Historical inhabitants of the region that is now Ukraine have had diverse European, Asian and Middle Eastern ancestry for thousands of years, finds a new study co-led by UCL researchers.
The analysis of ancient DNA shows the genetic imprint of Ukraine's history as a crossroads of human migrations, connecting people from the vast Eurasian steppe with central Europe.
The study, published in Science Advances, examined DNA from ancient human remains of 91 people, and found remarkably high levels of genetic diversity over the past 3,500 years due to frequent migrations, assimilation and contacts with different ethnic groups.
Co-senior author Professor Mark Thomas (UCL Genetics Institute) said: "Very different genetic profiles can be found among people at the same time, in the same place, with similar material cultures and in the same archaeological context.
"Obtaining DNA from individuals that lived only a few thousand years ago is one of the many ways we can now demonstrate how we all have very mixed origins, with ancestry from far-flung places."
The study showed how genetic ancestry in the North Pontic region (what is now Ukraine) changed along with migration patterns.
Co-author Dr Olga Utevska (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine, and University of Tartu) said: "By the end of the Bronze Age, around 1000 BC, the patterns of genetic ancestry in the inhabitants of this region are similar to their contemporaries in the rest of Europe - a mixture of the genetic origins of European hunter-gatherers, early Anatolian farmers and steppe pastoralists.
"It is important to note that our results show that these ancestral components have been found in the Ukrainian region since that time until the present day, for thousands of years."
In one case identified in the study, the researchers found evidence of near eastern ancestry on a site in the far west of Ukraine, in a late Bronze Age settlement which is notable for being the only known glass production point outside the Roman Empire at the time. As ancient glass production was concentrated in the Middle East, the findings suggest that eastern Mediterranean craft bearers may have been living in the settlement.
Archaeological and historical sources have previously shown that from the early Iron Age, around 1000 BCE, to the end of the Middle Ages, around 1500 CE, it was common for eastern nomads to reach the steppe regions of present-day eastern and southern Ukraine, but until now it was unclear to what extent these nomads mixed with the locals on their way to and after reaching the Ukrainian region. This study showed that their genetic makeup was quite varied, from steppe ancestry mixed with the local genetic background, to mostly East Asian ancestry with minimal local intermixing.
Through the Iron Age and Middle Ages, the northern and western regions of Ukraine were inhabited by people with both local eastern European and western and southern European genetic heritage. These diverse origins can also be linked to migrations and connections found in archaeological and historical records.
In certain locations, the researchers found signs of sex-based admixture (where genetic contributions appear to be primarily from males or primarily from females), which supports a scenario of some migrating groups (potentially including invaders) being mostly men, who coupled with local women.
The migrations and admixture that took place in the Ukrainian region led to the development of a great deal of genetic diversity in otherwise geographically, culturally and socially homogeneous groups.
Co-senior author Dr Pontus Skoglund (Francis Crick Institute) explained: "When analysing DNA from people who lived in the past, we could reconstruct much of Ukraine's rich history in a way that would not be possible with DNA from people in present-day Europe alone. This study paves the way for understanding the history of Ukraine and surrounding regions in more detail."
The study's first author, Dr Lehti Saag, a former Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow in the UCL Genetics Institute and now a researcher at the University of Tartu (Estonia), said: "The study was only possible thanks to the hard work of Ukrainian scientists. The project involved dozens of archaeologists who, despite the war, are still actively conducting excavations in Ukraine."
