The Ancient North Eurasians were a Paleolithic population who once inhabited most of Northern Eurasia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Bering Sea in the east, and as far south as Turkmenistan. They are associated with the mammoth-hunting Mal’ta–Buret’ culture (22,000 to 13,000 BC) and genetically represented by individuals from Krasnoyarsk, the Angara River, and northern Yakutia, dating from ~15,000 to ~30,000 BC.

The Ancient North Eurasians were of West Eurasian (“Caucasoid”) origin and are believed to have diverged from Paleolithic Europeans around 35,000 years ago when they migrated into Siberia. However, they also had ~10% to ~30% ancient East Eurasian (“Mongoloid”) admixture from a population that was ancestral to all modern East and Southeast Asians, best represented by Tianyuan Man.

Modern Uralic populations, such as the Udmurts and Saami, have the most similar genetic makeup to the Ancient North Eurasians, with around 80% European and 20% East Asian ancestry. However, on a principal component analysis, the Ancient North Eurasians are quite distinct from all modern populations.

The Ancient North Eurasians contributed significant ancestry to populations throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including modern Europeans (~20-35%) and Native Americans (up to ~40%).

  • Below: ANE migrations and the ancient populations they contributed to (EHG, Eastern European Hunter-Gatherer; WSHG, West Siberian Hunter-Gatherer; Iran_N, Iranian Neolithic; AB/ANA, Ancient Beringian and Ancestral Native American).

Unfortunately, we have never discovered an Ancient North Eurasian skeleton that was intact enough to create a forensic facial reconstruction. So, we don’t really know what they looked like. However, there are many intact skeletons and facial reconstructions of populations with significant Ancient North Eurasian ancestry, which we can use as imperfect proxies.

Eastern European Hunter-Gatherers: ~75% Ancient North Eurasian

The Eastern Hunter-Gatherer population arose from admixture between native Western European Hunter-Gatherers and Ancient North Eurasians as the latter migrated westward out of Siberia. The individuals below are from the Yuzhny Oleni Island graveyard in Karelia and Volosovo Culture around the middle Volga and Kama basin.

Proto-Indo-Europeans: ~50-60% Ancient North Eurasian

The Proto-Indo-Europeans, genetically typified by the Yamnaya Culture, arose from admixture between the Eastern European Hunter-Gatherers and Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers, who had around 40% Ancient North Eurasian ancestry. The Yamnaya faces below, labeled (Y), have higher levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry.

Kennewick Man: ~40% (?) Ancient North Eurasian

Kennewick Man caused a huge controversy due to his pseudo-Caucasoid features. Anthropologists argued over his racial origin for years, variously claiming that he was an Amerindian, a European, an Ainu, or even a Polynesian. Eventually, genetic testing confirmed that he was indeed an Amerindian.

Tarim Mummies (Xiaohe cemetery): ~85% Ancient North Eurasian

In 2021, a groundbreaking study discovered that mummies of the Gumogou, Xiaohe, and Beifang cemeteries (dated ~2100 to ~1700 BC) in western China were almost entirely of Ancient North Eurasian descent. They can be genetically modeled as 70% Ancient North Eurasian and 30% ancient East Asian Siberian. However, the Siberians had around ~30% Ancient North Eurasian ancestry themselves, meaning that the early Tarim population had a total of 85% Ancient North Eurasian ancestry. They are the most well-preserved population with the highest level of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry to date. It is highly probable (but unconfirmed) that some of the Xiaohe mummies below are of Ancient North Eurasian origin.