Having analysed the genomes of thirteen of the oldest mummies, they reported that those individuals were a genetic vestige of the hunter-gatherers who had inhabited the eastern end of Eurasia since before the last ice age. They had not interbred with any of the populations around them – not the Afanasievo, nor the Afghan farmers, nor the herders of the mountain corridor. If they looked European, it was more likely to be because their ancestors had bequeathed genes shaping skin and hair colour to ancient Europeans, than because Europeans had come east.
