Articles
3 articles on caucasus, ancient-DNA research written up for readers who want the evidence, not just the headline.
The Caucasus holds two of the most important genomes in West Eurasian prehistory, the Satsurblia and Kotias hunter-gatherers, whose lineage feeds into the steppe herders and much of the Near East. Above that base sit the Kura-Araxes and later layers, a Bronze Age blend of local Caucasus and Anatolian streams in Armenia with a measured steppe pulse, and some of Eurasia's most continuous populations since. Continuity of descent is not the same thing as identity, and the articles keep the two apart.
The articles read Armenian ancestry from the Bronze Age blend through its isolation since roughly the end of the Bronze Age, follow Georgian ancestry from the Caucasus hunter-gatherers to the highlands and explain why it is among Eurasia's most continuous, and set out the 2023 hybrid hypothesis that dated the Indo-European root to about 8,120 years ago and proposed an initial homeland south of the Caucasus before the move onto the steppe.
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Ancient DNA gives Armenians one of West Asia's clearest stories: a Bronze Age blend of local Caucasus and Anatolian streams, a measured steppe pulse, and genetic isolation since roughly the end of the Bronze Age. The evidence, honestly read.
Georgia holds two of the most important genomes in West Eurasian prehistory. What Satsurblia and Kotias revealed, the Kura-Araxes and later layers, why Georgian ancestry is among Eurasia's most continuous, and how to read your own results.
A 2023 Science study analyzed 161 languages, dated the Indo-European root to about 8,120 years ago, and proposed a debated hybrid origin.