Multidisciplinary research team sheds light on the 1,400-year-old mystery about the genetic origins of the Avar elite 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 a multidisciplinary research team of geneticists including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig 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 Reconstruction of an Avar-period armoured horseman based on Grave 1341/1503 of the Derecske-Bikás-dűlő site (Déri Museum the Avars established an empire that lasted more than 200 years Despite much scholarly debate their initial homeland and origin has remained unclear They are primarily known from historical sources of their enemies 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 outside the primary settlement region we find high variability in inter-individual levels of admixture especially in the south-Hungarian site of Kölked 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 historians and anthropologists for the research on the ‘Migration period’ in the first millennium CE This research is a part of HistoGenes an ERC-funded project investigating the period of 400 to 900 CE in the Carpathian Basin from a multidisciplinary perspective Medievalists.net was defeated and scattered by a Turkish invasion a new nomadic group known as the Avars came to Eastern Europe a new genetic study has linked these two groups analysed 66 individuals from the Carpathian Basin The Rouran Khaganate was established around the year 330 as a tribal confederation that ruled over a wide swath of land centred around present-day Mongolia They frequently raided and fought with Chinese states the Rouran came into conflict with the Turkic Khaganate Historians have speculated that some of the Rouran moved across the Eurasian Steppe and settled in southeastern Europe It was here that the Avars established an empire that lasted until the early ninth century a multidisciplinary team – including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton – found strong evidence of genetic connections between people from the Rouran Khaganate and the Avars “Besides their clear affinity to Northeast Asia and their likely origin due to the fall of the Rouran Empire 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 outside the primary settlement region they found high variability in inter-individual levels of admixture One of the most interesting aspects of the research is that it shows how a people were able to move vast distances during the Middle Ages “The historical contextualization of the archaeogenetic results allowed us to narrow down the timing of the proposed Avar migration,” explains Choongwon Jeong “They covered more than 5000 kilometres in a few years from Mongolia to the Caucasus This is the fastest long-distance migration in human history that we can reconstruct up to this point.” Top Image: Reconstruction of an Avar-period armoured horseman based on Grave 1341/1503 of the Derecske-Bikás-dűlő site (Déri Museum 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 You do not have access to www.researchgate.net The site owner may have set restrictions that prevent you from accessing the site The launch of the new brand is a “milestone” in Hungarian fish production The “Balaton Fish” designation includes EU-protected products that will become available in Hungarian restaurants in the upcoming months the apple of Derecske has also received EU protection despite the initial criticism regarding the closure of fishing in the country’s natural waters some years ago This has been proved by the increasing quantity and quality of fish stocks and the fact that the Hungarian fishing community has grown to 800,000 people – reported by MTI The Balaton Fish brand is intended to promote the products on the market “We are standing at the gateway to a new opportunity because we have succeeded in making fish from Lake Balaton available again we can raise public awareness,” the Minister said He also added that the Agriculture Ministry had been working for a long time to stop certain types of fish that are not indigenous to the lake from being referred to as Balaton fish The main goal is „to restore the status of fish from Lake Balaton and to draw attention to the fact that we have excellent indigenous fish which are worthy of any gastronomic recognition,” he said only carp and fish from Lake Balaton or the catchment area that are put on the market can benefit from the EU protection The packaging of the newly introduced product bears a symbol of EU protection that will make it clear to consumers that they are buying a high-quality controlled and strictly specified domestic product and will help producers to promote their goods and prevent market abuse Thanks to the cooperation agreement between Balaton Fish Farming Nonprofit Plc Balaton fish labelled products can now also be offered in restaurants and other catering establishments the primary task will be to expand the consumer base and satisfy the needs of the public Read also: 5 unmissable destinations in Hungary for this summer! – PHOTOS the founder and managing director of Halker Ltd revealed that the fish processing plant had been developed in several stages with self-financing The 32-year-old company produces protected products and has been constantly developing with an office extension project and the construction of a 2,000-square-metre meat processing plant currently underway 540 employees and operates more than 100 trucks a day As the Hungarian news portal Turizmus.com reports the fishing activity puts 500-600 tonnes of fish directly from Lake Balaton on the tables every year the fish farming company can supply 150-200 tonnes of fish from its pond farms for the production of Balaton fish products which are marketed as processed finished products there is another Hungarian product that has recently received EU protection The European Commission has approved the inclusion of Derecske apples in the list of products whose names are protected in the European Union As a result of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Geographical Indicators Programme the number of protected names has now risen to 80 38 Hungarian wines and 13 Hungarian pálinka names protected in the EU Thanks to the soil and climatic conditions in Derecske and its neighbouring region and the dedication and expertise of the producers the cultivation culture and unique quality of ‘Derecske apples’ have been recognised in the past with a number of prestigious professional awards and website in this browser for the next time I comment Y"},"category":false,"taxonomy":{"active":false,"name":"category"}},"markup":{"custom_html":true,"wpp-start":"","wpp-end":"<\/ul>","title-start":"","title-end":"<\/h2>","post-html":"{thumb} {title} {stats}<\/span>{excerpt}<\/p><\/li>"},"theme":{"name":""}} You have successfully joined our subscriber list SupportUs Newsletter © 2025 DailyNewsHungary | All rights reserved