The Saka of the Tian Shan

Before the Hun period, the Tian Shan belonged to the Saka, the Iron Age horse nomads of the Scythian world who ranged the mountains and the Semirechye lowlands to their north. They buried their dead beneath kurgans with timber chambers, and the mounds at Uchkun and Kuibysheva in the Naryn valley have yielded eight genomes dated between about 350 and 25 BCE. Genetically these Tian Shan Saka read as a mixture of Scythian-related steppe groups with Iranian-related ancestry, carried up into the high valleys where they grazed their herds. Saka is used here as an archaeological period label for the people of these mounds, who left no writing of their own and whose wooden burial chambers and kurgans must speak for them.

The genome-wide data behind this entry was published in 137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes.

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 Saka of the Tian Shan are your ancestor. See how it looks in the live demo or read about Ancestry Map, the full Global25 report.

• 01

  Who were the Saka of the Tian Shan?

  The Saka of the Tian Shan (c. 350-25 BCE, Uchkun and Kuibysheva 2, Naryn Region, Kyrgyzstan) are one of the Iconic discoveries entries in our Notable Matches catalog, represented by 8 sequenced ancient genomes published in the study "137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes".

• 02

  What does "matching" the Saka of the Tian Shan 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.

• 03

  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.

• 04

  How do I see my own distance to the Saka of the Tian Shan?

  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.

The catalog holds every published entry across three tiers. Browse the full Notable Matches directory. Nearby entries:

• The Celts of the Cornaux Bridgec. 260-80 BCE

• The Chariot Riders of East Yorkshirec. 230-110 BCE

• The Balkan Celtsc. 300-50 BCE

• The People of Gordionc. 775 BCE-245 CE

• The Dong Son Drum-Makersc. 390-180 BCE

• The Qin Ancestorsc. 400-200 BCE

• The Lost City of Teneac. 525 BCE-200 CE

• The Xiongnu Imperial Elitec. 100 BCE-100 CE

• The La Tène Celts of Bohemiac. 430-230 BCE

• The Bog People of Denmarkc. 800 BCE-100 CE

• The Durotriges of Dorsetc. 100 BCE-50 CE

• The Vergina Royal Tombsc. 400-350 BCE