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

Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone; Anna Szécsényi-Nagy; István Koncz; Gergely Csiky; Zsófia Rácz; A B Rohrlach; Guido Brandt; Nadin Rohland; Veronika Csáky; Olivia Cheronet; Bea Szeifert; Tibor Ákos Rácz; András Benedek; Zsolt Bernert; Norbert Berta; Szabolcs Czifra; János Dani; Zoltán Farkas; Tamara Hága; Tamás Hajdu; Mónika Jászberényi; Viktória Kisjuhász; Barbara Kolozsi; Péter Major; Antónia Marcsik; Bernadett Ny Kovacsóczy; Csilla Balogh; Gabriella M Lezsák; János Gábor Ódor; Márta Szelekovszky; Tamás Szeniczey; Judit Tárnoki; Zoltán Tóth; Eszter K Tutkovics; Balázs G Mende; Patrick Geary; Walter Pohl; Tivadar Vida; Ron Pinhasi; David Reich; Zuzana Hofmanová; Choongwon Jeong; Johannes Krause

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007

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

Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone (Corresponding author), Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, István Koncz, Gergely Csiky, Zsófia Rácz, A B Rohrlach, Guido Brandt, Nadin Rohland, Veronika Csáky, Olivia Cheronet, Bea Szeifert, Tibor Ákos Rácz, András Benedek, Zsolt Bernert, Norbert Berta, Szabolcs Czifra, János Dani, Zoltán Farkas, Tamara Hága, Tamás HajduMónika Jászberényi, Viktória Kisjuhász, Barbara Kolozsi, Péter Major, Antónia Marcsik, Bernadett Ny Kovacsóczy, Csilla Balogh, Gabriella M Lezsák, János Gábor Ódor, Márta Szelekovszky, Tamás Szeniczey, Judit Tárnoki, Zoltán Tóth, Eszter K Tutkovics, Balázs G Mende, Patrick Geary, Walter Pohl, Tivadar Vida, Ron Pinhasi, David Reich, Zuzana Hofmanová, Choongwon Jeong (Corresponding author), Johannes Krause (Corresponding author)

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Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Article number	e21
Pages (from-to)	1402-1413
Number of pages	33
Journal	Cell
Volume	185
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007
Publication status	Published - 14 Apr 2022

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106018 Human biology

Keywords

Avars
Carpathian Basin
Pannonia
ancient DNA
early medieval
human migration
migration period
population genomics
steppe nomads
Genetics, Population
History, Ancient
Humans
DNA, Ancient
Human Migration/history
Asians/genetics
Genome
Sulfur
GENETIC HISTORY
PATTERNS
ADMIXTURE
CAVE
SEQUENCE
FRAMEWORK

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Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., Koncz, I., Csiky, G., Rácz, Z., Rohrlach, A. B., Brandt, G., Rohland, N., Csáky, V., Cheronet, O., Szeifert, B., Rácz, T. Á., Benedek, A., Bernert, Z., Berta, N., Czifra, S., Dani, J., Farkas, Z., Hága, T., ... Krause, J. (2022). Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites. Cell, 185(8), 1402-1413. Article e21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007

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

abstract = "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{\textquoteright}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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author = "Gnecchi-Ruscone, {Guido Alberto} and Anna Sz{\'e}cs{\'e}nyi-Nagy and Istv{\'a}n Koncz and Gergely Csiky and Zs{\'o}fia R{\'a}cz and Rohrlach, {A B} and Guido Brandt and Nadin Rohland and Veronika Cs{\'a}ky and Olivia Cheronet and Bea Szeifert and R{\'a}cz, {Tibor {\'A}kos} and Andr{\'a}s Benedek and Zsolt Bernert and Norbert Berta and Szabolcs Czifra and J{\'a}nos Dani and Zolt{\'a}n Farkas and Tamara H{\'a}ga and Tam{\'a}s Hajdu and M{\'o}nika J{\'a}szber{\'e}nyi and Vikt{\'o}ria Kisjuh{\'a}sz and Barbara Kolozsi and P{\'e}ter Major and Ant{\'o}nia Marcsik and Kovacs{\'o}czy, {Bernadett Ny} and Csilla Balogh and Lezs{\'a}k, {Gabriella M} and {\'O}dor, {J{\'a}nos G{\'a}bor} and M{\'a}rta Szelekovszky and Tam{\'a}s Szeniczey and Judit T{\'a}rnoki and Zolt{\'a}n T{\'o}th and Tutkovics, {Eszter K} and Mende, {Bal{\'a}zs G} and Patrick Geary and Walter Pohl and Tivadar Vida and Ron Pinhasi and David Reich and Zuzana Hofmanov{\'a} and Choongwon Jeong and Johannes Krause",

