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Ancient DNA analysis of elite nomadic warrior from Chinge-Tey I funerary commemorative complex in the “Valley of the Kings”, Tuva
In the Ist millennium BC bearers of the Scythian-type nomadic cultures inhabited the steppes of Eurasia, from Northern China to the Carpathians. According to archaeological data, the origin of nomadic life style and economy can be traced to the eastern part of this steppe “corridor”, primarily to the territory of the present-day Republic of Tuva in Russia. Here, in the Turan-Uyuk Basin, also known as the “Valley of the Kings”, some of the earliest known Scythian-type archaeological sites called Arzhan-1, Arzhan-2, Chinge-Tey I, Tunnug 1 were studied. Each of them is a large-scale funerary commemorative complex with burials of tribal nomadic leaders, surrounded by graves of supposed members of their families or associates. All these people belonged to the societies which are associated with the earliest nomadic cultures in Asia. Representatives of similar cultures will later be known and described as the Scythians/the Saka in Assyrian, Achaemenid, and Greek sources. Arzhan 2 and Chinge-Tey I elite level sites as well as ordinary pastoralist burials of the early-Scythian period in Tuva are attributed to the Aldy-Bel archaeological culture of the Early Iron Age (8th– 6th century BC). Taking the first step to shed light on the genetic origin of Aldy-Bel elites, we carried out a comparative genome-wide analysis of an elite level person buried in grave 9 at Chinge-Tey I (7th– 6th centuries BC) and two published earlier genomes of individuals, whose burials (graves 14 and 22) accompanied the ‘royal couple’ (grave 5) at Arzhan-2. This study aims also at checking a hypothesis of genetic kinship between human individuals buried in the large-scale burial complexes of the “Valley of the Kings” and brings up the issue of possible dynastic connections of local elites, buried under different kurgans of the valley.