Syunik particularity.

 Syunik particularity.

Davidski has made new G25 coordinates of Skourtanioti et al. 2025 paper, including the 25 new files from Syunik. He cleaned noisy SNPs which are almost certainly a result of postmortem damage and after this the PCA of "Hellenistic" era Syunik samples are more compact and less heterogeneous. While modern Syunik people "cloud" plots inside the Aghitu Hellenistic "cloud".

The conclusions are the same as in the previous post about those Aghitu cave samples.

Some samples shifted to Iranian plateau are probably from Achaemenid/Orontid era (600-300BC) rather than Hellenistic (300-1AD). The shift to Iranian plateau was even more stronger in Late Antique era sample from Caucasian Albania Shamakhi region, so we could say that Iranian influence was probably stronger in eastern parts of South Caucasus than in other parts of historic Armenia and Caucasus. However this influence was transient in Armenia given that modern Syunik Armenians don't have any strong shift to Iranian plateau.
The reason why in Syunik we don't see an abrupt genetic change in post - Urartian period, similar to Araratian plain, Sevan and Shirak regions is probably due to the fact that Urartu didn't have a strong control of Syunik and didn't build there new cities with new relocated population. As a result the Etiuni genetic profile lasted longer and the change to the modern one was gradual.
We can expect that similar pattern of gradual change occurred in other parts of historic Armenia that didn't witnessed a strong control of Urartian empire. Examples are Artsakh, Utik and parts of Gugark.

This data support the theory that we proposed in Petrosyan and Palyan 2023 about the post-Urartian genetic shift. We proposed that is the consequence of Urartu's population relocation activities.

Additionally it's possible that after the fall of Biainean dynasty in Van the Biainean elite moved to Araratian plain. A theory that was suggested by some scholars. However this theory require more data to be confirmed or falsified.

The Middle Bronze Age (2400-1500BCE) in South Caucasus

 The Middle Bronze Age (2400-1500BCE) in South Caucasus

Now that DNA files from Skourtanioti et al. 2025 paper about Georgia and South Caucasus are available we can take a closer look on them. The subject of this thread will be the crucial period of Middle Bronze Age (MBA) when the new Y DNA of steppe origin (R1b-Z2103, I2a2b) appear in South Caucasus and all over historic Armenia.

The data from Georgia MBA shows that only eastern Georgia was affected by Steppe migrants. The blue dots shows the sites where the Steppe ancesrtry and YDNA was present, while red dots show the sites where it was mostly absent. On the second chart You can see the same in numbers. This pattern is possible only if Steppe migrants crossed the Caucasus via the Dagestan and eastern Caucasian pass.

Theoretically a migration via the Central Caucasus is also possible but in that case the migrants would acquire extra CHG which is not the case. In contrary MBA samples both from Georgia and Armenia have extra shift toward Anatolian farmers which is possible only if they have crossed the modern Azerbaijan where Anatolian farmer rich population was present since at last Late Chalcolithic and apparently persisted in Early Bronze Age also.

This scenario explains two findings of this paper.

1. The reason why steppe average is lower in MBA Georgia than in MBA Armenia. Its due to geographic heterogdneity. The western Georgia lacking or having very low levels of steppe harbored a non-IE population which almost certainly were the Kartvelian tribes.

2. The paper also notes an excessive shift toward Anatolia in MBA. This can be explained by a migration via the lands where Anatolian shifted population lived. The best candidate is the Leyla tepe culture in what is now the Azerbaijan Republic. Which can also explain the presence of E1b in MBA Armenia.

PS. Thanks to Tigran Sg for the labeled G25 coordinates and for first noticing this pattern.

Another perspective on 25 Antique era samples from Syunik (Aghitu) from Skourtanioti et al. 2025.

 Another perspective on 25 Antique era samples from Syunik (Aghitu) from Skourtanioti et al. 2025.

The bulk off them are in the intermediate position between Iron Age Syunik marked as LIA and modern Syunik. Which makes sense. The cause of the change from LIA to modern Syunik might be a source similar to Turkey IA which includes samples from Van and Batman regions.

The rest have various shifts. Some toward Iranian plateau, One case with a strong shift to Levant and it seems at last two cases shifted toward Anatolia or even Europe.

I don't think all this samples are from Hellenistic era. Only one has a radiocarbon date. While others are dated based on archaeology which can be misleading in caves. However if they are from Hellenistic era this could mean that the Etiuni genetic profile persisted in Syunik quite long time.

Most of their Y DNA are typical Etiuni. R1b the L584 subbranch. The rest also might be local, like the J2-M92 and E1b. I2a1-L699 might be from Etiuni also. If G1 is real it could be from NW Iran. But it can be local also. However the paper do not mention the G1, it was found by Genarchivist users.

There is little doubt that most of this people were Armenian speakers in their lifetime.

R1b - L584 in distant lands

 R1b - L584 in distant lands

L584 is associated with Trialeti-Vanadzor and Van-Urmia cultures. However we have some cases in distant lands. The most remarkable is the L584 in Moldova Late Scythian period and in Mongolia during the Uighur khaganate period. Those cases can't have local steppe origin, they are almost certainly a result of migration from Armenia-Iran-Caucasus given that older samples from Hasanlu and Armenia have common ancestors with those steppic L584. So what historic event could be the cause of this migration.

In my opinion it is the back migration of Scythians from West Asia to north. While two cases in Mongolia could be either from Scythians either the result of Manichean proselytism. Uighur Khaganate was a short lived polity that adopted Manichaeism as a state religion.

https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-FGC14617/tree

Remarks on a major paper about Scythians.

 Remarks on a major paper about Scythians.

Despite more than a dozen ancient DNA papers about Scythians published till now the "true" Scythians described in ancient Greek texts, living in north of Black Sea remained poorly sampled. The Andreeva et al. 2025 filled this lacuna.

The main finding of the paper is that despite somewhat homogenous material culture labeled as "Scythian" by modern archaeologists, the real people behind this culture were quite diverse genetically.

The main Scythian cluster label as Scy_Major had expected autosomes. Mostly like Sintashta/Srubnaya plus some minor east Asian and Central Asian farner (BMAC) ancestry. The most frequent Y DNA was the R1a-Z93 as expected. Other haplogrouos found there were I2, G2, J2, N1a, Q1b, R1b. The G2 and J2 are remarkable because they apparently joined the Scythian communities from the North West of Caucasus. It's G2-L1266 and J2-Z6046 typical to that region.

Another interesting finding is the ancient DNA of Maeotians. They had typical North Caucasian autosomes different from Scythians. This confirm the theory that Maeotians were Caucasians most probably affiliated to Abkhaz-Adygheans.

While Scythians of Moldova and Hungary were apparently local Thracians and Pannonians rather than true Scythians.

And finally the finding that can be related to Armenia's history is that late Scythians of Crimea had some Iran Neolithic (South Caucasian?) related ancestry which they could have got while crossing the Caucasus and returning back to Steppe. If further research confirms this then the story of Herodotus about Scythians ruling in West Asia 26 years and returning back will find a support. The byblical Askanaz living next to Ararat/Armenia. Is usually linked to Scythians.