ИСТИНА

The mountain valleys of Dagestan harbor genetically and linguistically most diverse populations today, which might be deeply derived from various cultural systems established during the local Eneolithic and Bronze Age. Language diversity is high and the formation of this broad spectrum of languages is associated with the difficult terrain and residential pattern. During the late 4th millennium BC, a southern impact is visible in the archaeological record. Kura-Araxes related archaeological sites are found in the coastal plains, g. in Velikent, among others. These formed a separate cultural variant compared to the mountain regions and also gave rise to local developments. The first results of paleogenetic analysis of Bronze Age populations in the North Caucasian foothills and the neighboring steppe revealed a complex oscillation of populations with a southern ancestry related to the ‘Anatolian/Iranian Neolithic’, and a ‘northern’, i.e. ‘steppe-related’ genetic ancestry. The genetic results from Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age individuals of the Dagestan coastal site Velikent reveal not surprisingly a population with a southern genetic profile (Wang et al., 2019). This confirms the cultural interaction with the South and the integration of this area into the koine of Kura Araxes culture. As similar general picture is reflected in newly generated paleogenetic data for individuals from the mountain cemetery sites of Ginchi and Gatyn-Kale, part of the Middle Bronze Age Ginchi culture – Ginchi situated in the high mountain part of Dagestan. At both sites collective burials are characteristic and the individuals buried together are thought to reflect family groups. However, the genetic profiles of individuals from two of the stone crypts of Ginchi reveal a much broader spectrum of genetic components as can be expected for direct relatives. Their profiles in contrary match the general makeup of different present-day Dagestan mountain populations. However, we also observe a gradual shift in ancestry towards the northern profile, which suggests that some kind of direct interaction existed, and that the Bronze Age was a critical period of contact that led to the formation of modern-day groups in Dagestan. The interpretation of these findings is still work in progress, as not all data has been analysed in full detail yet. First radiocarbon dates date the individuals from Ginchi to the late 3rd millennium BC, which matches early Late Bronze Age dates from other mountain cultures, such as the post-Catacomb horizon of the North Caucasus and South Russian steppe zone. Contact between both areas were discussed from an archaeological point of view, including migration scenarios (Мимоход, 2013. C. 309-310, 352), and the new radiocarbon dates are consistent with this hypothesis. However, the actual directionality of the influence, i.e. of steppe groups moving into the mountains or vice versa must be discussed when the final results of the paleogenetic study are to be evaluated. In our ongoing study the number of post-Catacomb individuals was enlarged as well, both from steppe sites and the piedmont zone area.