A woman buried in Russia in the Neolithic to Bronze Age era

I7781
Portrait reconstruction
Disclaimer: The portrait shown is a speculative reconstruction and not the actual face of the ancient sample. It represents an artistic interpretation based on archaeological data.
Specimen Details
Sample ID:
I7781
Date:
1280 CE - 1390 CE
Biological Sex:
Female
mtDNA:
C4a'b'c
Y-DNA:
Not applicable
Cultural Period:
Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia
Location
Country:
Russia
Locality:
Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River
Coordinates:
52.9169, 103.6572
Map Location
Historical Timeline
Description

The Ust-Belaya Angara Culture represents a significant chapter in the history of Siberian hunter-gatherers, flourishing approximately during the middle to late Holocene period. This culture is named after the region surrounding the confluence of the two major rivers, the Ust-Belaya and the Angara, in Siberia. It provides a unique insight into the adaptation, innovation, and survival strategies of ancient human communities in the challenging environments of the Siberian taiga and tundra.

Geographic and Environmental Context

The Ust-Belaya Angara Culture thrived in a region characterized by its harsh climate, with long, frigid winters and short, cool summers. The landscape is predominantly defined by expansive forests, challenging mountainous terrains, and numerous rivers and lakes. These geographical features played a crucial role in shaping the subsistence and lifestyle of the Ust-Belaya Angara people. The region provided a diverse range of resources, including fish from the abundant waterways, game from the dense forests, and seasonal plant resources.

Subsistence Strategies

The Ust-Belaya Angara people were highly adept hunter-gatherers, relying on a mixed subsistence economy that was intricately adapted to their environment. Their diet primarily consisted of fish, given the abundance of rivers and lakes. Archaeological evidence suggests the use of sophisticated fishing techniques and tools, such as bone fish hooks and nets. In addition to fishing, they hunted a variety of terrestrial animals, including deer, elk, and smaller mammals.

Gathering played a supplementary role, with the collection of berries, nuts, and roots adding dietary diversity. The seasonal availability of different resources necessitated a semi-nomadic lifestyle, with movement patterns aligned to resource abundance, allowing the community to exploit different environmental zones throughout the year.

Technological and Material Culture

The Ust-Belaya Angara Culture is characterized by its distinctive lithic technology. This includes a variety of stone tools such as bladelets, scrapers, and bifacially flaked points, which were used for hunting, processing food, and crafting. The crafting of tools from locally available stone and bone signifies an advanced understanding of the materials and the tasks they were designed to perform.

Pottery associated with this culture exhibits simple forms with limited decoration, indicating utilitarian use, primarily for cooking and storage. This marks an evolution in the storage and preparation of food, reflecting the gradual changes in their lifestyle toward more sedentary community setups.

Social Organization

The societal structure of the Ust-Belaya Angara Culture is believed to be organized into small, mobile groups or bands that operated within kin-based networks. These groups would have been highly cooperative, relying on collective strategies for resource procurement and sharing of knowledge to ensure survival in the demanding Siberian environment. Evidence of shared tool styles and burial practices across regions implies some form of social cohesion and possibly trade or communication between groups.

Spiritual and Cultural Life

While the material culture provides limited direct evidence of the spiritual life of the Ust-Belaya Angara people, it is likely that their world-view and spiritual beliefs were closely tied to their environment. Animism, the belief that natural objects and phenomena possess a spiritual essence, would have been central, guided by the rhythms of nature which directly influenced their survival.

Burial practices indicate a belief in an afterlife or spiritual continuation, with grave goods occasionally accompanying the deceased, suggestive of their beliefs surrounding death and the existence beyond life. These practices, although not excessively elaborate, highlight the presence of ceremonial aspects to their culture.

