A genetic analysis of human remains from the bronze age (2nd Millennium BC) cemetery bertek-56 in the Altai mountains

Bone samples from two individuals (an adult and a child) buried at a Middle Bronze Age cemetery Bertek-56 on the Ukok Plateau, Altai, were subjected to a genetic analysis. The results are interpreted with reference to archaeological and paleoanthropological data. Four systems of genetic markers were analyzed: mitochondrial DNA, the polymorphic part of the amelogenin gene, autosomal STR-loci, and STR-loci of the Y-chromosome. Complete information on these genetic markers was obtained for the adult individual. For the child, data on mitochondrial DNA, the amelogenin gene, and partial profiles of autosomal and Y-chromosomal STR-loci are available. The individuals were shown to be unrelated, and both were male. The boy's mitochondrial DNA belongs to the Western Eurasian haplogroup K (subgroup K1a24a), and that of the man, to the Eastern Eurasian haplogroup C. Using a predictor program, the Y-chromosomal haplotype of the adult individual (17 Y-chromosomal STR-loci) was identifi ed as Eastern Eurasian haplogroup Q. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis of the results suggests that the Bertek population originated from an admixture of two genetically contrasting groups: one with Eastern Eurasian, the other with Western Eurasian features. These results are consistent with those of the archaeological and paleoanthropological analysis indicating the admixture of autochthonous groups with immigrants from Western Eurasia.