In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient Paleo-Siberian is the name given to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the hunter-gatherer people of the 15th–10th millennia before present, in northern and northeastern Siberia. The Ancient Paleo-Siberian population is thought to have arisen from an Ancient East Asian lineage, which diverged from other East Asian populations sometime between 26kya to 36kya, which later merged with Ancient North Eurasians (ANE) sometime between 20kya to 25kya. The ANE themselves are described as the "result of a palaeolithic admixture" between ancient West Eurasians and East Eurasians.: "According to the latest paleogenetic data, East Asian populations migrated to Northeastern Siberia ca. 20,000–18,000 cal BP. The migration was accompanied by their mixing with the descendants of the "Ancient North Siberians", represented by the genome from the Yana and Malta individuals. These processes were reflected in the Beringian tradition's wide proliferation in the region and led to the emergence of several ancestral lineages (Fig. 1) in Extreme Northeastern Asia: the Ancient Paleosiberian population represented by the genome of the individual from Duvanny Yar, and the ancestral Native Americans. The latter type subsequently divided into the Ancient Beringians and all other Native Americans (Moreno-Mayar et al. 2018; Sikora et al. 2019)." The source for the East Asian component among Ancient Paleo-Siberians is to date best represented by the Ancient Northern East Asian individual AR14K from the Amur region. Other studies define Ancient Paleo-Siberians by their distinct mixture of ANE, Ancient Northeast Asian and first Native American-related ancestries, especially in the context of mainland Northeast Asia.
The Ancient Paleo-Siberians are mainly defined by two human archaeological specimens: the 14,000-year-old Ust-Kyakhta-3 (UKY) individual found near Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, and the 9-10,000-year-old Kolyma_M individual found in northeastern Siberia. Ancient Paleo-Siberians derive between 30–36% ancestry from the Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), deeply related to European hunter-gatherers, with the remainder ancestry (64–70%) being derived from an East Asian source. The Ancient Paleo-Siberians are closely related to the Ancient Beringians, and modern far-northeastern Siberia communities, such as the Koryaks, as well as to Native Americans.: "the arrival of East Asian-related peoples, which gave rise to 'Ancient Palaeo-Siberians' who are closely related to contemporary communities from far-northeastern Siberia (such as the Koryaks), as well as Native Americans..." : "[they] have been proposed to have descended from Ancient North Eurasian (ANE)-related populations, mixing with newly arriving people carrying East Asian ancestry" Technologically, Ancient Paleo-Siberians have been associated with microblade technology and post-Last Glacial Maximum mammoth hunting.
The Paleo-Siberians were later largely replaced by waves of Neo-Siberians and Neolithic Amur populations, which may be associated with the expansion of early Uralic and Yukaghir speakers, followed later on by Tungusic, Turkic, and Mongolic speakers.
Ancient Paleo-Siberians, in conjunction with an Inner Northeast Asian (Yumin-like) lineage, gave rise to the Cisbaikal_LNBA ancestry, which may be associated with ancient Yeniseian speakers. Ancient Paleo-Siberians also formed the dominant ancestral source for Altai hunter-gatherers (7500BP), in conjunction with an ANE-rich Botai-like source, who later contributed to the genomes of Baikal hunter-gatherers and Afanasievo-like sources.
According to a 2025 study, Native American-related Paleosiberian ancestry in continental Siberia mixed with East Asian groups from the Amur River region and Inland East Asia and contributed to the genetic makeup of ancient and present Yeniseian and Uralic-speaking groups. The latter is responsible for spreading haplogroup N throughout Eurasia. They also received input from North Eurasian Hunter-Gatherers, who lived about ~10–4kya and are characterized by distinct West and East Eurasian admixture. Input from these hunter-gatherers, however, is limited in ancient and present Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic-speaking populations from Central and Northern Eurasia, as well as pastoralists from the Late Bronze Age and Iron age such as Scythians, Sarmatians, and Xiongnu. Other studies detect Ancient Paleosiberian-related input in several ancient northern Chinese populations.
See also Indigenous peoples of Siberia Paleosiberian languages
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