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Region: Eastern European steppe
Location: steppe zone of Ukraine and Moldova
Dating: 12th–10th centuries BC
Bearers: Thracians, Cimmerians ^[1]
Economy: transhumant pastoralism, agriculture
Researchers: Berezanskaya S. S., Krivtsova-Grakova O. A., Otroshchenko V. V., Terenozhkin A. I.
Succession: ←Berezhnovka-Maevka; ←Sabatinovka; ←Noua; Belogrudovka→; Scythian→

Belozerska culture — an archaeological culture of the Final Bronze Age (12th–10th centuries BC), widespread in the steppe zone of Ukraine and Moldova, with isolated sites represented in the Lower Don, Kuban region and Crimea. In the 1980s, it was identified as an independent archaeological culture by researchers V. V. Otroshchenko, I. T. Chernyakov and V. P. Vanchugov. The sites are represented by settlements, necropolises, workshops, hoards and isolated finds. Dwellings — dugouts, semi-dugouts and above-ground with stone foundations. Necropolises are represented by kurgan and flat cemeteries. Sometimes they form a single complex. The rite involved burying the deceased in a rectangular pit covered with a wooden flooring, in a crouched position on the side, less often on the back, hands in front of the face, oriented with the head to the south. Grave goods are represented by one or two round-sided vessels, less often by metal products. The tribes of the Belozerska culture actively participated in the formation of the Cimmerian culture. More details.

Mushkis. At the beginning of his book on the history of Georgia, on page 21, Prof. I. Javakhishvili mentions the ancestors of the Georgians, saying: "the first mentioned in Assyrian sources are Meskhi, or, as they are called by the Assyrians, 'Mushki' or 'Muski'; they are mentioned in their remarkable inscription, in 1100 BC, by Tiglath-Pileser I, who says: 'during my reign, 20,000 Mushki and their five kings, whom no one had ever defeated on the battlefield, were glorified by my power.'" Further, Prof. Javakhishvili states that Prof. Marr is right when he derives the ancient name of the Abkhazians – "Abas-khi" – from the word "Mas-khi," and the letter "a" is a common Abkhazian addition.

In the Bible, the Mushkis are considered descendants of Meshech — son of Japheth, grandson of Noah. They lived in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. Meshech is mentioned together with Javan and Tubal (Gen 10:2; Ezek 27:13; 32:26; 38:2; 39:1). In Assyrian inscriptions, the peoples of Mushki and Tabal are listed among the enemies of Assyria. Herodotus speaks of the Moschi and Tibareni living on the southeastern coast of the Black Sea. According to one biblical legend, Moscow was founded by Mosokh (Meshech), son of Japheth, grandson of Noah. The legend says that the river and city of Moscow were named after Mosokh and his wife Kva. Mosokh and Kva had a son Ya and a daughter Vuza, from whose names the name of the Yauza River originates.

Etruscans. Herodotus's assertion about the migration of the Etruscans from Anatolia, some connections of the Etruscan language with the Hattian language (even in the era of the Roman Republic, when the Etruscan language still existed, their Asia Minor origin was considered universally recognized), the identification by ancient Roman authors of the Cimmerians (possibly related to the Etruscans) near Lake Avernus (Italy), the predominance of Y-DNA G2a in Tuscany, as well as research on mitochondrial DNA and DNA of Tuscan cattle breeds, gives reason to assume an Asia Minor origin of the Etruscans around 1200 BC.


Etruscans, Sea Peoples and haplogroup G2a3. Mitridat 2010

More details about the Etruscans

Maps 2500–1000 BC

• G (M201): Lydia.
  
• G2a2b2 (L141.1), mostly subclades U1 and L497, together with R1b-U152 invaded the Apennine Peninsula.
  
• In the 12th–11th centuries BC, the Asia Minor enclave of the Proto-Abkhaz-Adyghe ceased to exist. The reasons for the collapse of the Hittite Kingdom and the related Kaskian tribal union are associated in historiography with the expansion of the so-called "Sea Peoples," whose affiliation remains unclear to this day. ^{[S. Khotko]}
  
• In southern Anatolia, tribes of Armenians (Proto-Armenians) appear, who mainly belonged to haplogroup R1b-L23. ^{[Maciamo Hay 2008]}

The Dvalians appear — a people known from various written sources in the mountains of the Central Caucasus. The ethnonym twal still refers to Ossetians originating from the Naro-Mamison Depression (Ossetian: Tuалгом). More details.

