Ancient genomes show integration of genetically different groups to the same early medieval Avar society in the Vienna Basin Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology carried out an archeogenetic study of human remains from more than 700 individuals from the Early Middle Ages have been genetically analyzed in their entirety The surprising result was that the individuals from Leobersdorf were mostly of East Asian origin while those buried in Mödling mostly had European ancestry Both communities lived next to each other for at least six generations An Avar-period cloak clasp from a female grave at Moedling Archers were associated with a higher social status Research combining expertise of various disciplines found that genes and culture do not have to match The latest findings from the European Research Council project HistoGenes emerged from a genetic study of burial grounds from the Avar period in the 8th century CE The Avars had arrived in the 6th century from the East Asian Steppes and settled in East Central Europe among a mixed population Despite their rich archaeological heritage Were the people buried in these sites descendants of the Avar conquerors or of the previous population that was integrated into the Avar society The analysis of two large sites south of Vienna of 500 graves in Mödling and almost 150 in Leobersdorf When the researchers looked at the ancient DNA extracted from the human remains from these neighbouring sites While the population of Leobersdorf was mostly of East Asian origin those buried in Mödling had ancestry associated with European populations “The genetic difference between these groups was very clear and consistent for most individuals at the sites,” says Ke Wang a geneticist and one of the lead authors of the study no large difference between the sites had been observed The archaeological remains of the two communities and their way of life were very similar "The cultural integration apparently worked despite major genetic differences and these people were obviously regarded as Avars," says Walter Pohl from the Austrian Academy of Sciences a historian and one of the senior authors of the study Coat clasp with glass inlay - an Avar-period artefact that is typically associated with higher social status of women as well as higher biological connectivity as revealed by ancient DNA The historical records agree with the evidence from anthropology and archaeology that this was one of the most peaceful times in the history of the Vienna Basin in spite of the reputation of the Avars as warriors "We find no battle injuries on the skeletons and there are hardly any signs of deficiencies," explains Doris Pany-Kucera anthropologist at the Natural History Museum Vienna and one of the lead authors of the study weapons were only occasionally placed in the graves Thanks to the sampling strategy and highly sensitive genetic analysis it was possible to discover a high number of relatives among the deceased “The large number of genetic relationships between the individuals allowed us to reconstruct contemporary six-generation-long pedigrees at each site,” says Zuzana Hofmanová from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig a geneticist and one of the senior lead authors of the study the individuals had no biological connection to anybody else at their burial ground the researchers found no consanguineous relationships even between distant relatives they were able to determine that almost none of the mothers had local ancestors: they must therefore have come from other regions and other communities there were hardly any genetic connections between Mödling and Leobersdorf Both communities followed a similar social practice in choosing partners from certain other communities through which their different ancestry was preserved: the women that became mothers in Leobersdorf apparently came from communities that also descended from East Asia (possibly from the centre of the Avar realm) while in Mödling they were of European descent Yet they did not differ in status or wealth "Status symbols such as belt fittings depicting griffins and their culture and customs were the same Most likely both considered themselves Avars," says Bendeguz Tobias an archeologist and one of the lead authors of the study Such large studies that systematically investigate burial grounds are still rare in the field “Mödling burial ground is one of the largest ever analyzed genetically and such results hold a lot of potential for future research in various disciplines,” says Johannes Krause director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and one of the senior authors of the study '+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+" \n '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+" Medievalists.net a group that arrived in the region from the East Asian steppes in the 6th century AD questions lingered about the ancestry of those buried in these 8th-century sites: were they descendants of the Avar conquerors unveils a fascinating story of cultural integration during the Avar period in East Central Europe By analysing ancient DNA from two burial sites near Vienna Austria—Mödling and Leobersdorf—researchers discovered that while the two communities were genetically distinct revealed that DNA analysis from 500 graves in Mödling and 150 in Leobersdorf showed stark genetic differences The Leobersdorf community was predominantly of East Asian origin while those in Mödling had ancestry linked to European populations “The genetic difference between these groups was very clear and consistent for most individuals at the sites,” Wang explained the archaeological remains and way of life at the two sites were strikingly similar a historian at the Austrian Academy of Sciences “The cultural integration apparently worked despite major genetic differences and these people were obviously regarded as Avars.” Contrary to the Avars’ historical reputation as warriors this period in the Vienna Basin appears to have been marked by peace “We find no battle injuries on the skeletons and there are hardly any signs of deficiencies,” said Doris Pany-Kucera an anthropologist from the Natural History Museum Vienna further supporting the idea of a peaceful society “Status symbols such as belt fittings depicting griffins Most likely both considered themselves Avars,” says Bendeguz Tobias This study is among the largest genetic analyses of burial grounds ever conducted “Mödling burial ground is one of the largest ever analyzed genetically and such results hold a lot of potential for future research in various disciplines,” said Johannes Krause director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Nature research paper: Ancient DNA reveals reproductive barrier despite shared Avar-period culture [image or embed] — Nature (@nature.com) January 15, 2025 at 12:28 PM Top Image: An Avar-period cloak clasp from a female grave at Moedling, Austria. Archers were associated with a higher social status. Photo credit: © Benedict Seidl, [email protected] We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast and remove the advertising on our platforms This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce Member Login Destroyed windows are seen on a building of the State Cinic in Moedling, Lower Austria, near Vienna on May 30, 2023, after a fire broke out in the hospital on late May 29, claiming three lives. Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP BERLIN: Three patients died in a fire that broke out overnight at a hospital in a town just outside Vienna, Austrian authorities said Tuesday. The blaze started in a fourth-floor room at the hospital in Moedling, and rescuers were unable to save three men who were in that room, Matthias Hofer, a spokesman for Lower Austria province's health agency, told the Austria Press Agency. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire, which authorities were alerted to shortly before 1 a.m. and that filled the internal medicine ward with smoke. Around 90 patients were evacuated, with some being moved to other parts of the hospital and others transferred to a clinic in nearby Baden. It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem