Y-chromosomal DNA analyzed for four prehistoric cemeteries from Cis-Baikal, Siberia

Abstract The Lake Baikal region of Siberia was home to two temporally distinct populations from Early Neolithic, EN ( 7500–7000 cal BP ) to Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, LN-EBA ( 5570–3725 cal BP ). The EN group was separated from the LN-EBA group by a ~ 1500-year gap ( hiatus), and during this hiatusno human remains have been recovered from the Lake Baikal area. Examination of the paternal lineage through Y- chromosomal polymorphismsis a novel approach to BAP and will facilitate the assessment of the paternal continuities and/or discontinuities within and between the EN and the LN-EBA groups, and complement the previously examined maternal data. Several new ancient DNAextraction and PCR amplification techniques were optimized to address the technical challenges during sample analysis. Each sample was extracted twice in duplicate on different occasions to authenticate the results. Thirteen Y-chromosomalSingle Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers were examined via the SNaPshot multiplex PCR reaction to determine Y-chromosomal haplogroupsof males. Results have been obtained from 16 males from the EN cemeteries Lokomotiv and Shamanka II representing haplogroupsK, R1a1 and C3, and 20 males from the LN-EBA Ust'-Ida and Kurma XI cemeteries representing haplogroupsQ, K and unidentified SNP (L914). For those males belonging to haplogroupQ, further experiments were obtained to examine sub- haplogroupsof Q, and the results showed that those males belong to sub- haplogroupQ1a3. The paternal Y-chromosomeresults suggest a discontinuity between the EN and LN-EBA populations. The significance of this research lies on the utility of DNA analysis in making inferences about the pre-historic social structure.