Ancient DNA reveals clues about mysterious ‘Golden Man’ and rise of the Scythian elites

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN

(CNN) — Nomadic warriors called the Scythians roamed the Eurasian Steppe on horseback during the Iron Age. An elite class held the reins of Scythian power, their elevated status celebrated in death through rich burials. Among the most famous of these elite individuals is “Golden Man,” whose entombment contained iron weapons, bronze artifacts, a silver bowl and more than 4,000 gold ornaments.

Now, genetic analysis shows for the first time that upper-class Scythians such as the Golden Man inherited their lofty status and shared power with their relatives, creating a level of social stratification that was absent in this region during the earlier Bronze Age.

By comparing the DNA of dozens of individuals from multiple burial sites, scientists discovered family connections between Scythian elites, even among groups that lived far apart. These ties shaped emerging inequality at this time in the Scythians’ history, and the findings provide the first evidence that Scythian elites were related to each other, researchers reported Friday in the journal Science Advances.

Genetic analysis also resolved longstanding questions about the Golden Man, whose Scythian burial mound, called a kurgan, dates back to around 400 BC to 300 BC and was excavated in 1969 at a site in Kazakhstan.

Despite the gender-specific nickname, researchers remained uncertain about whether the youth was male or female. For the new study, scientists examined DNA markers from across the Golden Man’s genome, using statistical methods to fill in gaps where DNA data was damaged or missing. Their results suggested that the Golden Man was likely genetically male, and comparisons to other examples of Scythian DNA indicated that he belonged to a southern subset of Scythians called the Saka.

“This paper does a fantastic job of integrating genetic, archaeological, and textual findings to support their interpretations of lineage-based status,” said Alicia R. Ventresca-Miller, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan and an associate curator of archaeological sciences at the university’s Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. She was not involved in the new research.

“An elite system that is lineage-based elites is a very important finding, as wealth was passed down across generations,” Ventresca-Miller told CNN in an email.

And now, the researchers found, so was social status and power.

Emerging dynastic rule

For the study, scientists looked at DNA samples and other data from 85 individuals; 38 were from elite burials and 47 were non-elite. In general, populations during the Iron Age were more genetically diverse than during the Bronze Age. However, elites’ DNA contained genetic similarities known as runs of homozygosity — adjacent genetic markers indicating common ancestry — and their genomes tended to be more homogenous than those of non-elites. The data suggested that high-status individuals were a genetic subgroup within populations, “highlighting the potential role of the elites in maintaining continuity during the time of intense genetic mixture,” the study authors wrote.

Elite kurgans were massive structures, measuring up to 49 feet (15 meters) tall with diameters reaching 345 feet (105 meters). They typically included ​​corridors, catacombs and side chambers holding remains of animals or relatives. The remains within the kurgans often showed signs of mummification or postmortem trepanation — drilling a hole in the skull to remove the brain.

Such practices would have helped preserve bodies that couldn’t be entombed immediately because their elaborate burials took time to prepare, said Ainash Childebayeva, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin.

“It would make sense if one had to build a mound to bury this individual, or if they had to be transported to a specific location where they would be buried,” she told CNN.

In one instance, kurgans of an elite man and his grandchildren were found at different cemeteries more than 60 miles (nearly 100 kilometers) apart. Their relationship, combined with the rich burials, stood out to the scientists as an example of dynastic rule, as it established a connection between close relatives and elite status.

One grandchild who received an elite burial was just 1 year old, “and to me that was also a sign that this status was hereditary,” Childebayeva said. “If the status was merit-based, a 1-year-old child probably hasn’t done anything during their life to merit such a burial. So they deserve that right just because they were born into a specific family.”

Women of high status

Nearly half of the 38 elite individuals that the researchers examined were female. Some remains indicated trepanation, their kurgans featuring elaborately constructed passageways and containing horses, fine clothes and costly artifacts, which suggested that women commanded respect in Scythian culture.

According to Ventresca-Miller, the discovery aligns with findings by other researchers about Eurasian peoples during the Bronze Age, “where women held much of the wealth via headdresses and bronze accessories.” Also, among the Xiongnu, a nomadic group that inhabited eastern Eurasia during the latter part of the Iron Age, “the highest-status individuals were women,” Ventresca-Miller added.

One Scythian elite female, dubbed the “Princess of Urdzhar,” wore an elaborate gold headdress similar to that of the Golden Man. A stone altar and medicinal plants in her kurgan hinted that she may have had a shamanic role.

“That’s very interesting to see that status was something that was probably not so homogeneous, that it meant different things,” Childebayeva said. “In my future work I would like to further explore the role of the females in Scythian society, and the different roles that they could have had.”

Another lingering question that Childebayeva said she hopes to answer is what triggered the rise of an elite and dynastic class among Scythians in the first place, when such extreme social divisions had not been seen earlier among other nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe.

“Why do we see this in the Iron Age when we don’t see the same level of social stratification in the Bronze Age?” Childebayeva asked. “What are the factors that led to this emergence of inequality?”

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