page_title: Western Steppe Herders
hierarchical_section_title: Western Steppe Herders
caption_attribution_description: English: Indo-European expansion 4000–1000 BC, according to the Kurgan hypothesis. Even within the Kurgan hypothesis, there is considerable uncertainty, mainly depending on assumptions about the w:Tocharians, the w:Corded ware culture and the w:Beaker culture. The central purple area is supposed to show early w:Yamna culture (4000–3500 BC); the dark red area could show expansion to about 2500 BC, and the lighter red area expansion to about 1000 BC.
context_page_description: In archaeogenetics, the term Western Steppe Herders, or Western Steppe Pastoralists, is the name given to a distinct ancestral component that represents descent closely related to the Yamnaya culture of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. This ancestry is often referred to as Yamnaya Ancestry, Yamnaya-Related Ancestry, Steppe Ancestry or Steppe-Related Ancestry.
  WSHs are considered descended from Eastern Hunter-Gatherers who received some admixture from Caucasian Hunter-Gatherers during the Neolithic. The Y-DNA of the WSHs was mostly types of R1a and R1b, which are EHG lineages, suggesting that CHG admixture among the WSHs came through EHG males mixing with CHG females. Around 3,000 BC, people of the Yamnaya culture, who belonged to the WSH cluster, embarked on a massive expansion throughout Eurasia, which might have resulted in the dispersal of Indo-European languages. WSH ancestry from this period is often referred to as Steppe Early and Middle Bronze Age ancestry.
context_section_description: In archaeogenetics, the term Western Steppe Herders (WSH), or Western Steppe Pastoralists, is the name given to a distinct ancestral component that represents descent closely related to the Yamnaya culture of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. This ancestry is often referred to as Yamnaya Ancestry, Yamnaya-Related Ancestry, Steppe Ancestry or Steppe-Related Ancestry.
  WSHs are considered descended from Eastern Hunter-Gatherers (EHGs) who received some admixture from Caucasian Hunter-Gatherers (CHGs) during the Neolithic. The Y-DNA of the WSHs was mostly types of R1a and R1b, which are EHG lineages, suggesting that CHG admixture among the WSHs came through EHG males mixing with CHG females. Around 3,000 BC, people of the Yamnaya culture, who belonged to the WSH cluster, embarked on a massive expansion throughout Eurasia, which might have resulted in the dispersal of Indo-European languages. WSH ancestry from this period is often referred to as Steppe Early and Middle Bronze Age (Steppe EMBA) ancestry.
  This expansion led to the rise of the Corded Ware culture, whose members were of about 75% WSH ancestry, and the virtual disappearance of the Y-DNA of Early European Farmers (EEFs) from the European gene pool, significantly altering the cultural and genetic landscape of Europe. During the Bronze Age, Corded Ware people with admixture from Central Europe remigrated onto the steppe, forming a type of WSH ancestry often referred to as Steppe Middle and Late Bronze Age (Steppe MLBA) ancestry. Through the Sintashta culture, Andronovo culture and Srubnaya culture, Steppe MLBA was carried into Central Asia and South Asia along with Indo-Iranian languages, leaving a long-lasting cultural and genetic legacy.
  The modern population of Europe can largely be modeled as a mixture of WHG (Western Hunter-Gatherer), EEF and WSH. In Europe, WSH ancestry peaks among Norwegians (ca. 50%), while in South Asia, it peaks among the Kalash people (ca. 50%) and Brahmins.
caption: Scheme of Indo-European migrations from c. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the widely held Kurgan hypothesis. These migrations are thought to have spread WSH ancestry and Indo-European languages throughout large parts of Eurasia.[2][3][4]
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