Remarks on a major paper about Scythians.

Remarks on a Major Paper about the Scythians

Despite more than a dozen ancient DNA papers on the Scythians published so far, the “true” Scythians described in ancient Greek sources — those living north of the Black Sea — have remained poorly sampled. The study by Andreeva et al. (2025) fills this lacuna.

The main finding of the paper is that, despite the relatively homogeneous material culture labeled as “Scythian” by modern archaeologists, the actual populations behind this culture were genetically quite diverse.

The principal Scythian cluster, labeled Scy_Major, displays the expected autosomal profile: predominantly Sintashta/Srubnaya-related ancestry, with minor East Asian and Central Asian farmer (BMAC) components. The most frequent Y-DNA lineage was R1a-Z93, as expected. Other haplogroups identified include I2, G2, J2, N1a, Q1b, and R1b. The presence of G2 and J2 is particularly notable, as these lineages appear to have joined Scythian communities from the northwestern Caucasus. Specifically, they belong to G2-L1266 and J2-Z6046, both typical of that region.

Another interesting finding concerns the Maeotians. Their autosomal profile was characteristically North Caucasian and distinct from that of the Scythians. This supports the theory that the Maeotians were Caucasian populations, most likely affiliated with Abkhaz–Adyghean groups.

In contrast, the so-called Scythians of Moldova and Hungary were apparently local Thracian and Pannonian populations rather than “true” Scythians.

Finally, a finding relevant to Armenian history is that Late Scythians of Crimea possessed some Iran Neolithic–related (possibly South Caucasian–related) ancestry. They may have acquired this component while crossing the Caucasus and later returning to the steppe. If further research confirms this, Herodotus’ account of the Scythians ruling in West Asia for 26 years and then returning northward may find genetic support. The biblical Ashkenaz, described as living near Ararat/Armenia, is also traditionally linked to the Scythians.