Pages: 405-432 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp255405432

This paper presents the first paleogenome study of a representative group of Ryazan-Oka people from burial grounds in the Middle Oka region dating from the late 5th to the early 6th centuries. From archaeological samples of the Ryazan-Oka people, which represented extremely degraded anthropological material, DNA was isolated and uniparental markers were sequenced for all 14 individuals. Autosomal markers were sequenced for two of them using a broad panel of 2.1M single-nucleotide polymorphism probes.
Diversity in the Ryazan-Oka people’s gene pool was revealed of uniparental markers. Of the six male samples studied, four showed genetic lineages of haplogroup N, while the other two individuals showed R1a and J2b. In whole-genome mitochondrial DNA sequences, polymorphisms defining haplogroups with a West Eurasian (H, U, R1a1a1, K1c1h, J) and East Eurasian (Z1a1a) distribution were identified in 14 Ryazan-Ok people.
Genetic variability in Ryazan-Ok people based on autosomal markers was studied using principal component analysis (PCA). Wide-genome sequencing data from two individuals (Undrikh 90 and Borok 513), obtained in this study, were projected onto the genomes of nearly four thousand modern and medieval Eurasian samples. In the PCA plot, within the Eurasian genetic space, individual Undrikh 90 was genetically close to Finno-Ugric and other peoples of the Volga-Ural region. The autosomal DNA profile of the second individual, Borok 513, fell within the genetic variation of modern Eastern European populations. The results of the autosomal marker analysis are consistent with the results of the Y chromosome analysis.
Using the analysis of phenotypic markers of the Ryazan-Oka people, a reconstruction of external features associated with hair color, iris color, and skin was performed. Scientific facial reconstructions were performed using skulls from three burials of the Ryazan-Oka culture.

Keywords: Ryazan-Oka archaeological culture; ancient DNA, Y-chromosome; mt-DNA; sequencing; single nucleotide polymorphism; haplogroup; craniology; anthropological reconstruction of appearance

Information about authors:

Irina Alborova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-1950-3885
Kharis Mustafin (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation
E-mail: kh-mstf@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0001-8891-2319
Olga Chechyotkina (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-4880-1080
Iraida Belotserkovskaya (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. State Historical Museum. Red Square, 1, Moscow, 109012, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Elizaveta Veselovskaya (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctorof Historical Sciences. N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Lenin Ave., 32А, Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-2932-9884
Andrey Gavrilov (Shilovo, Russian Federation). Shilovo Museum of Local Lore. Spasskaya St., 38, Shilovo, 391500, Ryazan Oblast, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]