The Distribution of EHG Ancestry Today

The Distribution of EHG Ancestry Today

The Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG) genetic profile appears in Eastern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum (around 20,000 years before present). Before that time, the region was inhabited by different populations that apparently disappeared due to extremely cold climatic conditions.

EHG samples are found across a wide geographic area, ranging from the North Caucasus to Karelia in the far north of Eastern Europe. Various maps on the internet attempt to illustrate the global distribution of EHG ancestry today. However, these maps require some clarification (see the link in the comment section).

Two Ways to Measure EHG Ancestry

There are two main ways to estimate the amount of EHG ancestry remaining in modern populations.

The first approach ignores the fact that much of the EHG ancestry was dispersed through the expansions of Yamnaya and Corded Ware populations. This method is commonly used, but it can be misleading. Because EHG constituted roughly half of the Yamnaya genetic profile, people may mistakenly assume that higher EHG levels automatically imply greater Yamnaya ancestry, which is not necessarily correct.

The second approach attempts to separate Yamnaya and Corded Ware ancestry from the total EHG signal, in order to identify the amount of “pure” EHG ancestry that remained independent of those migrations.

Modeling Method

To do this, I selected Corded Ware samples as a source population, since Yamnaya itself never moved into northern Europe—only Corded Ware groups derived from Yamnaya did.

I also included Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) samples from Siberia in order to avoid a pseudo-EHG signal, and used Karelia hunter-gatherers as a reference for pure EHG.

All modern populations were included in the analysis.

Results: Pure EHG

The highest levels of pure EHG ancestry not associated with Yamnaya migrations are found among:

• Mari

• Chuvash (a Turkic-speaking group)

• Saami

• some northern Russians

• Udmurts

The highest value reaches about 33%, but most of these populations have less than 25%.

This indicates that relatively little pure EHG ancestry survives today outside the context of Yamnaya or Corded Ware expansions. It is mostly preserved in northeastern Europe, which makes sense because Corded Ware pastoralists never settled extensively in that region. The harsh climate likely made herding and early agriculture difficult, limiting their expansion there.

Corded Ware / Yamnaya Ancestry

The second chart shows where Corded Ware ancestry is highest today.

The peak levels occur in northern Europe, particularly among Germanic-speaking populations in Scandinavia, reaching about 53%.

Using Yamnaya instead of Corded Ware as a source produces essentially the same pattern. In other words, Yamnaya-related ancestry is highest in northwestern Europe.

This has a simple explanation: northern Europe, especially Scandinavia, had relatively low population density in prehistoric times, whereas southern Europe, West Asia, and South Asia had much denser populations. Migrating groups therefore left a larger genetic impact in sparsely populated regions.

Linguistic Implications

What does this distribution suggest about the language spoken by the northern EHG populations?

Since the highest levels of pure EHG are found only among a subset of Uralic-speaking groups, it is unlikely that the northern EHG originally spoke a Uralic language.

Moreover, many eastern Uralic-speaking populations have little or no EHG ancestry, although they do possess Yamnaya-related ancestry. The defining genetic feature of eastern Uralic speakers in Europe is the presence of Siberian / Nganasan-related ancestry, while their most frequent Y-DNA haplogroup (N1) also originates from Siberia.

Conversely, these northern populations virtually lack Y-DNA lineages associated with EHG. Any R1a present among them derives from Corded Ware expansions, not from earlier hunter-gatherer populations.

Taken together, this evidence suggests that the language spoken by the northern EHG populations is now extinct.

The Uralic-speaking populations likely arrived from Siberia sometime after 1500 BCE, while Indo-European groups in northern Europe—such as Balto-Slavic and Germanic speakers—descend largely from Corded Ware populations that expanded into the region after 2800 BCE.