The Origin and Dispersal of Yamnaya Steppe Ancestry Inferred from Ancient Genomes

The 1100-kilometre long Caucasus mountain ranges extend between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, bounded by the rivers Kuban and Terek in the north and Kura and Araxes rivers in the south (Fig. 9.1). The rich archaeological record suggests extensive human occupation since the Upper Palaeolithic (Adler DS, et al., 2014, Pinhasi R, et al., 2013, Lordkipanidze D, et al., 2013). A Neolithic lifestyle based on food production began in the Caucasus after 6000 calBCE (Helwing B, et al., 2017). As a region rich in natural resources such as ores, pastures and timber, the Caucasus gained increasing importance to the economies of the growing urban centers in northern Mesopotamia (Kohl P, Trifonov V., 2014 and Stein GJ 2012). The 4th millennium BCE archaeological record points to the presence of the Maykop and Kura-Araxes Bronze Age (BA) cultural complexes in the region (Fig. 9.1, Supplementary Note 1). The Maykop culture is well known for its large and rich burial mounds, especially at the eponymous Maykop site in today’s Adygea. They reflect emergence of a new system of social organization (Kohl P., 2007), while the Kura-Araxes is found on both flanks of the Caucasus mountain range, attesting to a connection between north and south (Kohl P, Trifonov V., 2014).