Editing Siberia (section)

===Prehistory===
[[File:Steppes horseman hunting.jpg|thumb|300px|Horseman hunting, with characteristic [[Xiongnu]] [[horse trappings]], southern Siberia, 280–180 BC. [[Hermitage Museum]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pankova |first1=Svetlana |last2=Simpson |first2=St John |title=Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia: Proceedings of a conference held at the British Museum, 27–29 October 2017 |date=21 January 2021 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78969-648-6 |pages=218–219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6MWEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 |language=en|quote=Inv. nr.Si. 1727- 1/69, 1/70}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Francfort |first1=Henri-Paul |title=Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ) |journal=Journal des Savants |date=1 January 2020 |page=37 |url=https://www.academia.edu/45042820 |url-access=registration |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ollermann |first1=Hans |title=Belt Plaque with a Bear Hunt. From Russia (Siberia). Gold. 220-180 B.C. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/menesje/48600859087/in/album-72157600220307177/ |date=22 August 2019}}</ref>]]

Siberia in [[Paleozoic]] times formed the continent of [[Siberia (continent)|Siberia/Angaraland]], which fused to [[Laurasia|Euramerica]] during the Late [[Carboniferous]], as part of the formation of [[Pangea]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Yan |last2=Han |first2=Bao-Fu |last3=Liao |first3=Wen |last4=Li |first4=Ang |date=March 2022 |title=The Serpukhovian–Bashkirian Amalgamation of Laurussia and the Siberian Continent and Implications for Assembly of Pangea |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022TC007218 |journal=Tectonics |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |doi=10.1029/2022TC007218 |bibcode=2022Tecto..4107218X |issn=0278-7407 |s2cid=247459291}}</ref>

The [[Siberian Traps]] were formed by one of the largest-known volcanic events of the last 251&nbsp;million years of [[Earth's geological history]]. Their activity continued for a million years and some scientists consider it a possible cause of the "[[Permian–Triassic extinction event|Great Dying]]" about 250&nbsp;million years ago,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/others/others_07.html |title=Yellowstone's Super Sister |access-date=17 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050314025022/http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/others/others_07.html |archive-date=14 March 2005  | quote =  [...] the Siberian Traps is the prime suspect in wiping out 90 percent of all living species 251&nbsp;million years ago – the most severe extinction event in Earth's history.}}. Discovery Channel.</ref> – estimated to have killed 90% of species existing at the time.<ref>{{cite book|title= When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time|publisher= Thames & Hudson|year=2005|isbn= 978-0-500-28573-2|last=Benton |first= M. J.}}{{qn|date=April 2018}}
</ref>

The region has [[Paleontology|paleontological]] significance, as it contains bodies of [[Prehistory|prehistoric]] animals from the [[Pleistocene]] [[epoch (geology)|Epoch]], preserved in ice or [[permafrost]]. Specimens of [[Panthera leo spelaea#Specimens|Goldfuss cave lion cubs]], [[Yuka (mammoth)|Yuka]] the mammoth and another [[woolly mammoth]] from [[Oymyakon]], a [[woolly rhinoceros]] from the [[Kolyma (river)|Kolyma]], and [[bison]] and [[horse]]s from [[Yukagir]] have been found.<ref name=Thesiberiantimes2015>{{cite web |title = Meet this extinct cave lion, at least 10,000&nbsp;years old – world exclusive |url = http://siberiantimes.com/science/others/news/n0464-meet-this-extinct-cave-lion-at-least-10000-years-old/ |website = siberiantimes.com |access-date = 30 January 2016}}</ref> Remote [[Wrangel Island]] and the [[Taymyr Peninsula]] are believed to have been the last places on Earth to support woolly mammoths as isolated populations until their extinction around 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Y |last2=Pedersen |first2=M.W. |last3=Alsos |first3=I.g. |display-authors=etal |date=2021 |title=Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics. |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04016-x |journal=Nature|volume=600 |issue=7887 |pages=86–92 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04016-x |pmid=34671161 |pmc=8636272 |bibcode=2021Natur.600...86W }}</ref>

At least three species of humans lived in southern Siberia around 40,000 years ago: ''[[Homo sapiens|H. sapiens]]'', ''[[Neanderthal|H. neanderthalensis]]'', and the [[Denisovans]].<ref name="Woman X">"
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8583254.stm DNA identifies new ancient human dubbed 'X-woman']," BBC News. 25 March 2010.
</ref>
In 2010, DNA evidence identified the last as a separate species.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Richards|first=Michael P.|title=Archaeological Science|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780521195225|page=23|quote=In early 2010, researchers published a complete mitochondrial genome sequence retrieved from a hominin excavated from the Denisova cave in Siberia....The results demonstrated that the Denisovan lineage diverged early from the modern humans and Neanderthals}}</ref> 

Late Paleolithic southern Siberians appear to be related to Paleolithic Europeans and the Paleolithic [[Jōmon people]] of Japan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281036097|title=Jomon Culture and the peopling of the Japanese archipelago: advancements in the fields of morphometrics and ancient DNA|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> Ancient DNA analysis has revealed that the oldest fossil known to carry the derived KITLG allele, which is responsible for [[blond]] hair in modern Europeans, is a 17,000 year old [[Ancient North Eurasian]] specimen from Siberia.<ref name="Evans2019">{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Gavin |title=Skin Deep: Dispelling the Science of Race |date=2019 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=139 |isbn=9781786076236 |edition=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jB-9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT139}}|</ref> Ancient North Eurasian populations genetically similar to [[Mal'ta–Buret' culture]] and [[Afontova Gora]] were an important genetic contributor to Native Americans, Europeans, Ancient Central Asians, South Asians, and some East Asian groups (such as the [[Ainu people]]). Evidence from full genomic studies suggests that the first people in the Americas diverged from [[Genetic history of East Asians|Ancient East Asians]] about 36,000 years ago and expanded northwards into Siberia, where they encountered and interacted with Ancient North Eurasians, giving rise to both [[Paleosiberian peoples]] and [[Ancient Beringian|Ancient Native Americans]], which later migrated towards the Beringian region, became isolated from other populations, and subsequently populated the Americas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raff |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/jennifer-raff/origin/9781538749715/ |title=Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas |date=2020-06-09 |publisher=Twelve |isbn=978-1-5387-4971-5 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sapiens |date=2022-02-08 |title=A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas |url=https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-dna-native-americans/ |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=SAPIENS |language=en-US}}</ref>