Y-chromosomal DNA analyzed for four prehistoric cemeteries from Cis-Baikal, Siberia
Résumé
The Lake Baikal region of Siberia was home to two temporally distinct populations from Early Neolithic, EN
(7500–7000 cal BP) to Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, LN-EBA (5570–3725 cal BP). The EN group was separated
fromthe LN-EBA group by a ~1500-year gap (hiatus), and during this hiatus no human remains have been recovered
from the Lake Baikal area. Examination of the paternal lineage through Y-chromosomal polymorphisms is a
novel approach to BAP andwill facilitate the assessment of the paternal continuities and/or discontinuitieswithin
and between the EN and the LN-EBA groups, and complement the previously examined maternal data. Several
new ancient DNA extraction and PCR amplification techniques were optimized to address the technical challenges
during sample analysis. Each sample was extracted twice in duplicate on different occasions to authenticate
the results. Thirteen Y-chromosomal Single Nucleotide Polymorphism(SNP)markerswere examined via the
SNaPshot multiplex PCR reaction to determine Y-chromosomal haplogroups of males. Results have been obtained
from16 males fromthe EN cemeteries Lokomotiv and Shamanka II representing haplogroups K, R1a1 and C3,
and 20males from the LN-EBA Ust'-Ida and Kurma XI cemeteries representing haplogroups Q, K and unidentified
SNP (L914). For those males belonging to haplogroup Q, further experiments were obtained to examine subhaplogroups
of Q, and the results showed that thosemales belong to sub-haplogroup Q1a3. The paternal Y-chromosome
results suggest a discontinuity between the EN and LN-EBA populations. The significance of this research
lies on the utility of DNA analysis in making inferences about the pre-historic social structure.