The bodies of two individuals, known as
Afontova Gora 2 (AG2) and
Afontova Gora 3 (AG3) were discovered within the complex (the name Afontova Gora 1 refers to the remains of a
canid).
Afontova Gora 2 The human fossil remains of
Afontova Gora 2 were discovered in the 1920s at Afontova Gora II and stored at the
Hermitage Museum. The remains are dated to around 17,000 BP (16,930-16,490
BP). In 2009, researchers visited the Hermitage Museum and extracted DNA from the humerus of
Afontova Gora 2. Despite significant contamination, researchers succeeded in extracting
low coverage genomes. DNA analysis confirmed that the individual was male. The individual showed close genetic affinities to ''Mal'ta 1'' (Mal'ta boy).
Afontova Gora 2 also showed greater genetic affinity for the
Karitiana people than for the
Han Chinese. Around 1.9-2.7% of the genome was Neanderthal in origin. Afontova Gora 2 belong to the Y-DNA
haplogroup Q1a1-F746, an uniparental genetic marker that is infrequently observed in modern populations.
Afontova Gora 3 populations (
Mal'ta and
Yana), within a principal component analysis of ancient and present-day individuals from worldwide populations. In 2014, more human fossil remains were discovered at Afontova Gora II during
salvage excavation before the construction of a new bridge over the Yenesei River. The remains belonged to two different females: the
atlas of an adult female and the mandible and five lower teeth of a teenage girl (
Afontova Gora 3) estimated to be around 14–15 years old. Initially, the new findings were presumed to be roughly contemporaneous with
Afontova Gora 2. In 2017, direct
AMS dating revealed that
Afontova Gora 3 is dated to around 16,090 cal BC). The mandible of
Afontova Gora 3 was described as being gracile. Researchers analyzing the dental morphology of
Afontova Gora 3 concluded that the teeth showed distinct characteristics with most similarities to another fossil (the Listvenka child) from the
Altai-Sayan region and were neither western nor eastern.
Afontova Gora 3 and Listvenka showed distinct dental characteristics that were also different from other Siberian fossils, including those from Mal'ta. DNA was extracted from one of the teeth of
Afontova Gora 3 and analyzed. Compared to
Afontova Gora 2, researchers were able to obtain
higher coverage genomes from
Afontova Gora 3. DNA analysis confirmed that the individual was female. mtDNA analysis revealed that
Afontova Gora 3 belonged to the
mitochondrial Haplogroup R1b. Around 2.9-3.7% of the genome was Neanderthal in origin. In a 2016 study, researchers determined that
Afontova Gora 2,
Afontova Gora 3, and ''Mal'ta 1'' (
Mal'ta boy) shared common descent and were clustered together in a ''Mal'ta cluster
. Genetically, Afontova Gora 3
is not closer to Afontova Gora 2
when compared to Mal'ta 1
. When compared to Mal'ta 1
, the Afontova Gora 3'' lineage apparently contributed more to modern humans and is genetically closer to Native Americans.
Blond hair Phenotypic analysis shows that
Afontova Gora 3 carries the derived rs12821256 allele associated with, and likely causal for,
blond hair color, making
Afontova Gora 3 the earliest individual known to carry this derived allele. The allele was found in three later members of the largely ANE-derived
Eastern Hunter-Gatherers populations from Samara, Motala and Ukraine , suggesting that it originated in the Ancient North Eurasian population before spreading to western Eurasia. The hundreds of millions of copies of this mutated alelle (a
single-nucleotide polymorphism) are at the root of the classic European blond hair mutation, as massive population migrations from the Eurasian steppe, by a people who had substantial
Ancient North Eurasian ancestry, entered continental Europe. (ANE) cline of south-central Siberia
Genetic proximity of Afontova Gora 3 with the Tarim mummies ", one of the
Tarim mummies A 2021 genetic study on the
Tarim mummies found that they were primarily descended from a population represented by the
Afontova Gora 3 specimen (AG3), genetically displaying "high affinity" with it. The genetic profile of the
Afontova Gora 3 individual represented about 72% of the ancestry of the Tarim mummies, while the remaining 28% of their ancestry was derived from
Baikal EBA (Early Bronze Age
Baikal populations). The Tarim mummies are thus one of the rare
Holocene populations who derive most of their ancestry from the
Ancient North Eurasians (ANE, specifically the
Mal'ta and Afontova Gora populations), despite their distance in time (around 14,000 years). ==References==