Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites

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Authors

GNECCHI-RUSCONE Guido Alberto SZÉCSÉNYI-NAGY Anna KONCZ István CSIKY Gergely RÁCZ Zsófia ROHRLACH AB BRANDT Guido ROHLAND Nadin CSÁKY Veronika CHERONET Olivia SZEIFERT Bea RÁCZ Tibor Ákos BENEDEK András BERNERT Zsolt BERTA Norbert CZIFRA Szabolcs JÁNOS Dani FARKAS Zoltán HÁGA Tamara HAJDU Tamás JÁSZBERÉNYI Mónika KISJUHÁSZ Viktória KOLOZSI Barbara MAJOR Péter MARCSIK Antónia KOVACSÓCZY Bernadett Ny BALOGH Csilla LEZSÁK Gabriella M ÓDOR János Gábor SZELEKOVSZKY Márta SZENICZEY Tamás TÁRNOKI Judit TÓTH Zoltán TUTKOVICS Eszter K MENDE Balázs G GEARY Patrick POHL Walter VIDA Tivadar PINHASI Ron REICH David HOFMANOVÁ Zuzana JEONG Choongwon KRAUSE Johannes

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source CELL
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867422002677
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007
Keywords ancient DNA; population genomics; human migration; migration period; early medieval; Avars; steppe nomads; Carpathian Basin; Pannonia
Description The Avars settled the Carpathian Basin in 567/68 CE, establishing an empire lasting over 200 years. Who they were and where they came from is highly debated. Contemporaries have disagreed about whether they were, as they claimed, the direct successors of the Mongolian Steppe Rouran empire that was destroyed by the Turks in ~550 CE. Here, we analyze new genome-wide data from 66 pre-Avar and Avar-period Carpathian Basin individuals, including the 8 richest Avar-period burials and further elite sites from Avar’s empire core region. Our results provide support for a rapid long-distance trans-Eurasian migration of Avar-period elites. These individuals carried Northeast Asian ancestry matching the profile of preceding Mongolian Steppe populations, particularly a genome available from the Rouran period. Some of the later elite individuals carried an additional non-local ancestry component broadly matching the steppe, which could point to a later migration or reflect greater genetic diversity within the initial migrant population
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