologies further complicates its use, distorting scientific findings for political agendas. The term is also criticized for reflecting Eurocentric biases, often neglecting the contributions of non-European regions like Central Asia and the Near East. Scholars should use the term precisely and responsibly, acknowledging the cultural and genetic diversity of prehistoric societies without deterministic or ethnocentric implications.

[@ComeDomi]

​@@JeffersonDavid-i9yThe term "Yamnaya" is widely accepted in archaeology and genetics to describe a Bronze Age culture from the Eurasian steppe (c. 3300-2600 BCE). It refers to a specific set of burial practices, material culture, and genetic markers, and is crucial for understanding the spread of Indo-European languages and populations in Europe and Asia. Its use is neutral, descriptive, and supported by scholarly consensus.

[@simritnam612]

Otzi the Iceman? The Red Heads of Turkmenistan?

[@kevingriffin1376]

The similarities between the distribution of Indo-European Y DNA haplogroups and the distribution of Indo-European language are stunning. It doesn’t look complex at all. The only complexities are those added by people who want to argue that languages such as Classical Latin somehow flitted about from population to population (something that has never happened in the historical era in spite of Latin being widely taught).

[@jvonhousen3055]

I am a simple man, I see Yamnaya... I padlock my hut.

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Az itt latható kultúra , mind Szkita alapú ! A legrégibb - alaprétege - Szkíta ..... ! * 😊

[@laszlohentes61]

ez még az európai szkíta törzs szövetség előtti időről szól végig. a szkíták nem az ógörög világban léteztek. ez az indoeurópai népek hódításait írja le közérthetően. a görög-perzsa birodalmak idején voltak a szkíták. tőlük vettek lovakat rabszolgákat és a szkíták tudtak fémeket önteni,de ezek a népek meg nem. csak kovácsolással csináltak fegyvert és szerszámot görögök,perzsák. szkíták gyepvasércből olvasztották a vasat,rezet,ónt,aranyat cserekereskedelem útján szerezték be a seima-turbino kultura után maradt népektől. a szkíták egységes nyelvvel nem rendelkeztek - vérszerződés útján létre jött törzs szövetség volt. a babilont elfoglaló perzsa uralkodót is a szkíták győzték le egy női vezetővel,aki a perzsa király fejét levágta és egy vérrel teli bőrzsákba varrta - de ez kr. e. 500 körül volt. ha utánanézek pontos adatot tudok mondani. mert ez engedte ki a zsidókat a babiloni fogságból - ez volt az a perzsa király. amiket leírt az előadó ,meg 5-6 000 éve történtek.

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Az első búzát - Nimród - Szkita - népe nemesiti ! ! ! - hol volt, akkor a Yamnaja ? 😊 12 000 éve ..... földművelés - európában - először Carpathien- basin -- indul ! ! ! * 😊 9 000 éve .....

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Corded were = Szkita * Sintachta = Szkita * Mezopotámi = Szkita * 😂

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Falls - video ..... ! 😂

[@gyulaerdei3180]

😂😂😂

[@christianwitness]

NOT OUT OF AFRICA. ignore the Cteator, at your own rise. YHVH is his name. This is all false teaching. 😂😂😂

[@mrbaab5932]

Please cite evidence.

[@valamerkozlowski7915]

Corded Ware not yamnaya created northern Europe. Yamnaya are Celtic mostly located in Spain Portugal France Britain and Irland. They are R1b and northern Europe from Northern Germany to Scandinavia are R1a and I1. The countries in between are mixed

[@gyulaerdei3180]

Corded - ware ... = Szkita ! 😊

[@valamerkozlowski7915]

Viking haplogroup is R1a1 from battle axe people

[@albajgurd]

Humans didn't come out of Africa. That's a lie

[@Nohaarny]

Come out of illusion my dear

[@Nohaarny]

How can you deny all the evidence

[@BommiLvo]

Then what is the truth

[@AlexJeffrey-iq5rp]

I don't understand what logic u people use to frame ur own theories

[@ComeDomi]

Humans truly come out of Africa as both archeological and mitochondrial DNA suggest. All narratives based on the bible have been debunked. The channel has produced a really good video.

[@ianhills8980]

Poor grasp of human history