DA382 Yaz culture sample - 23andme format

The Yaz culture is a fascinating archaeological culture that existed in Central Asia during the early Iron Age.The Yaz culture flourished between approximately 1500 and 500 BC, It was centered in the Margiana region, which is now part of Turkmenistan. The Yaz culture was an early branch of Iranic speakers, likely ancestral to both West and East Iranic speakers. They implemented sophisticated irrigation systems to support agriculture and sustain their growing population. Yaz settlements featured mud-brick houses and platforms, often organized in grid-like patterns. The Yaz people produced a distinctive type of pottery, characterized by its use of a potter's wheel and the application of painted decorations.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of Iron age DNA samples from Turkmenistan. But for this video, I did find one sample, which we will cover today. That sample is DA382. It is dated to roughly 9 centuries before the common era, and is male with Y lineage R1a-Z93, which is a lineage associated with bronze age Sintashta culture, who this individual does descend from.

This individual’s autosomal admixture is 56.4 percent Sintashta, and 43.6 percent indigenous central asian agriculturalist.