On origins of the Ossetians (On the basis of archaeological, archaeogenetic and linguistic data)

The Caucasus exhibits exceptional ethnolinguistic diversity: languages of the Kartvelian, Northwest Caucasian (Abkhaz–Adyghe), Northeast Caucasian (Nakh–Dagestanian), Iranian (Indo-European) and Turkic branches are present. Some are indigenous; others arrived later. Archaeological, genomic, and linguistic evidence indicate modern Ossetians (Eastern Iranian speakers) descend from the Alans. Whether their arrival involved population replacement or only elite language shift remains to be tested with genome-wide data.