EAA2021: Abstract
Abstract is part of session #468:
Title & Content
Title:
Ancient genomes reveal social and geographic structuring of the population in Carpathian Basin at the time of the Avar empire
Content:
According to historical records, the Avars settled the Carpathian Basin in 568 CE, where they established the Avar “Qaganate” that lasted over 250 years, exerting a major influence in shaping the history Early Medieval Europe. Archaeological records of their material culture testify Inner or Central Asian origin of certain elements, but intensive contacts with the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern European steppe are also detected. Despite the rich archeological record and various historical sources, the genesis of the Avars and the social and political composition of their nomadic empire is still highly controversial and debated among scholars. The Qaganate unified people of different origin, and incorporated them to the empire on various levels. Local elites emerged that kept distinct traditions, but autochthon people probably also admixed with the newcomers.
Here we analyze new genome-wide data of 66 Early Medieval period individuals from present-day Hungary. Part of them were uncovered from Avar period elite burials located in the Danube-Tisza region, the primary power center of the Avar empire. The remaining were retrieved from different archeological contexts in the immediate surrounding areas from the IV-VIII. centuries. Our results reveal striking patterns of genetic structuring, mirroring geography and social stratification of the both culturally and genetically heterogeneous population of the Avar empire.
Here we analyze new genome-wide data of 66 Early Medieval period individuals from present-day Hungary. Part of them were uncovered from Avar period elite burials located in the Danube-Tisza region, the primary power center of the Avar empire. The remaining were retrieved from different archeological contexts in the immediate surrounding areas from the IV-VIII. centuries. Our results reveal striking patterns of genetic structuring, mirroring geography and social stratification of the both culturally and genetically heterogeneous population of the Avar empire.
Keywords:
Ancient DNA, Avar, Early Medieval, Carpathian Basin, Ancient genomes
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authors
Main authors:
Guido Alberto Gnecchi Ruscone1
Co-author:
Anna Szécsényi-Nagy2
István Koncz3
Gergely Csiky2
Zsófia Rácz3
David Emil Reich4,5,6,7
Tivadar Vida2,3
Zuzana Hofmanová1,8
Choongwon Jeong9
Johannes Krause1
István Koncz3
Gergely Csiky2
Zsófia Rácz3
David Emil Reich4,5,6,7
Tivadar Vida2,3
Zuzana Hofmanová1,8
Choongwon Jeong9
Johannes Krause1
Affiliations:
1 Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
2 Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, 1097, Budapest, Hungary
3 Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, 1053, Budapest, Hungary
4 Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
5 Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
6 Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
7 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
8 Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 60200, Brno, Czechia
9 School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, Republic of Korea
2 Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, 1097, Budapest, Hungary
3 Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, 1053, Budapest, Hungary
4 Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
5 Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
6 Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
7 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
8 Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 60200, Brno, Czechia
9 School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, Republic of Korea