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Introduction. The article presents the results of paleogenetic studies of medieval human remains of three people found in a closed archaeological complex (building 32) revealed during the excavations in 2007 in the Taynitsky Garden of the Moscow Kremlin (supervisor of excavations: N.A. Makarov). Previous studies on the dating of the complex links it to the devastation of Moscow by the troops of Tokhtamysh Khan in August 1382. The archaeological layer was formed at a time as a result of a fire and contained the remains of two adults and a 3-4 year old child who remained unburied. The aim of this work was the genetic study of the ancient DNA of the remains of people who died in the 14th century, clarification of their gender, determination of kinship and presumptive origin. Material and methods. For genetic examination, teeth were selected (permanent for adults, primary for a child). The laboratory research algorithm included a set of measures to protect archaeological DNA from contamination, sample preparation and extraction of DNA from dental remains, analysis of STR markers of the Y chromosome in males, analysis of ALU markers of autosomal chromosomes, targeted NGS sequencing of hyper-variable segments of mitochondrial DNA. Results and conclusion. Using the methods of molecular genetic research, it was possible to confirm that a man, a young woman and a child (boy) died in the fire. Based on the analysis of autosomal markers, with a high degree of probability (99.9%), a close biological relationship between a woman and a child (mother-son) was revealed. The man was not a relative of either the woman or the child. The mtDNA haplogroups and STR markers of the male specific Y chromosome identified in all three individuals are generally characteristic of the Slavic population of modern Europe. The mt haplogroup J1c, found in mother and child, is now most characteristic of the inhabitants of Europe. The man has a mitochondrial haplogroup K2, which is found mainly in Northwestern Europe.

Western Kazakhstan is populated by three clans totaling 2 million people. Since the clans are patrilineal, the Y-chromosome is the most informative genetic system for tracing their origin. We genotyped 40 Y-SNP and 17 Y-STR markers in 330 Western Kazakhs. High phylogenetic resolution within haplogroup C2a1a2-M48 was achieved by using additional SNPs. Three lines of evidence indicate that the Alimuly and Baiuly clans (but not the Zhetiru clan) have a common founder placed 700 ± 200 years back by the STR data and 500 ± 200 years back by the sequencing data. This supports traditional genealogy claims about the descent of these clans from Emir Alau, who lived 650 years ago and whose lineage might be carried by two-thirds of Western Kazakhs. There is accumulation of specific haplogroups in the subclans representing other lineages, confirming that the clan structure corresponds with the paternal genetic structure of the steppe population.

Western Kazakhstan is populated by three clans totaling 2 million people. Since the clans are patrilineal, the Y-chromosome is the most informative genetic system for tracing their origin. We genotyped 40 Y-SNP and 17 Y-STR markers in 330 Western Kazakhs. High phylogenetic resolution within haplogroup C2a1a2-M48 was achieved by using additional SNPs. Three lines of evidence indicate that the Alimuly and Baiuly clans (but not the Zhetiru clan) have a common founder placed 700 ± 200 years back by the STR data and 500 ± 200 years back by the sequencing data. This supports traditional genealogy claims about the descent of these clans from Emir Alau, who lived 650 years ago and whose lineage might be carried by two-thirds of Western Kazakhs. There is accumulation of specific haplogroups in the subclans representing other lineages, confirming that the clan structure corresponds with the paternal genetic structure of the steppe population.

Y-chromosomal variation in West Asian populations has so far been studied in less detail than in the neighboring Europe. Here, we analyzed 598 Y-chromosomes from two West Asian subregions-Transcaucasia and the Armenian plateau-using 40 Y-SNPs and 17 Y-STRs and combined them with previously published data from the region. The West Asian populations fell into two clusters: upland populations from the Anatolian, Armenian and Iranian plateaus, and lowland populations from the Levant, Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula. This geographic subdivision corresponds with the linguistic difference between Indo-European and Turkic speakers, on the one hand, and Semitic speakers, on the other. This subdivision could be traced back to the Neolithic epoch, when upland populations from the Anatolian and Iranian plateaus carried similar haplogroup spectra but did not overlap with lowland populations from the Levant. We also found that the initial gene pool of the Armenian motherland population has been well preserved in most groups of the Armenian Diaspora. In view of the contribution of West Asians to the autosomal gene pool of the steppe Yamnaya archaeological culture, we sequenced a large portion of the Y-chromosome in haplogroup R1b samples from present-day East European steppe populations. The ancient Yamnaya samples are located on the "eastern" R-GG400 branch of haplogroup R1b-L23, showing that the paternal descendants of the Yamnaya still live in the Pontic steppe and that the ancient Yamnaya population was not an important source of paternal lineages in present-day West Europeans.