The Yamnaya were a group of livestock herders who lived north of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus mountains in modern day Russia and Ukraine.
The group and their descendants arrived in Europe between 4000 and 5000 years ago, New Scientist reports.
At the time Europe had been ravaged by disease, eroding the population’s ability to resist the powerfully built and aggressive Yamnaya horseback warriors. They overwhelmed smaller Europeans and the Yamnaya culture as well as their DNA soon spread throughout the continent.
According archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen, after they brought with their brutal practices there appears to have been a sharp upsurge in lethal violence.
“I’ve become increasingly convinced there must have been a kind of genocide,” said Professor Kristiansen.
He said the Yamnaya lived mostly on meat and milk products which made them “healthier and probably physically quite strong”.
It has been claimed that when the Yamnaya invaded they massacred all the males and impregnated the women in order to rapidly further their bloodlines.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8754910/horse-riding-yamnaya-tribe-most-violent/