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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.06.02.446576

Significant (Z|-4|) admixture signal with a source from ancient Wusun observed in contemporary Bulgarians.

Stamov, S.
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Abstract

We report the presence of significant Central Asian ancestry in both contemporary Bulgarians and in early medieval population from SMC (Saltovo Mayaky Culture). The existence of Chalcolithic-Iran (Hajj-Fruz) and Wusun related ancestral component in contemporary Bulgarians comes as a surprise and sheds light on both migration route and ethnic origins of Proto-Bulgarians. We interpret these results as an evidence for a Central -Asian connection for the tribes, constituting the population of SMC and Kubrats Old Great Bulgaria in Pontic steppe from 6th-7th century AD. We identify Central Asian Wusun tribes as carriers of this component on the base from the results from f3 and f4 statistics. We suggest that Wusun-related tribes must have played role (or might have even been the backbone) in what became known as the Hunnic migration to Europe during 3rd-5th century AD. Same population must have taken part in the formation of the SMC (Saltovo-Mayaki Culture) and Great Old Bulgarian during 6th-9th century AD in Pontic - Caspian steppe. We also explore the genomic origins of Thracians and their relations to contemporary Europeans. We conclude that contemporary Bulgarians do not harbor Thracian-specific ancestry, since ancient Thracian samples share more SNPs with contemporary Greeks and even contemporary Icelanders than with contemporary Bulgarians.

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Stamov, S.. 2021-06-02. Significant (Z|-4|) admixture signal with a source from ancient Wusun observed in contemporary Bulgarians.. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.02.446576

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