Russian paleogeneticists analyzed the DNA of the remains of Princess Maria Vsevolzhaya, wife of Prince Vsevolod Bolshoe Gnezdo. Scientists were able to sequence genetic material from the tooth of the medieval woman whose remains were located in the Assumption Cathedral of the Princely Monastery.
The study showed that this woman was the great-grandmother of Grand Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich, whose genome was previously studied. The results, published in the journal Acta Naturae, support an Alanian rather than a Czech origin for the princess.
Maria Vsevolzhaya (Shvarnovna) is considered one of the most famous Old Russian princesses of the pre-Mongol period. She married Grand Prince Vsevolod Yurievich, nicknamed Bolshoe Gnezdo, no later than 1175. As a result of the marriage, Maria gave birth to twelve children—eight sons and four daughters—becoming the founder of a significant branch of the Rurikids who governed the principalities of North-Eastern Rus', including Moscow. It is presumed that the princess died in 1206 and was highly respected both within the princely family and in Vladimir society.
Before this analysis, there was no consensus among researchers regarding Maria's origin. The prevailing theory suggested an Alanian origin, which is supported by chronicles mentioning her sister, the wife of Mstislav Svyatoslavich, whom the chronicler called 'yasnya' (a term denoting Ossetian ancestors). However, there was also an alternative hypothesis of Czech origin, indicated by some entries in the Tver Chronicle.
Russian scientists, led by Egor Prokhorchuk from the Federal Research Center 'Fundamental Foundations of Biotechnology' of the Russian Academy of Sciences, analyzed the remains stored in the Assumption Cathedral of the Princely Monastery in Vladimir. They were permitted to take a sample from the remains of a medieval woman who died around 45–50 years old, whose burial was discovered by archaeologists in 2015 during the reconstruction of the cathedral. Anthropological examination of the skull showed similarity to skulls from medieval Alanian burial grounds.
Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA were successfully extracted from a fragment of the incisor. It was established that the remains belonged to a woman carrying the mitochondrial haplogroup U4b1a4. Using the HIrisPlex-S tool, researchers hypothesized that she might have had blue eyes, light hair, and dark skin. These traits match the description of Alans provided by the ancient historian Ammonius Marcellinus in the 4th–5th centuries AD, who noted their tall stature, fair hair, and attractive appearance.
Subsequently, scientists used the ancIBD and READ programs to search for relatives of this woman in databases of ancient and medieval genomes. The analysis confirmed that the remains belonged to Maria Vsevolzhaya, as she turned out to be a third-degree relative of Grand Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich, which fully corresponds to historical data about her great-grandmotherly relationship. The focus was then placed on determining Maria's origin. Close kinship was established with medieval Alanian populations, including carriers of the Saltovo-Mayak culture, as well as with ancient and medieval populations from Central Asia, such as those from the Kara-Zhygach Christian necropolis in northern Kyrgyzstan.
Nevertheless, Maria's genome did not entirely match these populations. It was found that the majority of her ancestors trace back to Neolithic ancient Iranian and Anatolian farmers, as well as Mesolithic Western European hunter-gatherers. Ancestral components related to East Asian and Siberian hunter-gatherers were also present, specifically the Nganasan component, which is most pronounced today in speakers of Uralic languages. Despite this, the scientists' data confirms the hypothesis of the princess's Alanian origin and refutes the version of her noble Czech lineage.
Genomes of medieval Rurikids and their relatives are rare data. In addition to Dmitry Alexandrovich, in recent years, the results of DNA analysis of the Hungarian feudal lord Bela Rostislavich, who was killed in 1272 in a conspiracy, were presented; his remains were found in Budapest more than a hundred years ago. Furthermore, Russian archaeologists, conducting rescue excavations in Vladimir, discovered two ancient wax seals made using identical matrices. These bulls were identified as belonging to Maria Vsevolzhaya, wife of Prince Vsevolod Bolshoe Gnezdo, who was the founder of a major branch of the Rurikids, including the Muscovite princes, as reported in a press release by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Paleogeneticists analyzed the DNA of twelve individuals extracted from a recently discovered Saka burial mound in Kyrgyzstan. This burial mound dates back to the 4th–2nd centuries BCE. During the study, they managed to read the genomes of nine individuals, establishing the presence of relatives of the second and third degree among them.
The analysis showed that a significant portion of the ancestors of these people trace back to earlier nomadic groups inhabiting the territories of Kazakhstan or Western Siberia. In the 1st millennium BCE, the Eurasian steppe was an arena for numerous tribes and cultures, including the Saka—Iranian-speaking nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes who lived in the territory of modern Kazakhstan and other regions of Central Asia.
In 2022, ancient burials were discovered during the construction of a railway line between Balykchy and Kochkor in Kyrgyzstan. Archaeologists involved in excavations in the mountainous area near Lake Issyk-Kul. Researchers believe that representatives of the local nobility might have been buried here in the 4th–2nd centuries BCE. The Boz-Barmak burial mound consisted of a series of kurgan mounds, with diameters ranging from 7 to 14 meters and heights reaching about one meter. Unfortunately, most of these burials were looted.
