Archaeological discoveries of burial sites with female warriors on the Eurasian Steppes suggest that the Scythian women may have inspired the Amazon myth. In 2019 a grave with multiple generations of female Scythian warriors in golden headdresses was found near Russia’s Voronezh.
In 2017, a genetic study of the Scythians suggested that the Scythians were ultimately descended from the Yamna culture, and emerged on the Pontic steppe independently of peoples belonging to Scythian cultures further east. Based on the analysis of mithocondrial lineages, another later 2017 study suggested that the Scythians were directly descended from the Srubnaya culture. A later analysis of paternal lineages, published in 2018, found significant genetic differences between the Srubnaya and the Scythians, suggesting that the Srubnaya and the Scythians instead traced a common origin in the Yamnaya culture, with the Scythians and related peoples such as the Sarmatians perhaps tracing their origin to the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppes and the southern Urals. Another 2019 study also concluded that migrations must have played a part in the emergence of the Scythians as the dominant power of the Pontic steppe.
So what does that have to do with Rh negative people and blood?
According to Blood groups in ancient Europe by Iain Mathieson:
“I looked at these alleles in ancient samples dating to the past 12,000 years, all from West Eurasia. I divided them into four groups:
- Hunter-gatherers (HG); Mesolithic and neolithic individuals with ancestry that is like that of Mesolithic Europeans.
- Early Farmers (EF); Neolithic individuals from NW Anatolia, and European Neolithic individuals with similar ancestry, plus small (~0-20%) amounts of hunter-gatherer ancestry.
- Steppe (ST); Bronze Age individuals with “Yamnaya-like” ancestry
- Bronze Age (BA); Individuals from Bronze Age Europe that have a mixture of the three other types of ancient ancestry.
I also compared with present-day European populations, separating out Finns (FIN) and Non-Finns (NFE) (Finns have more steppe-like ancestry).
The ABO determining variants are on the 1240k capture array that has been used to genotype many samples, so I was able to look them up in a sample of around ~500 ancient individuals (the same individuals used here). I looked up present-day allele frequencies in gnomAD. It’s harder to genotype the RHD deletion from capture data so I used a smaller dataset of around ~200 individuals with published shotgun data to genotype this deletion. I couldn’t find it in gnomAD so I used allele frequencies from 1000 Genomes.
It turns out that the O allele is at high frequency in hunter-gatherers, but relatively rare on the Steppe. The B allele seems to be absent in both hunter-gatherers and early farmers, and seems to be introduced from the steppe in the Bronze Age. The Rh- allele seems to be relatively common in hunter-gatherers and, particularly, in steppe populations, and relatively rare in early farmers, partly confirming Haldane and Cavalli-Sforza’s hypotheses. Allele frequency estimates are in the figures below (bars show 95% binomial confidence intervals).
If we compute expected phenotypic frequencies, this suggests that around around 65% of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers would have been type O, compared to around 40% in present-day Europeans, and around 40% of Steppe-ancestry individuals would have been Rh-, compared to around 24% of hunter-gatherers, 4% of early farmers, and about 16% of present-day Europeans.
Broadly speaking, the present-day frequencies are consistent with genome-wide ancestry, in the sense that they are just a mixture of the ancient populations (roughly equal to the Bronze Age). The Rh- frequency in present-day Europe is a bit lower than in the Bronze Age, which might be evidence for selection against the allele, but might also just be because there’s a bit less Steppe ancestry in 1000 Genomes than in the samples Bronze Age populations. This doesn’t really explain the Basque frequency though. The Basque population doesn’t particularly have a lot of hunter-gatherer or Steppe ancestry. But perhaps there is substructure in Rh- frequencies within the Basque population, or within the hunter-gatherer populations. Finally, we’ve explained the present-day frequency in terms of mixtures of ancestral populations, but really we have just pushed the question back ten thousand years. Why was the Rh- frequency so high in hunter-gatherer and Steppe populations? Clearly there has to be some selective advantage to this allele at some point, otherwise it would just have been removed everywhere. Perhaps in these populations that selective advantage was stronger. Or perhaps they were just sufficiently small that it was able to drift to high frequency.”
Sources include:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/amazon-women-there-any-truth-behind-myth-180950188/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5337992
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28266657/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30417088
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31303491/
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very interesting – obviously the focus should always be on the place(s) and people w/ the highest percentages of RhD- blood…the how & why they differ from others. in the past, the tendency would’ve been for RhD- women to produce RhD- children…all in all, it’s a serious & challenging thought problem…genetically intriguing & can/should explain much about the human past & ours’ as understanding & study of such things grows & improves. the question: the where, how & why of the RhD- gene deletion state…it’s creation/coming into existence (is it just a random red blood cell surface protein mutation/gene deletion?).
to my mind: the most plausible/likely way that the RhD- mutation first occurred and then became prevalent among Europe/eastern Europe areas or where this trait first developed/happened in the middle east toward higher northern latitudes and so on, was through the intermixing/breeding of significantly different early modern human groups. perhaps, those offspring were different enough from among those different humans types that there was a tendency for them to breed/mate among themselves. supposedly humans are more genetically similar now, across all “races”, than they were apparently for instance 100,000 yrs ago. somehow the RhD- mutation was prevalent enough (i want/i’d like to assume it somehow occurred more than just once locally and during a short time frame…a twins scenario is possible…as are mutations from HERVs or as a result of those who were able to fend off a particular virus from the past) to spread/transmit & establish itself rather well – being a non-dominant trait and one w/ a strong yet likely not completely understood female birthing barrier to offspring not RhD-/RhD-.
Very interesting, indeed. However, during our collective research on origin, I recall Yamnaya… I must go back to recall the significance of this group. There is a common denominator. I sense or remember it. There seems to be like a web…that has many diversions, with a central point. All leading back to a single moment of RHD – mutation…I think somehow its all related. Our history is so important, yet the here and now, what purpose are we meant to , or suppose to accomplish? Everyone in history, people I am interested in…seem to have a common history…I was researching Egyptians, and medicine, it led me to a book I’m reading now Ekhard Tolle ” The power of Now” its all connected…( seriously I almost did not post anything…so much of blog is just research) What about our abilities ? Our instincts, our sixth sense…There is so much more to this..I have not figured it all out…but its more than a blood cell surface protein/gene deletion…its a past, historically connected…significant…not quite sure why.( in no way shape or form am I suggesting more important, just unique)
Also: in many of those societies, “gender roles” seemed to be more or less obsolete.
Elaborate? Mike..obsolete?
Got it! I was thinking something specific and rereading answered my question. Thanks!
Reading too much of what dishonest people write is one of the most misleading things you will ever encounter. Usually, they put “norms” above their own self. The problem: they expect and want others to do the same. Even the ones who are most like their true self.
Makes sense! Ironically I thought us RH negatives were a deviation in many ways to the norm! My honesty is a gift or abbhoration to some. Maybe age, life, I need not put a show on for myself or others. I have opinions, so do others…that’s how we learn to except differences amongst the larger group, and learn acceptance, not discrimination…by embracing each other. I wanted to find out why I am different…so not to be afraid…but yet learn to love what’s not the norm? I thought this was the RH connection…or I had hoped? The only path to truth…is truth? Yes?
“We are different” is not and never has been my approach. We just are. The world we live in goes against our nature. It is that simple and I don’t mind repeating myself either just in case someone else decides to only read the title and have the nerve to spew “I am offended” – you can choose to play in mud… but if you come to my house, wipe your feet off first.