File:Overview of the genetic history of the Bronze to Iron Age Eurasian Steppe.jpg

English: Overview of the genetic history of the Bronze to Iron Age Eurasian Steppe:

1. Shows the Bronze Age expansion of Yamnaya-like ancestries associated with the initial spread of Indo-European languages and following developments, such as the formation of the Afanasievo culture as rapid migration of Yamnaya-like groups and likely associated with the spread of Tocharian, the Corded Ware culture in Central/Northern Europe and the shoot-off derived Sintashta and Andronovo cultures (Western Steppe Herders) which are associated with the spread of Indo-Iranian languages. In tandem, the spread of Ancient Northeast Asian groups outgoing from the Amur region.

2. Shows the developments following the Indo-European expansion: Western Steppe Herders and their affilated material culture spreaded throughout the Eurasian Steppe and beyond, influencing but also absorbing various cultural elements from surrounding groups. These developments of the late Bronze Age and initial Iron Age resulted in the formation of the Scythian cultural horizon. The Scythian cultural horizon can be described to have formed primarily from Western Steppe Herders with significant inputs from a local Western Mongolian group (Khövsgöl LBA), which itself formed from primarily Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry and significant inputs from Ancient North Eurasians (ANE) and minor earlier WSH/Afanasievo geneflow. Varying degrees of BMAC-like geneflow spreaded from the Iranian plateau into Central Asia. Scythian material culture would develop out of WSH-affilated Andronovo/Sintashta material culture and inputs from local Siberian groups.

3. Shows the genetic substructure of Iron Age Scythians. The Scythians are described along a cline of Steppe MLBA (WSH) and Khövsgöl/Altaian-like ancestry, with varying degrees of additional BMAC-like ancestry. Scythians broadly fall into a Western Scythian cluster close to the European gene pool, and an Eastern Scythian cluster displaying higher heterogenity and an affinity to modern Turkic-speaking groups, pointing to a central role of the Eastern Scythians in the ethnogenesis of later Turkic-speaking peoples during the Xiongnu period.

Graphical description of genetic data on Yamnaya and CWC/Sintashta/Andronovo found here:[1]. Graphical description of genetic data on Khövsgöl LBA found here:[2]. The genetic makeup of Scythians is primarily based on Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2021, in tandem with Järve et al. 2019 and Kumar et al. 2022 (see citations).