Sintashta Raw DNA files (27)

The Sintashta culture (circa 2100–1800 BCE) was a Bronze Age society located in the steppes of what is now southern Russia and northern Kazakhstan. This culture is best known for its advanced metallurgy, fortified settlements, and the early use of chariots, which were an innovation that had a profound impact on warfare. Sintashta settlements, such as the archeological site of Arkaim, were strategically fortified with defensive walls, suggesting that warfare and conflict played a central role in their society. The culture is often associated with the Indo-Iranian migrations, as linguistic and genetic evidence links the Sintashta people to the ancestors of later Indo-European-speaking groups in South Asia and the Iranian plateau.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Sintashta culture is their mastery of bronze metallurgy, which enabled them to produce weapons and tools of high quality, including axes, spearheads, and daggers. The Sintashta descend from the Corded Ware culture of Europe, and continued the bronze metalworking tradition of their corded ware ancestors. They adopted the kurgan burial tradition of another steppe culture which preceded them, the Yamnaya.

Sintashta ancestry is highest in North India and Afghanistan, and although the Sintashta resembled northern Europeans in autosomal DNA, it is completely absent in Europe.

For this video, I gathered the raw DNA of 27 academic sintashta samples. The files ranged from very poor quality to decent quality, most being rather decent coverage. 8 files were low quality. Every male sample carried Y lineage R1a.