Genetic admixture and language shift in the medieval Volga-Oka interfluvehttps://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01826-7Highlights
• Iron Age inhabitants of Suzdal were genetically unique but close to Uralic speakers
• A shift in the local gene pool coincided with Slavic migrations and a language shift
• Genetic changes mirror the insights from historical linguistics and written records
• Outliers suggest far-reaching contacts during the medieval timesSummaryThe Volga-Oka interfluve in northwestern Russia has an intriguing history of population influx and language shift during the Common Era. Today, most inhabitants of the region speak Russian, but until medieval times, northwestern Russia was inhabited by Uralic-speaking peoples. A gradual shift to Slavic languages started in the second half of the first millennium with the expansion of Slavic tribes, which led to the foundation of the Kievan Rus’ state in the late 9th century CE. The medieval Rus’ was multicultural and multilingual — historical records suggest that its northern regions comprised Slavic and Uralic peoples ruled by Scandinavian settlers. In the 10th–11th centuries, the introduction of Christianity and Cyrillic literature raised the prestige status of Slavic, driving a language shift from Uralic to Slavic. This eventually led to the disappearance of the Uralic languages from northwestern Russia.
Here, we study a 1,500-year time transect of 30 ancient genomes and stable isotope values from the Suzdal region in the Volga-Oka interfluve. We describe a previously unsampled local Iron Age population and a gradual genetic turnover in the following centuries. Our time transect captures the population shift associated with the spread of Slavic languages and illustrates the ethnically mixed state of medieval Suzdal principality, eventually leading to the formation of the admixed but fully Slavic-speaking population that inhabits the area today.
We also observe genetic outliers that highlight the importance of the Suzdal region in medieval times as a hub of long-reaching contacts via trade and warfare.
Sample Site Date mtDNA Y-chr
BOL001 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 294±29 calCE H11a2 *
BOL002 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 188±32 calCE U4c1 *
BOL003 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 292±29 calCE H5a1a *
BOL004 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 263±35 calCE U4c1 *
BOL005 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 219±31 calCE V7a1 *
BOL006 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 192±32 calCE T2g *
BOL007 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 373±42 calCE H5 *
BOL008 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 289±30 calCE H13a2b2a *
BOL009 Bolshoye Davydovskoye 2 295±29 calCE H28a *
GOR001 Gorokhovets Puzhalova gora 859±49 calCE K1c1h R1a1a1b1a1b1
R-Y286678GOS001 Gorokhovets Sretensky monastery 1157±51 calCE I1a1a I2a1b2a1
GOS002 Gorokhovets Sretensky monastery 1111±48 calCE U3a3 R1a1a1b1a2a
GOS003 Gorokhovets Sretensky monastery 1090±41 calCE I1a1 N-Z1979
SHE001 Shekshovo 9 930±34 calCE U5a1d1 E1b1b1a1b1
SHE002 Shekshovo 9 1010±11 calCE H3 *
SHE003 Shekshovo 9 841±36 calCE U5a2a1b G2a2b1a
pre-G-Y181650SHE004 Shekshovo 9 936±31 calCE H6a1a4 *
SHE005 Shekshovo 9 1046±44 calCE HV10 R1a1a
SHE006 Shekshovo 9 1012±21 calCE K1a30a *
SHE007 Shekshovo 9 1125±54 calCE H49 I2a2
I-P78SHE008 Shekshovo 9 1348±28 calCE H3 *
SHE009 Shekshovo 9 1346±31 calCE U2e1b1 R1a1a1b1a1
R-YP509SHK001 Shekshovo 2 1207±22 calCE M9a1a J2a
J-Y152278SHK002 Shekshovo 2 1179±35 calCE Z3c N1
N-VL77KBL001 Kibol 3 1756±73 calCE NA *
KBL002 Kibol 3 1787±87 calCE J1c3 *
KBL003 Kibol 3 1728±67 calCE U5b1b1a *
KED001 Kideksha 1747±71 calCE H24a *
KED002 Kideksha 1772±82 calCE H50 *
KED003 Kideksha 1634±53 calCE I1a1a3a *
KED004 Kideksha 1414±11 calCE F2e *
KRS001 Krasnoe 3 1429±7 calCE T1a *
Исходники
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB57974