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doi = "10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007",

language = "English",

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Gnecchi-Ruscone, GA, Szécsényi-Nagy, A, Koncz, I, Csiky, G, Rácz, Z, Rohrlach, AB, Brandt, G, Rohland, N, Csáky, V, Cheronet, O, Szeifert, B, Rácz, TÁ, Benedek, A, Bernert, Z, Berta, N, Czifra, S, Dani, J, Farkas, Z, Hága, T, Hajdu, T, Jászberényi, M, Kisjuhász, V, Kolozsi, B, Major, P, Marcsik, A, Kovacsóczy, BN, Balogh, C, Lezsák, GM, Ódor, JG, Szelekovszky, M, Szeniczey, T, Tárnoki, J, Tóth, Z, Tutkovics, EK, Mende, BG, Geary, P, Pohl, W, Vida, T, Pinhasi, R, Reich, D, Hofmanová, Z, Jeong, C & Krause, J 2022, 'Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites', Cell, vol. 185, no. 8, e21, pp. 1402-1413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites

AU - Gnecchi-Ruscone, Guido Alberto

AU - Szécsényi-Nagy, Anna

AU - Koncz, István

AU - Csiky, Gergely

AU - Rácz, Zsófia

AU - Rohrlach, A B

AU - Brandt, Guido

AU - Rohland, Nadin

AU - Csáky, Veronika

AU - Cheronet, Olivia

AU - Szeifert, Bea

AU - Rácz, Tibor Ákos

AU - Benedek, András

AU - Bernert, Zsolt

AU - Berta, Norbert

AU - Czifra, Szabolcs

AU - Dani, János

AU - Farkas, Zoltán

AU - Hága, Tamara

AU - Hajdu, Tamás

AU - Jászberényi, Mónika

AU - Kisjuhász, Viktória

AU - Kolozsi, Barbara

AU - Major, Péter

AU - Marcsik, Antónia

AU - Kovacsóczy, Bernadett Ny

AU - Balogh, Csilla

AU - Lezsák, Gabriella M

AU - Ódor, János Gábor

AU - Szelekovszky, Márta

AU - Szeniczey, Tamás

AU - Tárnoki, Judit

AU - Tóth, Zoltán

AU - Tutkovics, Eszter K

AU - Mende, Balázs G

AU - Geary, Patrick

AU - Pohl, Walter

AU - Vida, Tivadar

AU - Pinhasi, Ron

AU - Reich, David

AU - Hofmanová, Zuzana

AU - Jeong, Choongwon

AU - Krause, Johannes

PY - 2022/4/14

Y1 - 2022/4/14

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Avars

KW - Carpathian Basin

KW - Pannonia

KW - ancient DNA

KW - early medieval

KW - human migration

KW - migration period

KW - population genomics

KW - steppe nomads

KW - Genetics, Population

KW - History, Ancient

KW - Humans

KW - DNA, Ancient

KW - Human Migration/history

KW - Asians/genetics

KW - Genome

KW - Sulfur

KW - GENETIC HISTORY

KW - PATTERNS

KW - ADMIXTURE

KW - CAVE

KW - SEQUENCE

KW - FRAMEWORK

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U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007

DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007

M3 - Article

C2 - 35366416

SN - 0092-8674

VL - 185

SP - 1402

EP - 1413

JO - Cell

JF - Cell

IS - 8

M1 - e21

ER -

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

Abstract

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

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