TITLE:
Genetic Geography of the Historical Ancestors of the Chuvash
AUTHORS:
Anton K. Salmin
KEYWORDS:
Chuvash, History, Genetic Geography, the Caucasus, the Near East, the Volga Region
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.12 No.1,
February
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Discourses concerning the ethnic history of the Chuvash, their origins,
and their distant ancestors, have emerged
over the course of three centuries. In the 21st century, the science of
genetics began to play a major role in this discussion. In the present article,
the author, relying on the achievements of genetic geographers, attempts to
provide insights into a profoundly difficult nexus of problems and issues.
Today it is accepted as a given that the historical ancestors of the Chuvash
people—the Savars/Savirs/Suvars, had lived in the Caucasus Mountain region as far back as the 2nd–8th
centuries CE. For this reason, research on
the ethnogenesis of the Chuvash in the context of the genome history of
the Caucasian peoples is more than warranted. There is also no doubt that the
genetic lines of this region came directly out of the Near East. This is
especially true of males, as it was the male population that first embarked on
the migration process. Research has shown that the haplotype frequency of the Chuvash includes components
from the Caucasus, Central Europe, Eurasia, and the Mediterranean. Among
those, however, haplotypes of Turkish peoples have also been discovered. During
the centuries-long contact with peoples of the Middle Volga region, neighboring
peoples also had a genetic influence on them. As a result, the original gene
pool of the Chuvash people carries traces that are characteristic of the
ancient Caucasus, Near East, and Northern Mesopotamia.