In western Anatolia, the Lydians, or Maeonians, appear — an extinct people who spoke the Lydian language of the Luwian subgroup of the Anatolian group (or branch) of the Indo-European languages. More details.

The Argonauts (from Greek Argo - name of the ship, nautai - sailors) — Greek heroes who, a generation before the Trojan War (according to Eratosthenes 1194–1184 BC), made a voyage on the ship "Argo" under the leadership of Jason. ^[1]

One of the myths tells of the brother of the fatal Colchian princess Medea named Apsyrtus (Absyrtus, Apsyrtos). Apsyrtus, according to various versions of the myths about the Argonauts, was killed and the place of his death was recorded in history. The name "Apsyrtus" is consonant with the Abkhaz-Abazin word "apsyrta," which literally translates as "place of death."


^[1] I.A. Lisovy, K.A. Revyako. The Ancient World in Terms, Names and Titles: Dictionary-Reference on the History and Culture of Ancient Greece and Rome / Scientific ed. A.I. Nemirovsky. - 3rd ed. - Minsk: Belarus, 2001

According to Khudaverdyan 2012, craniological and dental studies reveal a direct kinship connection between subjects from the following burial grounds: 2000—1500 BC — 99 Proto-Cimmerians, Volga-Ural region, Spiridonovka II, Rozhdestveno I. Abashevo culture. Figure 2; 1800—1100 BC — 144 Ukraine, Shirochansky. Thracians, Cimmerians. Timber-grave and Belozersk cultures. Figures 2, 3; 1100—600 BC — 20 Georgia, Mtskheta, Samtavro, Tserovani. Figures 2, 3; 600—300 BC — 129 Mouth of the Don, Beglitsa. Scythians, Maeotians. Figure 2. Judging by the Abkhaz-Adyghe G2a2b predominant in the Northern Black Sea region before the Caucasian War, there are direct grounds to consider the descendants of the Cimmerians and Thracians in Georgia as G2a2b.

Iron Age mtDNA samples
Hg	N	R0/HV	H	V	J	T	U	(U2)	(U3)	(U4)	(U5)	K	I	W	X	Others
N=47	0	2	21	3	4	3	7	(1)	(1)	(1)	(3)	4	1	2	0	0
Countries	Denmark, Spain, Italy
Sources	6000—1000 BCE — Linear Pottery and Yamna cultures. Haak & Reich 2014; 1000 BCE — 100 CE — Dacians and Thracians. CARDOŞ 2008; 500 BCE — 800 CE — Nordic Iron Age. Melchior 2010; 1100—200 BCE — Iberians (Spain). Sampietro 2007;

All ancient DNA of Europe


Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups of Abkhazians
Data from LITVINOV 2007

Population: Abkhazians
Ethnic group: Abkhazians
Geographic location: Abkhazia, various regions
Sample size: 137
Haplogroups: H: 23.4, X: 9.5, U3: 7.3, U5: 7.3, U1a: 5.8, C 5.8, R*: 5.8, U4: 5.1, W: 5.1, K: 3.7, T1a: 3.7, D: 2.9, I: 2.2, U2e: 2.2, U2d: 1.5, HV*: 1.5, HV1: 1.5, J1: 1.5, A: 0.7, F: 0.7, M*: 0.7, M1: 0.7, T*: 0.7, U1b: 0.7

More about Mitochondrial DNA of Abkhazians and the Western Caucasus

Assyrian written sources (inscription of King Tiglath-Pileser I – 1115 – c. 1077 BC) mention the ancestors of modern Abkhazians under the ethnonym abeshla on the territory of Asia Minor. There is an opinion that the language of the ancient tribes of the northern regions of Asia Minor — the Kashki and Abeshla — was related to the language of the Hattians. The area of settlement of the Abkhazians and Adyghe, to which the Hattians, Abeshla and Kashki belonged, from ancient times was the entire Western Caucasus and adjacent regions of Asia Minor along the Black Sea coast and inland.

According to Cinnioglu 2003, it is precisely haplogroup G2a-P15 that reflects the spread of Hattian culture to the Western Caucasus.


More details: Hattians | Worldview of the ancient Atykhs and Hattians | Abadzekh legend of the natural disaster | Hattian language | Stone Age in the Caucasus | Excavating Y-chromosome haplotype strata in Anatolia. Cinnioglu 2003