Demographic History of Ancient Okunev People and Their Kin across Eurasia: A Patrilineal Perspective

The ancient Okunev culture in South Siberia is renowned for its mysterious artistic and cultural legacy and belief system. Many later, Eurasian steppe peoples are thought to have inherited elements of the Okunev culture, but its origins and evolution remain unclear. Previous research of ancient DNA (aDNA) indicated that the primary paternal lineage of the ancient Okunev people was Q-L330-YP761. In this study, we sequenced 25 modern samples from this haplogroup and analyzed them alongside 26 ancient samples and 10 modern samples from public sources. The updated, high-resolution phylogenetic tree shows paternal lineage Q-L330-YP761 expanded significantly during the Okunev culture. Its downstream subclade Y145421 was the main paternal type of the Chandman culture. Phylogeographic analysis indicates that Q-L330-YP761 largely integrated into the Xiongnu, Tiele, and Han Chinese populations after the Okunev culture. Many downstream branches of Q-L330-YP761 also migrated westward to Central Asia and Europe. In summary, Q-L330-YP761 is considered one of the genetic lineages that have migrated across the Eurasian steppe since the Bronze Age.