Diversity of mitochondrial DNA at the medieval burial ground Zarechno-Ubinskoye-1 in the Baraba forest-steppe (preliminary study results)

The article provides preliminary results of a mitochondrial DNA diversity study in individuals from the Zarechno-Ubinskoye-1 medieval burial ground (Ubinsky District, Novosibirsk Region; eastern part of the Baraba forest-steppe). The study is a part of a large-scale diachronic analysis aimed at identifying the dynamics of the genetic composition of populations that replaced each other in the forest-steppe and south taiga zones of Western Siberia during the Middle Ages and modern period. Data on the structure and phylogeny ofmtDNA lineages were obtained for 60 individuals out of 85 included in the sample from the Zarechno-Ubinskoye-1 burial ground. Twenty-nine structural variants relating to the West Eurasian (H, T (T*, T1a2), U2e, U4, U5a) and East Eurasian (A, C (C*, C4a2a1, C4b3, C5b1), D, G (G2a, G2a5, M9a1a, Z (Z*, Z1a)) mitochondrialDNA haplogroups were identified. The results were considered in the context of mechanisms of the genetic composition formation in the population of the region during the Middle Ages. A preliminary comparison of the studied series was carried out both with the data on preceding populations and with the groups of the modern indigenous groups of Western Siberia. This made it possible to identify probable changes that occurred in the structure of the gene pool compared to the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Some features of the gene pool that distinguish the group from Zarechno-Ubinskoye-1 and from various modern ethnic groups were identified. Some specifics of distribution of mitochondrial DNA variants throughout the burial ground were noted. The results provide the first data on the mitochondrial DNA gene pool of the population from the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia published in the academic literature. Perspective directions of further research on the materials from this burial ground as well as directions of development of the entire diachronic model were outlined.