About the Ancient North Eurasians (ANE) and the vibrant history of Siberia and Northeastern Europe.

the “Ancient North Eurasians” (ANE), represented by the Malta-Buriet samples, are basically a proxy formed from West-Eurasian and East-Eurasian components.

The Ancient North Eurasian (ANE), samplified by the Malta-Buriet samples (MA-1), is a genetic population proxy which formed from ancient West-Eurasian (Paleolithic European) and East-Eurasian (Ancient Eastern Siberian) components. ANE was once widespread in parts of northern Eurasia, mostly in Western Siberia and Eastern Europe, until it got nearly completelly replaced by East Asian-related Paleo-Siberians which themselves again got largely replaced by East Asian Neo-Siberians.

Basics:

In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) is the name given to an ancestral component/proxy, that represents the people similar to the Mal’ta–Buret’ culture or a population closely related to them. The sample is between 24,000 to 20,000 years old. Recently it was found that the ANE cline existed already about 30,000 years ago. A sample in northernmost Russia (~31,600-year-old Yana RHS individual) was found to have ancestry from West-Eurasian and East-Eurasian components and thus represent the oldest known example of the ANE proxy. Scientists have used the term “Ancient North Siberian” ANS to describe the earlier sample which can be considered ancestral to the later ANE sample.

The ANS and the ANE samples are defined by maternal West-Eurasian ancestry components (such as mtDNA haplogroup U) and paternal East-Eurasian ancestry components (such as yDNA haplogroup P1 (R*/Q*)). mtDNA U seems to have either arrived from Paleolithic Europe or the Middle East while yDNA P1 arrived from Southeast/East Asia. (See Karafet et al., Mayat et al., Tumonggor et al., and Hallast et al. 2020 “Early replacement of West Eurasian male Y chromosomes from the East”).

The full genome of ANE and ANS reveals a relative closer relation to West-Eurasians, especially Europeans. This may also be because Europeans trace up to 25% of their ancestry to the ANE/ANS. This in turn also means that Europeans have some East-Eurasian ancestry through the ANE/ANS.

Similar or likely older samples in Northern Eurasia, such as the Ust’-Ishim samples, have for example nearly exclusively East Asian ancestry, but also shares ancestry with the Malta-Buriet samples.

Ust’ Ishim was found in modern day western Siberia, above today Kazakhstan in Russia. The fossil is notable in that it had intact DNA which permitted the complete sequencing of its genome, the oldest modern human genome to be so decoded (to be fully decoded). It was found that Ust’ Ishim is closely related to modern East and Southeast Asians as well as Siberians and sharing the NO allele. When compared to ancient remains, Ust’-Ishim man is closely related, in terms of autosomal DNA to Tianyuan man, found near Beijing and dating from 42,000 to 39,000 years ago. This is another evidence for the vibrant population history of western Siberia.

A genetic study in 2017 by Wong et al., who analysed several Northern Eurasian/Siberian samples, including the ancient Sungir, Mal’ta–Buret’ and Ust’-Ishim samples, revealed a complex population history of Siberia and Northeastern Europe. The “Ancient North Eurasian” (ANE) component can be modeled as admixture of West-Eurasian and East-Eurasian lineages. ANE samples analysed in 2017 had about 43% East-Eurasian ancestry (38% to 47%; samplified by Eastern Siberian Evenk people) but there is evidence for strong variability depending on the regions of the wide area. Other studies came to similar conclusions. Another recent study in 2019 estimated 29% East-Eurasian ancestry in MA-1.

From the latest study about ANE/ANS:

The “Ancient North Siberians” (ANS), represented by Yana RHS, was formed from West- and East-Eurasian lineages about ~38 kya. Between 20 and 11 kya, the ANS population was largely replaced by peoples with ancestry related to present-day East Asians, giving rise to ancestral Native Americans and “Ancient Paleosiberians” (AP), represented by a 9.8 kya skeleton from Kolyma River. AP are closely related to the Siberian ancestors of Native Americans, and ancestral to contemporary communities such as Koryaks and Itelmen.

[…]

The ANS is estimated to have received East-Eurasian ancestry at ~39 kya (32.2–45.8), with between 21.3% to 40.1%.

Later ANS/ANE got nearly completelly replaced by the East Asian-related Paleo-Siberians. The Paleo-Siberians later again got largely replaced by East Asian Neo-Siberians, which make up the common ancestry of Northern Eurasia and Siberia today.

Now some examples of how the ANS/ANE people have looked based on the amount of analyzed West- and East-Eurasian ancestry, using modern populations from the area west of the Ural mountain and in northeastern Europe with similar ancestry components as the ANS/ANE:

Note: Many ancient North Eurasian samples were found to have genes for black hair, light skin and dark eyes. Typically East Asian-related alleles, however interestingly they also carried the to date oldest alleles for blonde hair. ANE formed from Paleolithic northern Europeans and Eastern Siberians, the frequency of the alleles make sense knowing this.

Ancient North Eurasians were genetically and phenotypically a mix of West-Eurasian Caucasoids from northern/eastern Europe and East-Eurasian Mongoloids expanding from eastern Siberia. Several modern groups in western Siberian, eastern and Northeastern Europe descend from them and later waves of eastern and Inner Asians through Siberia.

There is evidence for continuing migration from Eastern Eurasia, especially eastern Siberia. Hallast et al. 2020 in “Early replacement of West Eurasian male Y chromosomes from the East” showed that the yDNA haplogroup R, now commonly found among European and South Asians, originated from East-Eurasians nomads. The high frequency of yDNA R in genetically West-Eurasian populations is through a positive genetic bottleneck.

The original West-Eurasian yDNA lineages, such as I and J, still common in Europe and the Middle East, got often replaced by East-Eurasian lineages such as yDNA N or R.

This should give you a better overview about the vibrant history of northern Eurasia and the effects on northeastern Europe.