Notable Matches · Iconic discoveries
The Oxus Civilisation of Gonur
The Oxus Civilisation of Gonur (c. 2250-1800 BCE · Gonur Depe, Mary Province, Turkmenistan): what the published ancient DNA shows, 11 sequenced genomes, and how close your own Global25 coordinates come. Free with every Ancestry Map.
The dossier

- Catalog tier
- Iconic discoveries
- Period
- c. 2250-1800 BCE
- Found
- Gonur Depe, Mary Province, Turkmenistan
- Sequenced genomes
- 11 (I1790.AG, I2085.AG, I1793.AG, I1784.AG, I2116.AG, I1781.AG, I10410.AG, I1782.AG, I10411.AG, I2121.AG, I3374.AG)
Who they were
Gonur Depe was the capital of the Oxus Civilisation, known to archaeologists as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. Across some 55 hectares stood a walled palace, temples with fire altars and a royal necropolis rich in gold, silver and bronze, one grave holding a horse and a four-wheeled wagon from around 2200 BCE, with mosaics matched only at Mari and Ur. Its people were overwhelmingly of Iranian-plateau farmer ancestry, with minor Anatolian farmer and eastern hunter-gatherer input and no steppe ancestry, a finding that removed the Oxus cities from the story of how Indo-Iranian languages reached South Asia. A few outliers carry South Asian-related ancestry, a trace of Indus contact. These eleven are citizens of that oasis capital.
The genome-wide data behind this entry was published in The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia.
How your distance is measured
Every Ancestry Map includes the free Notable Matches lens: your coordinates are compared to every sequenced member of every catalog entry, and the distance to the closest member is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional space the Distance lens uses. Because these are a small group of real individuals, not a population average, distances naturally run larger than population distances. That is expected, not a poor result. And one thing is never claimed: a small distance means similar ancestry composition, not that the Oxus Civilisation of Gonur are your ancestor. See how it looks in the live demo or read about Ancestry Map, the full Global25 report.
Questions
Who were the Oxus Civilisation of Gonur?
The Oxus Civilisation of Gonur (c. 2250-1800 BCE, Gonur Depe, Mary Province, Turkmenistan) are one of the Iconic discoveries entries in our Notable Matches catalog, represented by 11 sequenced ancient genomes published in the study "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia".
What does "matching" the Oxus Civilisation of Gonur mean?
Your Global25 coordinates are compared to the entry's sequenced members and the distance to the closest one is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional reference space the Distance lens uses. A notable entry is one person or one small burial group, not a population average, so distances naturally run larger than population distances.
Are they my ancestor?
No, and no DNA test can show that. A small distance means your genome sits near theirs in a shared reference space: similar ancestry composition, not descent. Ancestrify never claims a notable individual is your ancestor or relative.
How do I see my own distance to the Oxus Civilisation of Gonur?
Notable Matches is a free lens on every Ancestry Map, never sold separately. Order Ancestry Map, our Global25 analysis (29.99 EUR), and your report ranks your coordinates against the full catalog, with a portrait, dossier and map for every entry. The public demo shows the lens with example data.
More from the catalog
The catalog holds every published entry across three tiers. Browse the full Notable Matches directory. Nearby entries:
Inuk of Greenlandc. 2000 BCE
The Tarim Basin Mummiesc. 2100-1700 BCE
The Minoansc. 2900-1200 BCE
The Stone City of Shimaoc. 2150-1800 BCE
The Mokrin Necropolisc. 2100-1800 BCE
The Cetina Culturec. 2200-1600 BCE
The Kingdom of El Argarc. 2200-1550 BCE
The Únětice Culturec. 2200-1600 BCE
Theopetra Cavec. 2250 BCE
The Kingdom of Eblac. 2700-1800 BCE
The Bell Beaker Peoplec. 2500-2000 BCE
The Old Babyloniansc. 1900-1600 BCE