The Yamnaya, as the Central Asian culture is known to archeologists, were one of the most brutal and aggressive societies in history. They arrived from the Steppes about 2,800 BCE, when a mysterious plague swept through the farming communities of Old Europe. Eighty percent were males. Tall, young, strong and well-fed, the warriors butchered the local men and took their daughters to wife. Their conquests put an end to the relatively peaceful Neolithic and ushered in the Bronze Age. The Yamnaya victory was not over people alone. The defeat of the European farmers fundamentally changed the course of religion from the Mother Goddess to the Sun God, from the Chalice to the Blade. The invaders also brought Indo-European languages from their steppes heartland, spreading them all the way to the British Isles, Iberian Peninsula and tip of the Indian Subcontinent. Where did the Yamnaya originate? Southern Siberia. Thus, the highest incidence of the Peoples of the Steppes Gene occurs in the Tuva region of Russia, at 40%. The average throughout Central Asia is 26%. Related peoples are Evenks (30%), Turkic (28%) and Mongols (25%). American Indians and East Asians have the lowest frequencies. In Europe, the highest incidences are in countries where the Indo-European invasion was most immediate and forceful: Armenia, Turkey, Russia, Poland, France and Hungary. There are also African and Australian branches of the original STR, but they are not related historically to the steppes peoples.
