UMMAA curator Alicia Ventresca-Miller’s comments were featured in a recent CNN article on ancient DNA and the rise of Scythian elites that was based on research published by Ayshin Ghalichi et al. in the journal Science Advances. The researchers used DNA to show that elite Scythians like the “Golden Man” were related to each other, and thus their status was inherited.
“An elite system that is lineage-based elites is a very important finding, as wealth was passed down across generations,” commented Dr. Ventresca-Miller. “This paper does a fantastic job of integrating genetic, archaeological, and textual findings to support their interpretations of lineage-based status." Earlier this year Dr. Ventresca-Miller published the book Domesticated, in which she examined how domesticated species transformed societies in eras preceding the Silk Roads.
Read the CNN article.
Read the article on DNA and Scythian elites in Science Advances (open access).
Read the book Domesticated on the Oxford University Press website (open access).
(Photo by Alicia Ventresca-Miller)
