Origins of the Avars elucidated with ancient DNA
Multidisciplinary research team sheds light on the 1,400-year-old mystery about the genetic origins of the Avar elite

Date:
April 1, 2022
Source:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Summary:
Less known than Attila's Huns, the Avars were their more successful
successors. They ruled much of Central and Eastern Europe for almost
250 years. We know that they came from Central Asia in the sixth
century CE, but ancient authors and modern historians debated their
provenance. Now, a multidisciplinary research team of geneticists,
archaeologists and historians has obtained and studied the first
ancient genomes from the most important Avar elite sites discovered
in contemporary Hungary. This study traces the genetic origin
of the Avar elite to a faraway region of East Central Asia. It
provides direct genetic evidence for one of the largest and most
rapid long-distance migrations in ancient human history.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Less known than Attila's Huns, the Avars were their more successful
successors.

They ruled much of Central and Eastern Europe for almost 250 years. We
know that they came from Central Asia in the sixth century CE, but
ancient authors and modern historians debated their provenance. Now,
a multidisciplinary research team of geneticists, archaeologists and historians, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, obtained and studied the
first ancient genomes from the most important Avar elite sites discovered
in contemporary Hungary. This study traces the genetic origin of the
Avar elite to a faraway region of East Central Asia. It provides direct
genetic evidence for one of the largest and most rapid long-distance
migrations in ancient human history.


==========================================================================
In the 560s, the Avars established an empire that lasted more than
200 years, centered in the Carpathian Basin. Despite much scholarly
debate their initial homeland and origin has remained unclear. They are primarily known from historical sources of their enemies, the Byzantines,
who wondered about the origin of the fearsome Avar warriors after their
sudden appearance in Europe.

Had they come from the Rouran empire in the Mongolian steppe (which had
just been destroyed by the Turks), or should one believe the Turks who
strongly disputed such a prestigious legacy? Historians have wondered
whether that was a well-organised migrant group or a mixed band of
fugitives. Archaeological research has pointed to many parallels between
the Carpathian Basin and Eurasian nomadic artefacts (weapons, vessels,
horse harnesses), for instance a lunula-shaped pectoral of gold used as
a symbol of power. We also know that the Avars introduced the stirrup
in Europe.

Yet we have so far not been able to trace their origin in the wide
Eurasian steppes.

In this study, a multidisciplinary team -- including researchers from
the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig,
the ELTE University and the Institute of Archaeogenomics of Budapest,
Harvard Medical School in Boston, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and
the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton -- analysed 66 individuals
from the Carpathian Basin. The study included the eight richest Avar
graves ever discovered, overflowing with golden objects, as well as
other individuals from the region prior to and during the Avar age. "We
address a question that has been a mystery for more than 1400 years:
who were the Avar elites, mysterious founders of an empire that almost
crushed Constantinople and for more than 200 years ruled the lands of
modern- day Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia and Serbia?,"
explains Johannes Krause, senior author of the study.

Fastest long-distance migration in human history The Avars did not
leave written records about their history and these first genome-wide
data provide robust clues about their origins. "The historical contextualization of the archaeogenetic results allowed us to narrow
down the timing of the proposed Avar migration. They covered more than
5000 kilometres in a few years from Mongolia to the Caucasus, and after
ten more years settled in what is now Hungary. This is the fastest long-distance migration in human history that we can reconstruct up to
this point," explains Choongwon Jeong, co-senior author of the study.

Guido Gnecchi-Ruscone, the lead author of the study, adds: "Besides
their clear affinity to Northeast Asia and their likely origin due to
the fall of the Rouran Empire, we also see that the 7th-century Avar
period elites show 20 to 30 percent of additional non-local ancestry,
likely associated with the North Caucasus and the Western Asian Steppe,
which could suggest further migration from the Steppe after their arrival
in the 6th century." The East Asian ancestry is found in individuals
from several sites in the core settlement area between the Danube and
Tisza rivers in modern day central Hungary. However, outside the primary settlement region we find high variability in inter- individual levels
of admixture, especially in the south-Hungarian site of Ko"lked. This
suggests an immigrant Avars elite ruling a diverse population with the
help of a heterogeneous local elite.

These exciting results show how much potential there is in the
unprecedented collaboration between geneticists, archaeologists,
historians and anthropologists for the research on the 'Migration period'
in the first millennium CE.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Max_Planck_Institute_for_Evolutionary_Anthropology. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Reconstruction_of_an_Avar-period_armoured_horseman ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone, Anna Sze'cse'nyi-Nagy, Istva'n Koncz,
Gergely Csiky, Zso'fia Ra'cz, A.B. Rohrlach, Guido Brandt, Nadin
Rohland, Veronika Csa'ky, Olivia Cheronet, Bea Szeifert, Tibor
A'kos Ra'cz, Andra's Benedek, Zsolt Bernert, Norbert Berta,
Szabolcs Czifra, Ja'nos Dani, Zolta'n Farkas, Tamara Ha'ga,
Tama's Hajdu, Mo'nika Ja'szbere'nyi, Vikto'ria Kisjuha'sz, Barbara
Kolozsi, Pe'ter Major, Anto'nia Marcsik, Bernadett Ny. Kovacso'czy,
Csilla Balogh, Gabriella M. Lezsa'k, Ja'nos Ga'bor O'dor, Ma'rta
Szelekovszky, Tama's Szeniczey, Judit Ta'rnoki, Zolta'n To'th,
Eszter K. Tutkovics, Bala'zs G. Mende, Patrick Geary, Walter Pohl,
Tivadar Vida, Ron Pinhasi, David Reich, Zuzana Hofmanova', Choongwon
Jeong, Johannes Krause. Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid
trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites. Cell, 2022;
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220401122158.htm

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