DNA study tells the story of the last shaman of Siberia, who defied an empire and time

DNA from mummified remains in Siberia has revealed the story of one of the last indigenous shamans—an 18th-century Yakut woman whose lineage, burial rituals, and genetics challenge long-held assumptions about colonial conquest, cultural survival, and human history.

Centuries-old mummified remains of indigenous Siberians are revealing secrets about your genetics over a vast period of time — before, during and after the Russian conquest of its lands.

In a new study, a team of archaeologists recovered the mummified remains of more than 100 indigenous people who were buried in Siberia between the 14th and 19th centuries.

DNA analysis of the bodies shows that the yacutos resisted Russian attempts to conquer and Christianization in a way that is not usually observed in indigenous populations.

Among the findings, which were presented in a journal recently published in Natureit stands out that of a shaman who was buried in a red wool dresswhich will have had closely related parents.

After nearly 16 years of archaeological excavations, researchers had discovered 122 individuals of four regions of Yakutiadating from before and after the Russian Empire began its conquest of Siberia in 1632.

The team then analyzed the DNA of the indigenous Yakuts to see if the Russian conquest had altered his genetics. They discovered that the genetic origins of modern Yakuts date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, confirming their oral histories.

But, unlike what happened in other colonial conquestslike the Hispanic conquest of the Americas, researchers have not found solid evidence of population decline or miscegenation between Russians and Yakuts.

“Analyses show that the iacuto genetic heritage remained stable from the 16th century until today”, he stated Guarino-Vignon pearlsresearcher at the Saint-Antoine Research Center, in Paris, and co-author of the study, from the CNRS.

“Therefore, there was no conquest through substitution demographic, possibly due to the logistical difficulties of colonization in such an extreme environment”, he adds

The researchers also studied the oral microbiome two iacutes — the community of microorganisms that live in a person’s mouth — analyzing the teeth and dental plaque of mummies.

Although they hypothesized that the microbiome would change over time due to introduction of foods such as barley, rye and tobacco by Russian settlers, the analysis revealed that the Yakuts’ microbiome was surprisingly stabledespite the Russian conquest.

Shamanism in Siberia

The Yakut graves also revealed that traditional shamanism was practiced until the end of the 18th centurylong after Russia had tried Christianize the Yakuts.

The study of the DNA of what may have been the last Yakut shamana woman who was 30 years old when she died more than 250 years ago, also kept a surprise in your DNA: your parents were second-degree relatives,

“This could mean that They were half-siblings, uncle and niece or aunt and nephew, or grandfather/grandmother and grandson/granddaughter,” he explained Ludovic Orlandomolecular geneticist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and co-author of the study, to .

The “last Yakut shaman” was discovered at the archaeological site of Us Serguein central Yakutia, also called the Republic of Sakha, the northeastern part of Siberia and one of the coldest regions on the planet. Researchers refer to the shaman as UsSergue1.

The woman was buried in a coffin made from a tree trunk and wore several layers of clothingincluding a traditional Yakuto ushanka hat and thigh-high leather leg warmers.

Although I used a red wool dress made from blankets imported, there was also characteristics of indigenous shamans, including a “bridal belt” accessory. Nearby, archaeologists found a pit with three horse skeletonsone of which had accessories with designs that corresponded to the woman’s dress.

“We interpret UsSergue1 as a personification of your clan, as a way of preserving their spiritual and traditional traditions”, said Orlando. At the time UsSergue1 was buried, Christianity was on the riseo, but “some Yakut clans may have resisted and maintained their traditionsincluding shamanism”, added Orlando.

O high level of consanguinity from UsSergue1 was, however, a surprise. The researchers’ DNA analysis of the relationship between the skeletons revealed numerous relatives buried close to each otherbut UsSergue1 was the iacuta more consanguineousthe researchers wrote in the study. She was also a descendant of the most powerful clan and was the last shaman of her kind.

Researchers don’t know exactly how his parents were related or if this union was considered anomalous.

“We can only say that his parents were second-degree relatives“, Orlando said. And since several other shaman graves were found, none of which had consanguineous parents, “we don’t think that someone needed to be a highly consanguineous person to be a shaman”, Orlando added.

Historic Yakut burials have offered researchers a treasure trove of information about indigenous life in centuries past.

“Preservation in this environment is unparalleled,” said the study’s first author in the statement, Eric Crubézybiological anthropologist at CNRS, and “the bodies were so intact that we were able to perform autopsies“.

Even in addition to the bodies, “their clothes and jewelry also survived intact, providing a rare opportunity to compare biological and cultural data”, concluded Crubézy.