A recent genomic study 17 has emphasized the role of eastward migrations of people associated with the Yamnaya and Andronovo culture during the Bronze Age, followed by substantial admixture with East Asians. It has been claimed that gene flow occurred from east to west Eurasia as early as the Palaeolithic 13, 14 and the Mesolithic 15, and from west to east Eurasia during the Bronze Age 16. Genetic studies on Central Asian populations based on both ancient 8 and modern mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 9, 10, 11, 12 agree that Central Asia has historically been a crossroad for population movements from east to west and vice versa. Artefacts of the Scythian culture spread over a large territory shortly after its emergence, but the underlying population dynamics that may have driven the cultural diffusion are poorly understood. Additionally, elements of the characteristic ‘Animal Style’ dated to the tenth century BCE 1, 4 were found in the region of the Yenisei river and modern-day China, supporting the early presence of Scythian culture in the East. Dating of additional burial sites situated in east and west Eurasia confirmed eastern kurgans as older than their western counterparts 6, 7. On the other hand, evidence supporting an east Eurasian origin includes the kurgan Arzhan 1 in Tuva 5, which is considered the earliest Scythian kurgan 5. The northern Black Sea steppe was originally considered the homeland and centre of the Scythians 3 until Terenozhkin formulated the hypothesis of a Central Asian origin 4. The origin of the widespread Scythian culture has long been debated in Eurasian archaeology. For simplification we will use ‘Scythian’ in the following text for all groups of Iron Age steppe nomads commonly associated with the Scythian culture. Accordingly, these groups are often assigned to the Scythian culture and referred to as ‘Scythians’.
Greek and Persian historians of the 1 st millennium BCE chronicle the existence of the Massagetae and Sauromatians, and later, the Sarmatians and Sacae: cultures possessing artefacts similar to those found in classical Scythian monuments, such as weapons, horse harnesses and a distinctive ‘Animal Style’ artistic tradition. The classical Scythians, who had lived in the North Pontic region since the seventh century BCE, are the most famous among them due to the early reports in the Histories of Herodotus (490/480–424 BCE) 2. During the first millennium BCE, nomadic people spread over the Eurasian Steppe from the Altai Mountains over the northern Black Sea area as far as the Carpathian Basin 1.
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