https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-57378-8


Genetic insights into the social organisation of the Avar period elite in the 7th century AD Carpathian Basin


Few ancient DNA studies have focused on the Avars, and these studies analysed only the control region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). One research focused on a 7th-9th century Avar group from the south-eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld) of the Carpathian Basin13. Their maternal gene pool showed predominantly Southern- and Eastern-European composition, with Asian elements presenting only 15.3% of the variation. Another recent study of a mixed population of the Avar Qaganate from the 8th-9th centuries from present-day Slovakia showed a miscellaneous Eurasian mtDNA character too, with a lower frequency (6.52%) of East Eurasian elements14.

Here we study 26 Avar period individuals, who were excavated at ten different sites (found in small burial groups or single burials). Seven out of ten sites are located in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve7,8,15, while three are located east of the Tisza river where a secondary power centre can be identified in the 7th century16 (Fig. 1). The primary focus of the sample selection was to target all available members (eight individuals) of the highest elite Avar group from the Danube-Tisza Interfluve complemented by other individuals from the Tisza region
The mitochondrial genome sequences can be assigned to a wide range of Eurasian haplogroups with a dominance of Asian lineages, which represent 69.5% of the variability: four samples belong to Asian macrohaplogroup C (two C4a1a4, one C4a1a4a and one C4b6); five samples to macrohaplogroup D (one by one D4i2, D4j, D4j12, D4j5a, D5b1), and three individuals to F (one F1b1b and two F1b1f). Each haplogroup M7c1b2b, R2, Y1a1 and Z1a1 is represented by one individual. One further haplogroup M7 (probably M7c1b2b) was detected (sample AC20); however, the poor quality of its sequence data (2.19x average coverage) did not allow the further analysis of this sample.

European lineages (occurring mainly among females) are represented by the following haplogroups: H (one H5a2 and one H8a1), one J1b1a1, two T1a (two T1a1), one U5a1 and one U5b1b (Table S1). One further T1a1b sample (HC9) came from a distinct cultural group of Avar society, and therefore was not include..........d in the comparative analyses of the Avar elite.

On the other hand, Y-STR analyses of 17 males gave evidence of a strikingly homogeneous Y chromosomal composition (haplotype diversity =0.7272, Table S1). Y chromosomal STR profiles of 14 males could be assigned to haplogroup N-Tat, supported by SNPs on the N-Tat branch in 12 cases.

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We conclude based on our STR network that most Avar N-Tat chromosomes probably originated from a common source population of people living in the Mongolian and Baikal area, in line with the results of Ilumäe et al.

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Two males (AC4 and AC7) from the Transtisza group belong to two different haplotypes of Y-haplogroup Q1 (Table S1). Both Q1a2- YP791 (F1096, M25) and Q1b- Z35973 (L330, M346) haplotypes have neither direct nor one step neighbour matches in the worldwide YHRD database. A network of the Q1b-M346 haplotype shows that this male had a probable Altaian or South Siberian (Tuvinian) paternal genetic origin.

The elite group originating mainly from the Danube-Tisza Interfluve does not exhibit a genetic connection to the previously investigated small Avar period population from southeast Hungary13, because the latter shows predominantly Eastern European maternal genetic composition. This result is comparable with the archaeological record, i.e. this Avar population buried the deceased in niche graves, following Eastern European traditions.

One sample in our dataset (HC9) comes from this population, and both his mtDNA (T1a1b) and Y chromosome (R1a) support Eastern European connections. The observed genetic differences among the Avars correlate well with the cultural and physical anthropological differences of this group and demonstrate the heterogeneity of the Avar population.

We also find that the Avar elite group is genetically different from the 6th century Lombard period community of Szólád in Transdanubia11, which has more genetic affinity to other ancient European populations.


Comparing this early Avar period elite with later datasets from the Carpathian Basin, only a few connections are observable. The mixed population of the Avar Qaganate dated to the 8th-9th centuriess does not show affinities to the studied group.

So Mongoloids dominates in this elite Avar group.