Potential maternal kinship among humans from the Northern Caucasus “post-dolmen” burials

Abstract The Middle Bronze Age was an important period in the history of the Northern Caucasus. The archaeological Shushuk “post-dolmen” phenomenon, characterized by the reuse of dolmen orthostats for the construction of “stone-frame” burial structures, appeared in this region in the 3rd millennium BCE. Using Sanger sequencing, we were able to characterize the mitochondrial diversity of Shushuk individuals, whose remains were excavated from three collective burials. In this study, we provide new data for a better understanding of the genetic diversity of communities of the Northern Caucasus during the Middle Bronze Age and show a degree of potential maternal kinship among individuals from collective burials. Mitochondrial DNA analysis allots the same haplotype to the five individuals, who belong to H1a mitochondrial haplogroup. The results point to the possibility of maternal kinship among individuals from a specific collective burial (Shushuk 75, burial 2) through the maternal line.