Conclusion

The Ust-Belaya Angara Culture offers a vivid glimpse into the life of Siberian hunter-gatherers, showcasing remarkable adaptability in one of the world's most demanding environments. Their technology, subsistence strategies, and social organization lay the foundation for understanding the development of human societies in northern climates and their interactions with the expanses of Siberia. This culture represents a testament to human resilience and ingenuity, forming a crucial part of the prehistoric tapestry of human civilizations in Siberia.

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I7781 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 1280 CE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I7335 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 2570 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I7760 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 3950 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I7336 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 4350 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I7780 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 2840 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
NEO232 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 3007 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I8296 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 2860 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
NEO229 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 4785 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I8295 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 2620 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I8298 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 3790 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
I7782 Ust-Belaya Angara Culture, Russia 2860 BCE Baikal Region. Angara river basin. Mouth of the Belaya River, Russia View
Ancient Genetic Admixture

Ancient genetic admixture analysis compares the DNA profile of this individual (I7781) with present-day reference populations. These results show what percentage of the individual's genetic makeup resembles ancient populations from different geographic regions.

Ancient Asians 77%
Western Steppe Pastoralists 9%
Ancient Native Americans 7%
Neolithic Farmers 4%
Ancient Africans 3%
Modern Genetic Admixture

Modern genetic admixture analysis compares the DNA profile of this individual (I7781) with present-day reference populations. These results show what percentage of the individual's genetic makeup resembles modern populations from different geographic regions.

These results complement the ancient ancestry components shown in the previous section, offering a different perspective on the individual's genetic profile by comparing it with modern reference populations rather than prehistoric ancestral groups.

Asia 85%
Northern Asian 58%
Siberian 47.0%
Mongolian 10.7%
Central Asian, Northern Indian & Pakistani 11%
Central Asian 9.1%
Indian 1.8%
Chinese & Southeast Asian 9%
Chinese 4.6%
Tibetan 4.6%
Japanese & Korean 7%
Japanese 6.8%
America 10%
America 10%
Native American 10.2%
Europe 3%
Eastern European 3%
Eastern European 3.0%
Oceania 2%
Melanesian 2%
Papuan 1.8%
Africa 0%
Northern East African 0%
Congolese & Southern East African 0%
G25 Coordinates

The G25 coordinates for the sample I7781 are as follows. You can analyze its admixture using G25 Studio.

I7781,0.05444028,-0.2728951,0.08513058,0.03041424,-0.06642672,-0.02472654,-0.02524468,-0.02666838,0.00769392,-0.00724336,0.0229358,-0.00156132,0.00960402,-0.01996116,-0.02100556,-0.01535666,-0.00780184,0.00731796,0.01787442,0.0103726,0.01342948,-0.01965492,0.01560204,0.00365782,0.01887006
Analyze it in G25 Studio
Scientific Papers References
Palaeo-Eskimo genetic ancestry and the peopling of Chukotka and North America
Authors:
Flegontov P, Altınışık NE, Changmai P
Abstract:

Much of the American Arctic was first settled 5,000 years ago, by groups of people known as Palaeo-Eskimos. They were subsequently joined and largely displaced around 1,000 years ago by ancestors of the present-day Inuit and Yup'ik1-3. The genetic relationship between Palaeo-Eskimos and Native American, Inuit, Yup'ik and Aleut populations remains uncertain4-6. Here we present genomic data for 48 ancient individuals from Chukotka, East Siberia, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and the Canadian Arctic. We co-analyse these data with data from present-day Alaskan Iñupiat and West Siberian populations and published genomes. Using methods based on rare-allele and haplotype sharing, as well as established techniques4,7-9, we show that Palaeo-Eskimo-related ancestry is ubiquitous among people who speak Na-Dene and Eskimo-Aleut languages. We develop a comprehensive model for the Holocene peopling events of Chukotka and North America, and show that Na-Dene-speaking peoples, people of the Aleutian Islands, and Yup'ik and Inuit across the Arctic region all share ancestry from a single Palaeo-Eskimo-related Siberian source.

Link:
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