Ancient DNA tests on a skeleton from an Early Bronze Age "warrior" grave near Hrubieszow, southeastern Poland, have revealed that the remains belong to Y-haplogroup R1a1a [source].
Mitochondrial sequences were also obtained from seven other samples from the same burial site, and assigned to mt-haplogroups H1a, H1b (two), H2a (two), H6 and U5b1.
R1a1a is by far the most frequent Y-haplogroup in Poland today, and its presence in the remains from a high-status burial might be a clue as to how it became so common in East-Central Europe.
Interestingly, the site is classified as part of the Strzyżow Culture, which is considered by Polish archaeologists to be the result of contacts between local communities in southeastern Poland and Kurgan newcomers from the North Pontic steppe.
All of the other ancient R1a1a samples reported to date from Central Europe are also younger than the Middle Neolithic and from presumably steppe-derived Indo-European archeological cultures:
- Late Neolithic, Eulau, Germany, Corded Ware Culture, three related samples
- Late Neolithic, Esperstedt, Gemany, Corded Ware Culture, one sample
- Late Bronze Age, Halberstadt, Germany, Urnfield Culture (?), one sample
- Late Bronze Age, Lichtenstein Cave, Germany, Urnfield Culture, two samples
More info about the Bronze Age Pole, including photos of a facial reconstruction, can be found here and here (in Polish).
See also...
R1a-Z280 from Early Bronze Age Northern Poland
Testing for genetic continuity in Poland from the Bronze Age to the present