A team of scientists from Austria, Kyrgyzstan, and the USA, led by Martin Kulvilim from the University of Vienna, presented the results of the genetic analysis. Samples from 12 people were selected, allowing for the reading of nine low-coverage genomes (from 0.1 to 1.4 times). Among those selected were six women and three men. The analysis revealed three pairs of second-degree relatives (e.g., uncle and nephew) and three pairs of third-degree relatives (e.g., cousins), but no first-degree pairs were found. The absence of long homozygous segments in most indicates that marriages between close relatives were not common, although in three cases, the parents of the individuals were likely fourth or fifth cousins.
The study of uniparental markers showed that all individuals had different mitochondrial haplogroups. Three men shared the same Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1a1b2, which is frequently found among Kyrgyz and Tajiks in modern populations. High mitochondrial and low Y-chromosome diversity indicated the patrilocality of the Saka during the Early Iron Age in the Issyk-Kul region.
Using the principal component analysis method, which included two individuals with the best genome coverage, it was found that they are similar to ancient populations of Central Asia and Siberia, particularly to earlier Iron Age populations from Kazakhstan. Origin modeling using the qpAdm program showed that six out of seven genomes can be derived from a single ancestral component—the Sargat culture population, which existed in Western Siberia during the Scythian period. Furthermore, the ancestors of all three of the seven people can be modeled from the Kimmeryans.
Considering both sources of origin, the main contribution comes from the Kimmeryans, bearers of the Sargat culture, or ancient nomads from the steppes of Central and Northern Kazakhstan, accounting for 75 to 95 percent in various models. The remaining part of the genomes may be related to the Bronze Age populations of Turkmenistan or Tajikistan, where the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (Oxa civilization) was located.
The text also mentions a case from Uzbekistan where a bronze cauldron of ancient nomads, dating to the 2nd–1st centuries BCE, was used for a long time by a rural school director without knowing its historical value. Data on the paleogenetic analysis of Li Keiyun, known as the One-Eyed Dragon, Prince Jin-Wan, who died in the early 10th century CE, are separately provided. Researchers determined that the origin of this Turkic-Shato could be modeled from two components: one lineage traces back to ancient northeastern Asians, and the other to pastoral nomads represented by the Sarmatians. This information was published in the journal Journal of Genetics and Genomics.
During rescue excavations conducted by Russian archaeologists in Vladimir, two ancient lead seals, made using identical matrices, were discovered. These bullae were identified as belonging to Maria Vsevolozhskaya, the wife of Prince Vsevolod Bolshoe Gnezdo, who was the founder of a major branch of the Rurikids, including the Moscow princes.
Lead seals, also known as bullae, are a valuable source of information about record-keeping and the document circulation system in Rus'. These lead seals were used to confirm the authenticity of documents. Although bullae were widely used in the Old Russian state only in the mid-11th century, during the time of Yaroslav the Wise's sons, earlier finds exist.
The owners of these seals included various segments of society: princes, military commanders, officials, church figures, and other representatives of the upper class. Typically, each bull contained two elements: a benevolent inscription and an image of a patron saint. Additionally, many seals depicted the princes themselves along with their family emblems, called tamgas.
Women rarely appeared among the known seal owners. It was Nikolai Makarov and his colleagues from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences who reported on artifacts of this kind. This year, researchers continue work in the medieval part of Vladimir, where the construction of a hotel is planned for the future. During excavations in cultural layers dating from the second half of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th century, remains of buildings, palisades, various pits, and other artifacts were found.
Of particular interest are the two lead seals created on identical matrices. On one side of the bullae is depicted Saint Mary holding a cross, and around her is stamped the inscription AGIA - MARIA. On the opposite side, Saint Dmitry with a spear and shield is shown, and the inscription O[agios]D - MITR is also present. According to scientists, these new findings allow it to be established that the bullae belonged to Princess Maria Vsevolozhskaya, who died in 1206, the wife of Prince Vsevolod Bolshoe (Velikoe) Gnezdo, who bore him twelve children and became the progenitor of the large branch of the Rurikids who governed in North-Eastern Rus'.
Researchers noted a curious feature of the new bullae: one side depicts a saint, and the other depicts a saint. Scientists interpret such seals as belonging to Old Russian princesses. It is assumed that the female image symbolizes the heavenly patron of the princess herself, while the male image symbolizes the patron of her husband or father. In the case of Maria Vsevolozhskaya, the second side of the bullae likely depicts the heavenly patron of her husband—Dmitry Solunsky, since the prince's baptismal name was Dmitry.
Bullae of Old Russian princes have been found in various Old Russian cities and even outside of Rus'. For example, in 2023–2024, seals of Yuri Dolgoruky, the father of Vsevolod Bolshoe Gnezdo, were discovered in Suzdal and its surroundings. And in 2022, near Kaliningrad, where Prussians (Samby) previously lived, a bulla of Vladimir Monomakh, who was the father of Yuri Dolgoruky, was found.
