UKR136 23andme format Steppe Alan

The Alans were an Iranian-speaking nomadic people who emerged as a dominant force on the Pontic–Caspian steppe during the early centuries AD, developing out of the broader Sarmatian cultural horizon. By Late Antiquity, they controlled key corridors between the Don, Volga, and northern Caucasus. Classical and late Roman sources describe the Alans as highly mobile cavalry specialists, famed for heavy armored horsemen and long lances. Notable leaders include Respendial, who led Alan groups westward during the Great Migration and fought both with and against Germanic peoples, and Goar, an Alan king who allied with Rome and settled his followers in Gaul in the early 5th century. In the east, Alan elites maintained close ties with the Caucasus, laying the foundations for later Alania, a powerful medieval kingdom in the North Caucasus.

On the steppe, the Alans came into frequent conflict and alliance with Turkic groups, including the Huns, Göktürks, and later Khazars, some of whom imposed tribute or absorbed Alan groups into their political structures. Many Alans were pushed toward the Caucasus by these pressures, while others were incorporated into Turkic confederations. Their encounters with Slavic peoples increased during the early medieval period, particularly as Slavs expanded into the forest-steppe zone. These interactions included trade, warfare, and cultural exchange, and may have contributed steppe Iranian elements to early Slavic elites. By the Middle Ages, the remaining Alans in the Caucasus were Christianized and sedentary, eventually giving rise to the Ossetians, who are the last living carriers of the Alan language and identity.

For this video, I’ve gathered the raw genome of a 9th-century Alan from Kharkiv, in Ukraine. I used academic tools, such as Admixtools 2, but also amateur tools, such as my trait predictor, to analyze his genome.