ASTANA – Scientists have sequenced the first genome-wide DNA of Kazakhstan’s famed Golden Man, confirming the iconic Iron Age figure was genetically male and providing new evidence that elite status among the ancient Saka was inherited through powerful family dynasties.
Photo credit: AI-generated photo/ The Astana Times The findings are the result of an international study involving researchers from Australia, Germany, Kazakhstan, South Korea and the United States. The team analyzed the genomes of 85 individuals buried across the Eurasian Steppe between 900 and 200 BCE, including the first genome-wide genetic data from the Golden Man.
Discovered in 1969 in the Issyk burial mound east of Almaty, the Golden Man was interred in an undisturbed chamber dating to approximately 400-300 BCE. The burial contained more than 4,000 gold ornaments, as well as weapons, vessels and other artifacts, making it one of the richest Saka graves ever uncovered, reported Kazinform on July 8.
Although archaeologists had long associated the Golden Man with the Iron Age Saka culture, the individual’s biological sex had remained uncertain. Ancient DNA analysis confirmed that the Golden Man was genetically male and showed that he belonged to the broader genetic profile of Iron Age Saka populations, while carrying a slightly higher proportion of ancestry linked to ancient southern Central Asian populations.
The study also sheds new light on the social organization of Iron Age nomadic societies. By comparing DNA from individuals buried in richly furnished kurgans with those interred in simpler graves, researchers found that members of the elite were significantly more likely to be closely related.
In one case, DNA analysis identified an elite man as the grandfather of two individuals buried in separate cemeteries 50 to 140 kilometers apart, suggesting that political authority and social status were passed down within the same family across generations. The researchers also found evidence that some elite families practiced marriage between close relatives and maintained a relatively closed ruling class.
They concluded that the genetic evidence supports the emergence of hereditary dynasties among Iron Age Saka elites.