The question of the origin of the Slavs has always been actively discussed by historians and anthropologists, and has been the subject of heated debate, in which, unfortunately, neither side could provide absolutely reliable evidence in support of their theories.
The problem was that the few written historical documents and chronicles were often written from a single point of view, and therefore the facts stated in one source often contradicted others. As for the archaeological finds, each of them was considered from different angles, and this is obviously not enough to draw more specific conclusions.
However, the modern development of science has helped to look at the question of the origin of our Slavic ancestors from a completely new angle. Many years of research in the field of DNA genealogy of the Slavs allowed scientists to determine not only the place and time of appearance of the Slavo-Aryan haplogroup R1a1, but also to trace the entire path of its migration, and to evaluate its influence on the culture and development of other haplogroups and peoples.
Origin of the Slavs
The DNA genealogy of the Slavic peoples shows that the haplogroup R1a1 first appeared about 12,000 years ago in the Balkans, that is, in the territory of modern Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia. In this area they lived long enough, engaged in agriculture. It is worth mentioning that the archaeological research fully confirms this data, and even shows that many elements of the culture of the people of those times existed for thousands of years, and are found in much later bylinas and tales.
After about 6 thousand years, the Slavic-Aryan haplogroup migrated to the east, to the territory of modern Carpathians. Most likely, this was due to a significant increase in population, as well as the domestication and domestication of various types of animals. These settlers initiated the creation of the Trypilian culture. The representatives of the same haplogroup for the next thousand years moved south, and about 5300 years ago appeared in what is now Libya, where they are still widely encountered.
During the next thousand years, the representatives of the haplogroup R1a1 actively practiced extensive farming, i.e. constantly developing new areas, instead of using the same territory over and over again. Because of this, the need for further relocation arose.
As DNA genealogy of peoples of Slavs testifies, approximately 5 thousand years ago have reached the British Isles, and 500-700 years later and to Scandinavia. In parallel with the westward migration, another part of the haplogroup R1a1 representatives headed east from the Carpathians, and began to gradually settle in what is now Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Slovakia, and Lithuania.
However by 2000 BC the great migration of the ancient Slavs did not end, and having got a foothold there, already after 500 years they appeared in India.
Most likely, the migration in this direction is due to the search for the most favorable climatic zones for further development of agriculture. It is also worth noting that other historical sources, in particular the Book of Velesov argue that the departure from the territories of the southern Urals was due to natural disasters. This is confirmed by the fact that in 1600 BC there was an eruption of one of the largest volcanoes on Earth, located in the Aegean Sea.
This cataclysm led to a global and long-term drop in temperature across the planet. The representatives of the haplogroup R1a1 called themselves Aryans, and that is the name by which the representatives of other peoples knew them. In particular, so they were known to the inhabitants of the Middle Asia and Iran, where they came about 4 – 3.5 thousand years ago. On that the global migrations ended, and the Aryans began to create their own states on the already occupied and settled territories.
Thus, DNA genealogy of Slavs has helped to throw light on many unclear moments in a history of our ancestors. It is necessary to note, that the given information was carefully compared to researches of archeologists, anthropologists, historians and even linguists, and has been completely confirmed in those aspects in which it was possible.
For example, it was finally established that it was not the ancient Aryans who used Indian and Iranian languages in speech, but rather that they introduced their languages into the culture of these peoples. It also became clear to what time period can be attributed the Indo-Slavs, and in general, how the mixture of the two peoples became possible.
Based on the research in the field of DNA genealogy it has finally become possible to learn really much about one of the most numerous and widespread haplogroups on the planet.