Middle Holocene Siberian genomes reveal highly connected gene pools throughout North Asia.

The peopling history of North Asia remains largely unexplored due to the limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Here, we report genome-wide data of ten individuals dated to as early as 7,500 years before present from three regions in North Asia, namely Altai-Sayan, Russian Far East, and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Our analysis reveals a previously undescribed Middle Holocene Siberian gene pool in Neolithic Altai-Sayan hunter-gatherers as a genetic mixture between paleo-Siberian and ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestries. This distinctive gene pool represents an optimal source for the inferred ANE-related population that contributed to Bronze Age groups from North and Inner Asia, such as Lake Baikal hunter-gatherers, Okunevo-associated pastoralists, and possibly Tarim Basin populations. We find the presence of ancient Northeast Asian (ANA) ancestry-initially described in Neolithic groups from the Russian Far East-in another Neolithic Altai-Sayan individual associated with different cultural features, revealing the spread of ANA ancestry ∼1,500 km further to the west than previously observed. In the Russian Far East, we identify 7,000-year-old individuals that carry Jomon-associated ancestry indicating genetic links with hunter-gatherers in the Japanese archipelago. We also report multiple phases of Native American-related gene flow into northeastern Asia over the past 5,000 years, reaching the Kamchatka Peninsula and central Siberia. Our findings highlight largely interconnected population dynamics throughout North Asia from the Early Holocene onward.

Scythian trepanations in the Gorny Altai in Hippocratic times: modern expert appraisal of ancient surgical technologies.

OBJECTIVE: To report the analysis of 3 cases of ancient trepanation discovered in the craniological collection (153 skulls) of the Pazyryk nomadic culture (500-300 bc) from the Gorny Altai, Russia, and to evaluate the technique, instrumentation, and materials used for cranial surgery as well as the motivation for the trepanations in Scythian times. METHODS: A multidisciplinary approach was chosen to study the trepanned skulls. Visual inspection and examination under magnification, multislice computed tomography, high-field magnetic resonance imaging, and coupled plasma mass spectrometry and synchrotron radiation-induced x-ray fluorescence analysis of the bone samples from the site of trephination were used. RESULTS: In the Pazyryk culture, trepanation was very likely used to perform the intracranial procedures that were not yet indicated by Hippocrates. No signs of bone infection were detected. Higher copper abundance found at the site of trepanation showed that a bronze knife was the most likely tool used by Scythian surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the Scythian population of the Altai Mountains had sufficient medical knowledge to perform sophisticated and successful manipulations on the human skulls. Scraping technique with bronze tools was quite effective for prevention of wound infection and resulted in a high survival rate after surgery. In the era of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, it may be useful to consider some ancient surgical technologies.